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Keywords: Legal Profession

  • AUSTRALIA

    Did lawyers fail to stand on principle?

    • Frank Brennan
    • 20 August 2024

    In the aftermath of the failed Voice referendum, questions arise about the legal profession’s role in public discourse. Was this a missed opportunity for legal experts to provide critical analysis and guidance on such a significant constitutional matter?

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  • AUSTRALIA

    Vicarious

    • Martin Pike
    • 25 May 2020
    24 Comments

    At the fringes of the legal system, there are areas of work you probably won’t read about in law school career guides. Many of these deal in trauma or poverty. They are substantial, but they aren’t celebrated or pursued by the mainstream of the profession. They generally attract neither money nor prestige, and in many cases the ‘market’ fails to provide paid jobs of any sort, irrespective of need.

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  • INTERNATIONAL

    Kavanaugh and men's sexual assault hypocrisy

    • Catherine Marshall
    • 10 October 2018
    12 Comments

    Where many saw a woman smearing the name of an upstanding member of the legal fraternity, others saw a successful professional putting her reputation on the line to expose the harm done by a man being considered for one of the country's highest offices. Her allegations are believable to us precisely because they are so common.

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  • PODCAST

    ChatterSquare: Kate Galloway on lawyers in a tech-driven world

    • Podcast
    • 01 August 2017

    What are the implications for the legal profession as blockchain technologies, smart contracts and apps shift our approach to matters of law? Where do lawyers fit into algorithm-driven decisions and digital access to information? Kate Galloway discusses how tech is disrupting the way we think about lawyering, and the ethical problems it poses. 

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  • AUSTRALIA

    Our first female High Court chief justice is first class

    • Moira Rayner
    • 30 November 2016
    10 Comments

    So the High Court finally has its first woman chief justice. Mainstream media have seized upon this as a remarkable achievement for the legal profession and as 'a fair go' for the empowered woman of 2016. Kiefel's attainment of her highest goal should be recognised as no such lesser win. It is right and proper recognition of the suitability of a solidly trained and experienced lawyer, and the product of this individual human being's commitment to the law and its customs, protocols and conventions.

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  • MEDIA

    Don't be a Twitter twit

    • Amy Clarke
    • 04 May 2015
    12 Comments

    Just because you can legally say something, doesn't mean you should — or that it is professionally responsible to do so. As SBS presenter Scott McIntyre discovered when he was sacked for his controversial tweets about Anzac Day, the internet can sometimes be a treacherous place to test the boundaries of 'acceptable' free speech. McIntyre learned this lesson the hard way, and he is hardly the first to do so.

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  • AUSTRALIA

    Too much order with too little law 30 years on

    • Frank Brennan
    • 23 July 2014
    1 Comment

    'Undoubtedly there are many challenges confronting our elected leaders in dealing with violent crime and with pathological sex offenders. But long-term sustainable solutions must be based on respect for judicial independence and for the role of the legal profession.' Frank Brennan addresses the Queensland Council for Civil Liberties at The Irish Club, 175 Elizabeth St, Brisbane 8 July 2014.

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  • AUSTRALIA

    Too little law in Newman's Queensland

    • Frank Brennan
    • 24 February 2014
    5 Comments

    'Three decades on, Queensland once again has a premier who finds some political advantage in skewing the balance between law and order, impugning the integrity and vocation of the legal profession. He has described defence lawyers as hired guns.' Professor Frank Brennan SJ addresses the Queensland Law Society Dinner, 30 years on from his book Too Much Order with Too Little Law.

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  • EUREKA STREET TV

    Moira Rayner's 'spiritual' fight for justice

    • Peter Kirkwood
    • 21 October 2011

    'We can not achieve justice by acting unjustly.' Throughout her long and colourful legal career, Moira Rayner has been an unwavering advocate for human rights. A series of personal and professional crises in 2005 led to a reappraisal of her life, which included the discovery of a totally new spiritual direction.

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