LSJ

Can cultural and legislative change save the Catholic Church? The Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse is due to complete its work at the end of 2017. Even before it reports, distressing evidence at public hearings has put a heavy onus of responsibility on the people leading institutions to take steps to […]

When Professor Tim Flannery spoke at an April fundraising dinner for the NSW EDO (Environmental Defenders Office), his description of the rate of extinctions in Australia brought a hushed silence to an audience of several hundred members of the legal community. Flannery’s commitment to preventative action is matched by the EDO’s Principal Solicitor and Chief

Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and Partner of Maddocks Michelle Dixon is different to the leaders of most major firms in several notable ways. Despite her award-winning reputation for promoting gender equity, she was reluctant to become the “first among equals” at her firm. Dixon’s greatest passion is litigation. There is nothing in life that makes

Julie McCrossin talks to Alan Cameron AO about his new role with the NSW Law Reform Commission and why it is time to review the guardianship legislation. When Alan Cameron AO greets me just before Christmas at the reception desk of Ashurst Australia, high above Martin Place, he immediately puts me at ease with his

NSW Young Lawyers’ 2015 Young Lawyer of the Year is Besmellah Rezaee, 29. He arrived in Australia with his family at the age of 18 with limited English, after fleeing Afghanistan when he was 11. In 2012, he was a finalist for Young Australian of the Year in South Australia. In 2014, he received the inaugural John Gibson AM

More than 500 lawyers in NSW do voluntary work for the Public Interest Advocacy Centre (PIAC) – primarily for their Homeless Persons’ Legal Service – and many firms provide a range of support, including Allens, which makes their Indigenous Justice Program possible. Julie McCrossin talks to Ed Santow, PIAC’s Chief Executive Officer, about the hallmarks

Jennifer Robinson, legal adviser to Julian Assange and the United Liberation Movement for West Papua, is Director of Legal Advocacy for the Bertha Foundation where she established the Bertha Justice Initiative that supports 120 young lawyers in 16 countries to practise “movement lawyering”. Julie McCrossin speaks to her in London about her work with filmmakers,

At the tender age of 24, Sean Lau has already chalked up some impressive achievements, including the University Medal in Law and First Class Honours in Philosophy at the University of New South Wales in 2012. Now living at Oxford University as the 2015 NSW Rhodes Scholar, he isn’t studying law. He has Christian theology

Geoffrey Robertson QC is founder and head of the Doughty Street Chambers, the UK’s leading human rights practice. A prolific writer, judge and academic, his trademark Hypotheticals, broadcast on television, has made his distinctive style familiar to a general audience. On the eve of a national speaking tour, “Dreaming Too Loud – An Evening with

Chief Judge of the Federal Circuit Court John Pascoe, and the Chief Justice of the Family Court Diana Bryant, are both calling for an inquiry into international surrogacy. For Judge Pascoe, this reflects a life-long concern for the protection of children and a deep engagement with human rights in Asia. Julie McCrossin reports on misgivings