The Law Society of New South Wales is a professional association which represents over 42,000 solicitors in Australia.[1][2] The Law Society has statutory powers and regulates the practice of law in New South Wales.[3]
| Formation | 1842 (formally 1884) |
|---|---|
| Location | |
Official language | English |
Key people | Brett McGrath, President Kenneth Tickle, CEO |
| Website | www |
The Law Society of NSW encourages debate and actively drives law reform issues through policy submissions[4] and open dialogue with governments, parliamentary bodies, the courts and the New South Wales Department of Justice. It ensures the general public has appropriate access to justice and can be easily connected to members of the profession when they require legal advice.
Along with the Office of the Legal Services Commissioner, the Law Society sets and enforces professional standards,[5] licenses solicitors to practise, investigates complaints and administers discipline to ensure both the community and the profession are properly served by ethical and responsible solicitors.
History
editThe Law Society was informally started in 1842.[6] In 1884, the society was formalized as "The Incorporated Law Institute of New South Wales", and had its first annual meeting the following year.
In 1960, the institute was renamed to "The Law Society of New South Wales". In 1963, the Society started publishing The Law Society Journal. The society also established the College of Law in 1973, the Legal Practitioners Act 1987 (NSW), Law Industry Superannuation Trust (LIST) and LawCare in 1989, and the Office of the Legal Services Commissioner in 1992. Vis-a-vis the Office of the Legal Services Commissioner (OLSC), alternatively, according to a 1994 leaflet from the OLSC, the OLSC was set up by the NSW government not the Law Society, and in July 1994 not 1992, by way of an amendment to the Legal Profession Act 1987, in particular Part 10. The 1987 Act was repealed in 2005 and replaced with the Legal Profession Act 2004 - in particular see Part 7.3.
List of presidents
edit| Year | Name | Employer | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1884–1891 | John Williams[7] | NSW Crown Solicitor | |
| 1892–1908 | William Pigott[8] | ||
| 1909–11 | F Curtiss | ||
| 1912–14 | EA Smith | ||
| 1915–17 | HCE Rich | ||
| 1918–20 | AM Hemsley[9] | ||
| 1921–23 | AC Stephen | ||
| 1924–26 | DW Roxburgh | ||
| 1927–29 | MAH Fitzhardinge | ||
| 1930–32 | AN Littlejohn | ||
| 1933–35 | JE Gosling | ||
| 1936 | APN Dalrymple | ||
| 1937–39 | WG Forsyth | ||
| 1940 | JW Stevenson | ||
| 1941–43 | WJ Baldock | ||
| 1944–45 | JG Crowther | ||
| 1946 | D Barron | ||
| 1947–49 | Arthur E. Abbott | Parner, Garland Seaborn & Abbott | |
| 1950 | GA Yuill | ||
| 1951–52 | RZ de Ferranti | ||
| 1953–54 | WER Francis | ||
| 1955–56 | LW Taylor | ||
| 1957–58 | TGD Marshall | ||
| 1959 | NL Cowper | ||
| 1960–61 | John Watling | Partner, Sly & Russell | |
| 1962–63 | K Smithers | ||
| 1964–65 | BJ McDonald | ||
| 1966–67 | WRD Stevenson | ||
| 1968–69 | CH Dunlop | ||
| 1970–71 | JK Bowen | ||
| 1972–73 | JR Broadbent | ||
| 1974–75 | Alan Loxton | ||
| 1976–77 | MM Hooke | ||
| 1978 | DG Barr | ||
| 1979 | DG Mackay | ||
| 1980 | AJ Mitchell | ||
| 1981 | MJ Gill | ||
| 1982 | Mahla Pearlman | ||
| 1983 | DE McLachlan | ||
| 1984 | Rod McGeoch | ||
| 1985 | F Herron | ||
| 1986 | Kim A Garling | ||
| 1987 | KH Dufty | ||
| 1988 | WV Windeyer | ||
| 1989 | BE Thornton | ||
| 1990 | GM Roberson | ||
| 1991 | DA de Carvalho | ||
| 1992 | John R Marsden | Founding Partner, Marsdens Law Group | |
| 1993 | John Nelson | Partner, Gadens | |
| 1994 | DG Fairlie | ||
| 1995 | DM Stack | ||
| 1996 | ND Lyall | ||
| 1997 | PV Fair | ||
| 1998 | Ron K Heinrich | ||
| 1999 | Margaret C Hole | ||
| 2000 | John FS North | ||
| 2001 | Nick K Meagher | ||
| 2002 | Kim Cull | ||
| 2003 | Robert JC Benjamin | ||
| 2004 | Gordon A Salier | ||
| 2005 | John E McIntyre | ||
| 2006 | June McPhie | ||
| 2007 | Geoff J Dunlevy[10] | Partner, Rhodes Kildea | |
| 2008 | Hugh I Macken | ||
| 2009 | Joseph J Catanzariti[11] | Partner, Clayton Utz | |
