Committees

Law Society Committees have powers, authorities and tasks delegated by the Council. Consisting of dedicated volunteers, each committee focuses on a particular area of law, pooling together specialist skills and experience in order to scrutinise legislation, court decisions and other government policies.
Committees are involved in different areas and there are three broad categories:

• Regulatory committees – perform statutory duties under the Legal Profession Uniform Law (NSW)
• Liaison committees – linked to other professions or organisations
• Policy committees

By drawing on the insights of committees, the Law Society can in turn meet its statutory duties and act as a major player in law reform and policy debates.

Costs

The role of the Costs Committee is to review and comment on costs issues and costs law. It prepares the Law Society’s costs precedents and web content including the Costs Guidebook and reviews these for updates as required.

As part of its role to educate the profession, it provides guidance from queries received from practitioners.

The costs committee is occasionally called upon by other Law Society committees and others to comment on costs policy and legislation.

Disclosure Committee

The Disclosure Committee, under delegation of Council of the Law Society, deals with the matters that solicitors are required to disclose to the Society under Chapter 3 of the Legal Profession Uniform Law (LPUL).

These matters include show cause events, including matters involving convictions and bankruptcy related events, and notification of events under section 51 of LPUL.

The Disclosure Committee is comprised of both members of the profession, including at least two Law Society Councillors, and lay members. The Committee works in consultation with the Society's Professional Standards Department and meets on a monthly basis to consider the matters disclosed.

Ethics

The role of this Committee is to provide leadership for the profession in ethics.

The Committee gives guidance to individual solicitors who wish to raise ethical issues. It also provides continuing education for the broader profession, including ethics presentations and publications for both the Society's website and the Journal.

The Committee is involved in submissions internally and externally on ethical issues, including the legislation regulating the profession.

See the members of the Committee here.

Fidelity Fund Management

The role of this Committee is to meet the requirements of the legal profession legislation in relation to the Legal Practitioners Fidelity Fund in accordance with the powers and functions delegated by the Council.

Licensing

The Law Society Council is mandated with statutory responsibilities under the legal profession legislation. Some of those obligations have been delegated to the Licensing Committee pursuant to section 32 of the Legal Profession Uniform Law Application Act 2014 (NSW).

The functions of the Committee traverse a variety of regulatory responsibilities including the granting and renewal of, and imposing conditions upon, practising certificate as well as ensuring compliance with Continuing Professional Development requirements and other conditions. The Committee also considers applications for practising certificates by both new admittees, practitioners admitted under the Trans-Tasman Mutual Recognition Act, and where they arise, matters in respect of foreign lawyers. It makes recommendations to the Legal Profession Admission Board concerning pre-admission applications for exemption from practical legal training, and it considers and reviews Law Society policy on licensing issues.

A consistent approach to the statutory responsibilities is important for both practitioners and for the Council of the Law Society's role as a co-regulator of the profession. Accordingly it is helpful for the Committee to have some long serving members in order to achieve that desired consistency in approach to applications and to ensure thorough understanding of the relevant legislation and associated policies. Of course consistency is balanced with a recognised benefit in fresh perspectives and the Committee aims to achieve this balance by trying to introduce at least one new member to the Committee each year

Professional Conduct

As a delegate of the Council of the Society, this Committee is charged with making determinations (and recommendations to the Council) on matters of conduct. This includes complaints from members of the public and others which have been referred to the Law Society by the Office of the Legal Services Commissioner or initiated by the Society itself.

It has as its core value the maintenance of the high standards the profession, the public and the judiciary demands of its members.

Policy Committees

The role of the 18 Policy Committees is to represent the Law Society and its members on policy and practice issues arising in relation to their specific area of expertise.

Alternative Dispute Resolution

2023 Committee:

Mr Gary Ulman (Chair), Ms Miriam Ziegler (Dep Chair), J. Anderson, P. Argy, K. David, G. Ettinger, G. Fabiani, D. Fitzgerald, S. Kendall, L. Levy, P. Lewis, N. Malhotra, J. McDermott, J. Robb, A. Roy, C. Seil.

Committee page

Business Law

2023 Committee:

Ms Amber Cerny (Chair), Mr Tim Masters (Dep Chair), A. Balis, S. Brown, A. Care, C. Cowley, M. Gupta, C. Hall, P. Harrison, E. Heuston, S. Howari, K. Kapetas, M. Lo, K. McLean, T. Mierendorff, B. Roe, F. Schoneveld, K. Smith, R. Snowden, J. Stathis, T. Stevensen, C. Taylor, E. Wong.

