Monday, 1 April 2019
Obiter Dictum, Autumn 2019
Welcome to the 2019 legal year!
As the Chair of the ACT Young Lawyers Committee for 2019, it is my pleasure to introduce myself to you all. The Committee looks forward to working with young lawyers in the ACT this year.
The Committee meets once a month. Our goal is to promote a positive and collegiate young lawyers’ community through social and networking events, CPD seminars, and a mentor program. We are an active Committee who work hard to organise a strong, interesting, and exciting calendar of events.
As usual, we have a very active calendar of events for 2019 — visit the website to find out what we have in store!
If you are a newly admitted lawyer, in your first five years of practice, under 35 years of age, or simply new to Canberra, we are the Committee for you. Being a lawyer can seem lonely, overwhelming and a lot of hard work — but it can also be a lot of fun.
On 9 February 2019, we kicked off the legal year with our charity event at Capitol Brewing Co, where we began fundraising for Hands Across Canberra. It was a wonderful, relaxed social event with tasty burgers and bevvies.
The mentor program continues to grow and we will be kicking off the 2019 program shortly. Our Autumn CPD afternoon will be held on 13 March 2019 — guest speaker at this event is Clarissa Rayward from the Happy Lawyer Happy Life podcast!
Young Lawyers Charity
Each year the Committee chooses a charity to support. The charity is preferably a local charity, and often has a focus on mental health. In 2017, we raised $2,500 for Lifeline Canberra, and in 2018 we raised $5,000 for Orange Sky Laundry.
This year we are supporting Hands Across Canberra. Hands Across Canberra was founded in 2010 and is Canberra’s independent community foundation, working with more than 200 local community organisations. You can find out more about the charity at www.handsacrosscanberra.org.au.
The Committee
I am pleased to introduce our committee for 2019 — you’ll see many of us at events, so come up and say hello!
- Chair – Rebecca Wheeler, Therapeutic Goods Administration
- Vice-Chair – Kahlia Jenkins, Maurice Blackburn Lawyers
- Secretary – Alyssa Dunn, Australian Taxation Office
- Treasurer – Rahul Bedi, Maliganis Edwards Johnson
- Emily Bowler, HWL Ebsworth
- Thomas Barrington-Smith, Kamy Saeedi Law
- Angela Li, Alliance Legal
- Mitchell Wright, Ashurst
- Adrienne Davis, Blumers
- Rhys Mitchell, Trinity Law
- Adrian Hearne, HWL Ebsworth
- Kumu Samarakoon, Clayton Utz
- Steven McMahon, Harrington Kibbey Law
- Monica Serci, Watts McCray
- Sarah Wetton, Donohue & Co
- Andrew Giddings, Legal Aid ACT
- Natasha Del Piero, ACT Law Society
- Laura Pierce, ACT Government Solicitor
If you have any ideas for how we can better support young lawyers in our community, please feel free to email me your suggestions. We would love to hear from you!
Rebecca Wheeler
Chair, Young Lawyers Committee