WOMEN lawyers working in regional and rural areas will discuss ways to better support clients and attract and keep more women lawyers in the country at a conference in Armidale on Friday, March 1.
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The NSW Regional Women Lawyers industry group is holding its third conference, and a networking dinner the evening prior, at the University of New England.
Group president and NSW Central Coast based barrister Michelle Meares said the conferences had proved popular with women lawyers in regional and rural NSW because they gained latest knowledge on key legal issues and cases impacting their clients and communities, as well as information on running viable legal practices in smaller communities.
"Women lawyers working in regional and rural NSW are more isolated than their city counterparts," Ms Meares said.
"Bringing women lawyers together gives them personal connection and the opportunity to form networks of professional and personal support when they are in their communities."
Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia Judge Jane Costigan will deliver the keynote address on the Court's Special Indigenous List.
Mark Perry, head of UNE's Law School, will open the conference.
The conference will focus on issues including family law and Indigenous Australians, transforming sexual harassment culture in rural and regional areas, climate change and the law, the impact of blockchain and ways to ensure viable rural and regional legal practices.
Ms Meares said the group was also focused on encouraging and supporting regional and rural women who wanted to work in senior levels of the law, where they remained under-represented.
Conference topics and speakers include:
- Transforming sexual harassment culture in rural and regional areas - Associate Professor Skye Charry, UNE;
- Climate change litigation and careers in environmental law - Kirsty Ruddock, managing lawyer Environmental Defenders Office, safe climate corporate and commercial team;
- Preparing a costs assessment, Nicole Armitage, principal solicitor eConveyancing NSW;
- Impact of blockchain on rural and regional legal practice - Lisa Coates, principal-director Lodestone Law and law lecturer at Charles Sturt University;
- Women in Law - inside and outside the court room from Afghanistan to Australia - Judge Robyn Tupman, District Court NSW;
- Financial tips for running a regional law firm - Heather McKinnon, partner, Bryant McKinnon Lawyers and Charlotte Egan, director, Booth Brown Legal;
- Extending the reach of the law of negligence: Multi-party disputes and the Design Building Practitioners Act - Laina Chan, barrister, 2 Selborne Chambers;
- Recruiting and retaining lawyers in regional and rural NSW - Haley McEwen, senior solicitor, Mid North Coast Community Legal Centre and Judith Harrison, senior lecturer ANU College of Law.
The group was established in 2023 and welcomes new members.
The conference starts at 8.45am and concludes at 5pm. It will be held in the J.P Belshaw Lecture Theatre at UNE.
Tickets are available via Humanitix - https://events.humanitix.com/nsw-regional-women-lawyers-armidale-conference