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Children's Legal Issues

2023 Committee:

Ms Jennifer Wong (Chair), Ms Keisha Hopgood (Dep Chair), S. Bourne, B. Bowman, G. Bromwich, J. Clifford, C. Delaney, Z. De Re, J. Fing, L. Goodwin, A. Hall, S. Hargans, M. Hayward, K. Kelso, B. Kennedy, E. Leong, D. Neligan, S. Niles, K. Phillips, Z. Robinson, A. Ross, K. Rowley, J. Smith, J. Symons, R. Ward.

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Criminal Law

2023 Committee:

Ms Jane Sanders (Chair), Mr Michal Mantaj (Dep Chair), C. Bell, A. Bilias, V. Chan, P. Coady, E. Conditsis, D. Elston, B. Ford, P. Gibson, D. Giddy, R. Hoyles, J. Hunter, S. Ienna, L. Kaban, J. Keane, B. Kennedy, J. Lewis, J. Pheils, J. Sutton, T. Tsavdaridis, R. Tumeth, M. Watts, F. Way, J. Wong.

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Diversity and Inclusion

2023 Committee:

Mr Ronan Macsweeney (Chair), Miss Iona Luke (Dep Chair), A. Albury, E. Allen, J. Berbotto, K. Brooker, G. Burke, D. Cheung, C. Coupland, T. Csillag, J. Dawes, M. Graczol, R. Grant, M. Gurlica, M. Hamayun, S. Ibrahim, R. Karim, C. Kirkpatrick, A. Lyras, R. Manguray, A. Merrett, S. Mtango, A. Pale, K. Pender, V. Roles, U. Senasinghe, L. Shelly, J. Skelton, T. Spirovski (YL Rep), N. Stewart, J. Tyrrell, C. Wu, E. Yazdani.

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Elder Law, Capacity & Succession

2023 Committee list:

Ms Jennifer McMillan (Co-Chair), Mr Richard Neal (Co-Chair), L. Absalom, B-J. Attard, A. Britton, L. Brown, E. Chappel, J. Clarke, N. Darcy, S. Davis, M. Dixon, F. Fagan, L. Gerritsen, T. Goodwin, B. Hayward, D. Heffernan, G. Kirwan, A. Koumoukelis, M. Lovelock, A. McIntyre, M. Money, K. Penfold, R. Pollard, G. Ryan, A. Schiralli, L. To.

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Employment Law

2023 Committee:

Mr Brett Feltham (Co-Chair), Mr Nathan Keats (Co-Chair), A. Angelopoulos, S. Berry, M. Byrnes, P. Costigan, M. Dawson, M. Doherty, M. Doyle, L. Drake, J. Farah, A. Grayson, K. Iles, L. Izzo, C. Kerley, D. King, M. Kuga, K. Lewis, A. Lyras, D. McEvoy, S. Nachiappan, D. Potts, C. Stebbing, W. Steenson, J. van der Plaat.

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Environmental Planning and Development

2023 Committee:

Ms Roslyn McCulloch, (Chair), Ms Angela Penklis (Dep Chair), J. Baldwin,  J. Amy, K. Blunden, M. Bonanno, R. Bullmore, A. Cahill, C. Cai, B. Charlton, R. Chick, A. Davidson, R. James, A. Knox, M. Macken, M. Mallos, J. Sheehan, M. Thomas, S. Urlich, P. Vergotis.

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Family Law

2023 Committee:

Ms Jacqueline Dawson (Co-Chair), Mr Glenn Thompson (Co-Chair), B. Bryant, L. Coady, A. Colquhoun, P. Davis, A. Gordon, M. Hayward, F. Hoad, K. Kearley, M. Livermore, L. McGregor, M. Meares, G. Morgan, J. Morris, A. Murray, J. Nessworthy, C. Pitcher, L. Shelly, M. Whitehead, S. Yigit.

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Human Rights

2023 Committee:

Mr Ali Mojtahedi (Chair), Ms Jade Tyrell (Dep Chair), W. Ahmed, J. Anderson, S. Calnan, S. Clarke, M. Coidan, I. Crowther, S. Dhillon, R. Dominguez, K. Drayton, A. Duvall, S. Fliegner, S. Henderson, M. Iskander, J. Le, E. Leong, A. Levin, M. Markoulli, K. McKenzie, M. Nekoodast, S. Parsons, J. Redfern, G. Rohan, N. Ruppert, A. Sinclair, Y. Su.

