Advertisement
Advertisement

Committees making huge contribution

A total of 175 submissions have been written by Queensland Law Society legal policy committees already this year along with 139 mentions in Hansard.

These were some of the highlights presented at today’s Legal Policy Committee Chairs and Deputy Chairs Online Workshop with QLS President Rebecca Fogerty and Deputy President Genevieve Dee.

“We stand for evidence-based legal analysis and we would not be that if it wasn’t for the extraordinary effort of you, the experts in the areas of law, the subject matter experts,” Rebecca said to the committee members.


Rebecca Fogerty

“Your role cannot be understated. Every submission that you’re asked to do, every new piece of legislation, you exercise sound judgement about what to say, what not to say, where to say it and when.

“And our advocacy simply would not exist were it not for that.”

Rebecca said the Society’s advocacy and position on issues as well as the Call to Parties Statement was consistently acknowledged in stakeholder meetings “as a serious stakeholder in terms of policy development”.

Advertisement
TR CoCounsel

“And at times we do see, I think some of the fruits of that labour. A recent example is in relation to increased funding for QCAT,” she said.

“Specifically, as in relation to its guardianship jurisdiction, and we were recently acknowledged by Her Honour, Justice Mellifont, who believed that it was partly due to the Society’s efforts in consistently regularly, publicly and privately, calling for change and funding that we did see some development in that space.”


Genevieve Dee

Genevieve also addressed the workshop, sharing the Society’s strategic plan and goals as well as looking at emerging issues.

“The Society’s legal policy committees are crucial to several key pillars of the Society’s strategic direction, and joining with us to further objectives in the areas of advocacy and leading our profession,” Genevieve said.

“Next year we’ll have several important events that will impact on the Society, on solicitors and the future of our profession, including of course, the possibility of a change of government.

Advertisement
TR CoCounsel

“This (includes) continued engagement on the implementation of the anti-money laundering and counter terrorism finance reforms and … development of rules and regulations and supporting the profession in relation to the responsible use of AI in our legal practices.

“Now that rapid evolution of AI is also of real importance to us. While we should be wary, I think that technology does not separate solicitors from their clients.

“There can be enormous benefits if our legal profession engages with the opportunities that emerging legal technologies are presenting groups who often have difficulty accessing legal information online and accessing emerging technologies.

“So embracing technology in the delivery of our legal services will improve outcomes for the profession, for clients and for our justice system as a whole.”

QLS CEO Matt Dunn and guest presenter Hamilton Locke Partner Brett Heading also discussed chairing committees and boards during a Q&A session.

The 2024 QLS Solicitor of the Year (Large firm) shared his tips on leadership, collaboration, delegation and composition of committees.

Advertisement
TR CoCounsel

There are currently more than 400 committee members in the Society.

Share this article

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Search by keyword