| 2010 | Mary J Macken | ||
| 2011 | Stuart D Westgarth[12] | Partner, HWL Ebsworth | |
| 2012 | Justin J Dowd[13] | Partner, Watts McCray | |
| 2013 | John C Dobson[14] | ||
| 2014 | Ros E Everett[15] | Partner, Everett Evans | |
| 2015 | John F Eades[16] | Partner, Noyce, Salmon & D'Aquino | |
| 2016 | Gary S Ulman[17] | Partner, Minter Ellison | |
| 2017 | Pauline Wright | Partner, PJ Donnellan & Co | |
| 2018 | Doug Humphreys OAM[18] | ||
| 2019 | Elizabeth Espinosa[19] | ||
| 2020 | Richard Harvey[20] | ||
| 2021 | Juliana Warner[20] | Partner, Herbert Smith Freehills | |
| 2022 | Joanne van der Plaat | Partner, Blaxland Mawson & Rose | |
| 2023 | Cassandra Banks | Partner, CB Legal | |
| 2024 | Brett McGrath | Partner, Marsdens Law Group |
Structure and organisation
editThe Law Society is governed by an internal Council, the Legal Profession Act 2004 (NSW) and the Corporations Act 2001 (Cth). The Council meets monthly and has 15 elected members who sit for 3 year terms and one appointed member who sits for 1 year. The Council has 1 country lawyer councillor, 1 suburban lawyer councillor, 1 city lawyer councillor, 1 corporate lawyer councillor, 1 government lawyer councillor, 1 large firm lawyer councillor, 1 NSW Young Lawyers councillor (appointed), and 8 general councillors.[21] Law Society Councillors sit on the boards of LawCover (legal insurer), the NSW Legal Practitioners Fidelity Fund, the Legal Profession Admissions Board, the Public Interest Advocacy Centre (among others).
The Law Society has 23 committees devoted to different aspects of law.
Pro-bono work
editThe society started a voluntary "Pro Bono Scheme" in 1992.[22]
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ "The Law Society of New South Wales Homepage". The Law Society of New South Wales. Retrieved 20 August 2016.
- ^ "Professional Standards Council Home". New South Wales Professional Standards Council. Archived from the original on 15 June 2013. Retrieved 10 January 2013.
- ^ http://www.lawlink.nsw.gov.au/lawlink/psc/ll_psc.nsf/vwFiles/Scheme_LawSociety_Summary_nsw_20062011.pdf/$file/Scheme_LawSociety_Summary_nsw_20062011.pdf retrieved 2010-10-27 Archived 30 October 2009 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ "Policy Submissions 2018 | the Law Society of NSW". www.lawsociety.com.au. Retrieved 24 September 2013.
- ^ "Practising law in NSW | the Law Society of NSW". www.lawsociety.com.au. Retrieved 24 September 2013.
- ^ "Law Society of NSW – History". Lawsociety.com.au. Retrieved 27 July 2012.
- ^ "THE LAW INSTITUTE". Australian Star. 29 September 1888. p. 7 – via Trove.
- ^ "Death of Hon. W. H. Piggot". The Evening News. 15 March 1909. p. 6. Retrieved 21 May 2021 – via Trove.
- ^ "SYDNEY LEGAL FIGURE". West Australian. 13 July 1937. p. 16 – via Trove.
- ^ http://justinianarchive.com/828-article ; http://justinianarchive.com/833-article
- ^ "President | the Law Society of NSW". Archived from the original on 12 November 2009.
- ^ "President | the Law Society of NSW". Archived from the original on 19 February 2011.
- ^ "President | the Law Society of NSW". Archived from the original on 14 May 2012.
- ^ "President | the Law Society of NSW". Archived from the original on 11 August 2013.
- ^ "President | the Law Society of NSW". Archived from the original on 13 February 2014.
- ^ "President | the Law Society of NSW". Archived from the original on 20 March 2015.
- ^ "President | the Law Society of NSW". Archived from the original on 18 April 2016.
- ^ "President's message - 29 October 2018 | The Law Society of NSW". www.lawsociety.com.au. Retrieved 21 December 2020.
- ^ "Former Law Society President appointed as Land and Environment Court Commissioner | The Law Society of NSW". www.lawsociety.com.au. Retrieved 21 December 2020.
- ^ a b "Law Society of NSW announces 2021 President | The Law Society of NSW". www.lawsociety.com.au. Retrieved 21 December 2020.
- ^ "Law Society of NSW – Council". Lawsociety.com.au. Retrieved 27 July 2012.
- ^ "Law Society of NSW – Pro Bono Scheme". Lawsociety.com.au. Retrieved 28 December 2010.