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Indigenous Issues

2023 Committee:

Mr Jason Behrendt (Chair), Ms Danielle Captain-Webb (Dep Chair), Z. Armytage, B-J. Attard, S. Calnan, R. Cavanagh, B. Charlton, S. Crellin, Z. De Re, L. De Silva, H. Donaldson, B. Dufty, M. Dupuis, M. Gleeson, L. Holden, M. Holden, E. Hudson-Buhagiar, J. Lovric, T. McComsey, O. Monaghan, S. Mortimer, P. Mulroney, P. Novotna, L. Swan.

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Injury Compensation

2023 Committee:

Mr Timothy Concannon (Chair), Mr Leigh Davidson (Dep Chair), A. Abboud, N. Baker, S. Butcher, D. Cameron, R. Dababneh, G. Guest, B. Hagipantelis, P. Hunt, I. Jones, K. Kennedy, C. Khoudair, A. Lopes De Lima, P. Macken, M. Manokarathas, R. May, N. Morehead, A. Mulcahy, C. Newton, P. Ohm, D. Potts, K. Sawers, T. Tancred, E. Thomson, J. Thurgood, K. Toshack, D. Weng, R. Yousef.

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Litigation Law and Practice

2023 Committee:

Mr Elias Yamine (Chair), Ms Sylvia Fernadez (Dep Chair), S. Brodowski, K. David, P. Green, M. Greenwood, A. Hack, D. Hing, J. Howard, C. Hutchinson, G. Johnson, E. Keir, R. Kenna, K. Martin, K. McLean, C. Morson, C. Peterson, J. Priestley, J. Prowse, J. Punthakey, J. Robb, M. Stephens, P. Sutherland, J. Tyrrell, S. Willis, J. Windsor, C. Wong.

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Privacy and Data Law

2023 Committee:

Ms Olga Ganopolsky (Co-Chair), Miss Aurelie Jacquet (Co-Chair), S. Blanks, H. Brown, P. Cenoz, A. Cerny, C. Cloudsdale, N. Commins, A. Duvall, M. Fai, R. Grant, G. Jefferson, J. Kulawiec, P. Leonard, B. Liang, L. Mannering, J. McAteer, S. McLaughlan, A. Mitchell, S. Ng, L. Nicholson, S. O'Gorman, R. Scanlon, L. Sinclair.

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Property Law

2023 Committee:

Mr Richard Harvey (Chair), Mrs Clarissa Huegill (Dep Chair), M. Andrews, E. Ashley, A. Cahill, G. Channell, J. Crittenden, M. Devitt, E. Di Stefano, D. Fitzclarence, C. Graves, S. Hatcher, M. Jebeile, O. Kiely, G. Maksimovic, T. McKibbin, J. Mcmillan, G. Milani, D. Morabito, G. Newton, M. Osborne, S. Pallavicini, N. Scanlon, K. Shahani, D. Skapinker, A. Stiles, M. Swan, K. Whitley.

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Public Law

2023 Committee:

Mr Andrew Chalk (Chair), Mr Graeme Johnson (Dep Chair), L. Crawford,  J. Farrell, R. Heinrich, M. Keenan, A. Mojtahedi, M. O'Brien, A. Reeve, G. Rohan, H. Sims, D. Smith, K. Smith, M. Smyth, A. Tsacalos, T. Vi La, A. Zekanovic.

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Revenue NSW / Law Society Liaison

2023 Committee (Law Society members):

Mr Adrian Chek (Chair), A. Bailey, R. Barbour, G. Carry, P. Gell, D. Lam, J. Lee, M. Macken, R. Nguyen, T. Nguyen, S. Paterson, M. Sealey, M. Telan, L. To, G. Vale, D. Wong.

Rural Issues

2023 Committee:

Ms Georgiena Ryan (Chair), Mr Peter Moffitt (Dep Chair), C. Banks, C. Colwell, A. Ferguson, J. Fletcher, A. Gordon, S. Morgan, A. Parbery, N. Savage, N. Scanlon, J. Sheen, J. Spear, P. Vagg, J. Van Der Plaat, K. Whitley.

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Segment Committees

Government Solicitors

2023 Committee:

Miss Jennifer Wong (Chair), Dr Mel Keenan (Deputy chair), S. Alden, K. Boyd, J. Camden, I. Campbell, C. Cloudsdale, G. Ettinger, M. Filippeli, M. Graczol, T. Haber, B. Hughes, C. Lithgow, B. McGrath, K. Pastrovic, V. Phillips, M. Smith, J. Stathis, R. Su, A. Thomas, J. Tozer, A. Tsacalos, P. Vartuli.

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