Greetings from Convergence, the ABA’s international conference in Singapore, where more than 200 delegates have gathered from all Australian bars – including a very healthy contingent from the Victorian Bar, the judiciary and the wider profession.
We are at the halfway mark for the court winter vacation. Whether you are having some well-earned rest or remain in chambers, take a moment to see what’s happening near you for NAIDOC Week 2019 (7-14 July). The theme for this year is “Voice. Treaty. Truth.”
I hope that as many members as possible are managing to get some time off during the courts’ winter recess over the next couple of weeks. For those who are taking a break, I wish you all a restful time with friends and family. By the time you read this, I will have commenced a few weeks’ leave, to be interrupted by the ABA Conference in Singapore the week after next. For those of you who are not taking a break, you have my sympathy and respect, please hold the fort.
A full-day program for the Junior Bar Conference is underway in the Neil McPhee room today, with some excellent presentations canvassing advocacy fundamentals as well as important wellbeing sessions. A focus of the conference is how barristers can incorporate health and wellbeing into their lives by learning about resilience. There are also sessions on superannuation, technology and practice management.
Some terrific advocacy and plenty of good humour was on display at the Special General Meeting (SGM) of the Victorian Bar held on Wednesday evening. Members debated, for and against, the most comprehensive package of proposed reforms to the Constitution of the Bar in many years.
It is with deep regret that the Bar Council informs members of the death of Christopher Stewart Smale. Christopher passed away on Tuesday, aged 73.
A Funeral and Memorial Celebration will mark Chris’ great enthusiasm for life at the Glen Eira Town Hall Auditorium on Wednesday August 7th 2019at 2.00pm (doors open at 1.30 pm)
Special General Meeting of the Victorian Bar next week
A Special General Meeting (SGM) of the Victorian Bar Inc will take place next Wednesday, 12 June 2019 at 5pm in the Neil McPhee room.
At the SGM, we will vote on the most significant package of proposed Constitutional reforms put in many years. The proposed reforms are the result of exhaustive work and exhausting debate by the Bar Council over several terms, and are directed at building a stronger and better governed Bar.
My inbox has been full all week of rave reviews about the annual Bar Dinner held last Friday, tempered by a couple of “constructive suggestions” for next year—the opposite of the usual response to any major Bar event.
A Special General Meeting of the Victorian Bar will be held at 5pm on Wednesday 12 June 2019, in the Neil McPhee Room, Level 1, Owen Dixon Chambers East,at which proposed amendments to the Constitution of the Victorian Bar will be put for the consideration of members.
