International Bar Association Annual Conference - Paris, France 2023
17 November 2023
Right to left: Law Council President Mr Luke Murphy, Founder of Diverse Matters Ms Yasmin Sheikh, Chief Executive of the Law Society of England and Wales Mr Ian Jeffery, Secretary of the Nigerian Bar Association Lawyers with Disability Forum Ms Patience Etumudon, Former Law Council President Ms Fiona Mcleod AO SC.
From 29 October to 3 November 2023, Law Council President, Mr Luke Murphy attended the International Bar Association (IBA) Annual Conference in Paris, France, together with Ms Margery Nicoll, Deputy CEO and Director, International and Ms Charlotte Stubbs, Senior Policy Lawyer, International. The President of the Law Society of NSW, Ms Cassandra Banks, and the President of the Law Institute of Victoria, Ms Tania Wolff, together with representatives from their organisations, also attended.
During the Conference, President Murphy represented the Law Council at various meetings, including the Bar Issues Commission Bar Leaders Forum and the IBA Council Meeting.
Ms Fiona McLeod AO SC, a member of the Executive of the Bar Issues Commission, organised and chaired two sessions at the Conference and invited President Murphy to serve as a panellist on them. In the first session on Equity Procurement on gender in the legal industry, President Murphy discussed the Law Council’s landmark National Attrition and Re-Engagement Study and its Equitable Briefing Policy, launched in 2016, that has made progress in increasing the proportion of briefs being allocated to women barristers.
In the session on Diversity – Focus on Disability, President Murphy discussed the Law Council’s Justice Project, undertaken in 2017 and 2018, and how it has used the findings of the Justice Project to advocate for services and reforms to federal legislation to achieve better outcomes for people with disability.
In the margins of the substantive Conference sessions, President Murphy met bilaterally with United Kingdom Legal Services Minister, Mr Mike Freer; the President of the Law Society of England and Wales, Mr Nick Emmerson; and the President of the Bar Council of England and Wales, Mr Nick Vineall KC. These meetings provided an opportunity to discuss progress of the Australia-UK Legal Services Regulatory Dialogue and other issues related to market access for legal services.
The Law Council also hosted its annual wine tasting event with the Australian Embassy in Paris. The wine tasting was made possible due to Her Excellency Ms Gillian Bird, Ambassador to Australia, offering to host the event at her residence, and the generous donation from Australia’s First Families of Wine. The wine tasting has become an extremely popular annual event attracting large numbers of invited Australian and international lawyers. This year, more than 200 lawyers attended, and provides an excellent opportunity to showcase Australia’s legal profession alongside the many other European hosted events during the week.
Last Updated on 28/02/2024