We are proud to announce the following nominees for the upcoming ACT Women Lawyers Awards. All nominees are of an incredibly high calibre and we know the judging panel will have some very difficult decisions ahead of them.
Winner of the inaugural Woman Lawyer of the Year (Government) Award, Helen Curtis, shares what winning meant to her. We encourage ACT lawyers to nominate themselves, their colleagues, employers and friends before the 31 August deadline. More information on how to nominate is available online.
Women Lawyers Association ACT and ANU Women In Law Organisation invite you to join us for a 'Women in Law Career Panel' on Monday 20 August, from 6:30-7:30pm at ANU.
Our panellists come from a range of backgrounds, and aim to show you that there is no one set path following the completion of a law degree.
Tickets for the 2017 Law Week Dinner, with guest speaker Clementine Ford, are now available to purchase online.
WLA ACT members are able to purchase tickets at a rate $30 cheaper than non-members.
We look forward to seeing you there.
WLA ACT is grateful for the ongoing support of Maurice Blackburn, and we thank them for their generous contribution.
WLA ACT is pleased to publish our first newsletter of 2017.
Read about WLA ACT's recent and upcoming events, comments on developments relating to women lawyers, and advocacy on community legal centre funding cuts.
WLA ACT Newsletter - April 2017
WLA ACT is pleased to announce Clementine Ford as our speaker at this year's Law Week Dinner.
We invite you to keep the following details in your diary - tickets will go on sale shortly.
Date and time: 6:30pm, Wednesday 17 May 2017
Location: The Deck, Regatta Point, Barrine Drive, Parkes
Clementine Ford is a Melbourne based writer, speaker and feminist thinker. She is a columnist for Fairfax’s Daily Life and is a regular contributor to The Age and the Sydney Morning Herald. Through her twice weekly columns for Daily Life, Clementine explores issues of gender inequality and pop culture. Her ability to use both humour and distilled fury to lay bare ongoing issues affecting women has earned her a huge and loyal readership amongst both women and men. Clementine’s work has radically challenged the issues of men’s violence against women, rape culture and gender warfare in Australia, while her comedic take on casual sexism and entertainment has earned her a reputation as an accomplished satirist.
Clementine’s work has also appeared in the Guardian, Cosmopolitan, Girlfriend, CLEO, Sunday Life and The Big Issue. Clementine has been a guest on ABC’s Q and A, Channel Nine Mornings and is a frequent contributor to Channel Ten’s The Project.
As a speaker and presenter, Clementine has appeared at Melbourne’s Wheeler Centre, ACMI, the Sydney Opera House, Adelaide Writers Week, the Brisbane Writers Festival, the Ubud Readers and Writers Festival, the Newcastle Writers Festival, the National Young Writers Festival, the Reality Bites Literary Festival, Women of Letters, Cherchez La Femme and the City of Melbourne’s Conversations series. Additionally, she is regularly invited to speak at schools and universities.
Clementine’s number one mission is to speak openly and honestly about the state of the world as we live in it. She hopes to give other women the language and confidence to articulate their own feelings of frustration and anger.
WLA ACT was proud to support the 2016 University of Canberra School of Law and Justice Awards. We extend our congratulations to the following winners:
We congratulate all the women on their award and significant achievements as students of the University of Canberra. We wish you all the best in what are sure to be illustrious careers.
WLA ACT is pleased to announce our upcoming event - 'Voice Coach Workshop for Lawyers', by renowned voice coach Lucy Cornell, with an introduction by Chief Justice Murrell.
Over 10 years of working in court rooms, as well as in the boardrooms she visits, Lucy’s experience is that women are still battling to have their voice heard. Male modes of communication still dominate and male voices are still favoured. Lucy will work with you to help you understand what is compromising your impact in court or in meetings, help you with specific techniques to address these issues, and attune you to the ways that spoken advocacy depends on more than the words alone.
You may be eligible to claim 2 CPD points in Core Area 3: Professional Skills.
Date and time: Saturday 6 May 2017, 1-3pm
Location: ACT Supreme Court
6 Knowles Place, Canberra City
Cost:
WLA Members: $205
Non-members: $255
Tickets are available for purchase online.
WLA ACT was proud to support the 2016 ANU College of Law Student Academic Awards through its sponsorship of the Prize for Law Studies, an award for the female law student graduating with the highest academic achievement. This year's award was won by the very impressive Naomi Wootton.
Ms Wootton is a university medalist, and at this year's awards ceremony added 6 prizes to her remarkable resume.
Ms Wottoon has now finished her studies and has taken up a role as Tipstaff for the Honourable TF Bathurst, Chief Justice of New South Wales.
We congratulate Naomi on her award and her significant achievements as a student at ANU. We wish her all the best in what is sure to be an illustrious career.
Don't miss our event to mark International Women's Day this year - to be held at ANU Commons on 9 March 2017 (the day after the official International Women's Day).
Patricia will explain how the unconscious gendered filtering of 'reality' in our culture (the iceberg of biases) can militate against the successful translation of the many laws and amendments enacted to better address violence against women.
Listen to the compelling address by Professor Patricia Easteal AM and then enjoy drinks, canapes and networking.
The topic is relevant not just to lawyers but also to the community more broadly. To book a place, CLICK HERE
See you there!
WLA ACT is grateful for Farrar Gesini Dunn's sponsorship of this event.
On 15 February 2017, WLA ACT’s inaugural Woman Lawyer of the Year Award winner, Noor Blumer shared her experience with us at the Hotel Realm.
Noor’s achievements speak for themselves. She finished school at the age of 16 and studied law while working full time and raising children. Noor has served as the President of the ACT Law Society and runs the successful personal injury law practice Blumer’s Lawyers alongside her husband.
Noor became a lawyer at a time when it was considered a profession ‘not suitable for women’. She recalls a time when women lawyers were not permitted to wear pants to Court and it was not unusual for Noor to find herself in situations where she was the only woman in a room full of men.
During her period of practice, Noor has seen improvements in the profession for women lawyers but she recognises that there is still a long way to go. Noor’s advice to women lawyers is to support one another and embrace the sisterhood by being part of organisations such as the WLA ACT. Noor believes that the opportunities for her arose as a result of her putting her hand up and getting involved. She encouraged the audience to do the same - you never know what successes might come your way if only you say ‘yes’.
Noor’s advice to managers is to make sure that your staff are treated fairly. The gender pay gap is a reality and it is up to the managers to ensure that women’s contributions are valued.
WLA ACT would like to extend a warm thank you to Noor for taking the time to share her experience and her insights into the profession.
