Senior employment and safety lawyer Anna Smith was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis in 2016, and is an advocate for greater inclusion of lawyers with disabilities in the legal profession.
Ms Smith is part of the online panel discussing Access, Inclusion and Opportunity: Disability in the Legal Profession on Wednesday, 25 November, as part of an event hosted by The College of Law, Disabled Australian Lawyers Association (DALA) and Queensland Law Society’s Disability and Accessibility Network and Equity and Diversity Committee.
To mark International Day of People with Disability, she will join Tom Monks, Founding Director of Tom & Co Legal, and senior occupational therapist Janet McPherson, to discuss workplace adjustments, accessible recruitment and the conditions that help people thrive.
The one-hour session offers practical ideas for disability-confident legal workplaces and would appeal to legal support professionals and educators, students, graduates and early career lawyers.
Ms Smith is Director, Senior Corporate Counsel – APAC, at Salesforce. She has more than 15 years of experience in private practice and in-house roles. Ms Smith sits on the DALA executive committee.
DALA was co-founded by three disabled women lawyers – Natalie Wade, Abbey Dalton and Ella Alexander.
The co-founders connected online during COVID-19. Despite living in different states and different lived experiences of disability, their shared commitment to improving disability inclusion in the legal profession led to DALA’s creation in 2021.
DALA now has more than 200 members across Australia.
Mr Monks received the 2023 Western Australian Lawyer of the Year award by the Law Society of Western Australia and received the Asian Australian Lawyers Association Western Australia Branch Award 2022 for Leadership and Diversity.
His practice spans family law, NDIS and administrative law, guardianship and administration, disability discrimination, and criminal law.
Ms McPherson, the owner of McPherson Clinical Consulting, holds a Bachelor of Occupational Therapy as well as a degree in Psychology. She has been practising as an OT since 2003.
Ms McPherson has worked in a variety of disciplines including occupational rehab, complex injury management and the NDIS. She has provided medico-legal services for several years.
Practitioners who register for the session will be better equipped to:
- recognise barriers to participation in legal workplaces;
- identify practical opportunities to improve accessibility and inclusion;
- better respond to individual access needs and support participation in day-to-day legal practice; and
- strengthen accessible recruitment, inclusive working practices and career pathways, informed by professional expertise and lived experience.
The Zoom session starts at midday in Queensland. Registered attendees will receive joining details before the session.
The event will be recorded. To receive the recording after the event, practitioners need to register for the webinar.
It is expected to be eligible for one CPD point.
There will be an opportunity to ask questions during the session.
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