News & Events | Victorian Bar

21Sep

Featured Event

HONG KONG 2018 INTERNATIONAL COMMERCIAL LAW CONFERENCE

Register now for the Hong Kong 2018 ICLC conference to be held on Friday the 21st and Saturday the 22nd of September in Hong Kong.

Click here for further conference information and to register.

6Sep

Featured Event

Photographic Exhibition of Barristers Opening

Peter O’Callaghan QC Gallery Ltd, The Victorian Bar, Barristers’ Chambers Limited and The Art and Collections Committee are delighted to present the opening of ‘The Changing Face of the Bar’; a photography exhibition about barristers.

Latest News & Events

14Sep

In Brief

In Brief Issue #882

It was a week of appointments and welcomes for members of our Bar. On behalf of all members, I extend to each of them my congratulations and wish them every personal and professional satisfaction in their new roles.

7Sep

In Brief

In Brief Issue #881

Changing Face of the Bar

Yesterday, renowned photographer Bill Henson opened the "Changing Face of the Bar" exhibition in the Peter O’Callaghan QC Gallery on the ground floor of Owen Dixon Chambers. (Bill Henson’s own extraordinary photographic portrait of Kenneth Hayne AC QC is ordinarily on permanent display in the Gallery.)

31Aug

In Brief

In Brief Issue #880

Bar Council Tenure Review

Thank you to all members who took the time to participate in our recent survey on whether, in the interests of good governance, there is a need to reform clause 42 of the Victorian Bar’s Constitution, by reason of which there is an annual election for members of Bar Council, with members serving one-year terms. There were 287 responses (about 14% of practising members). The results of the survey are set out below.

24Aug

In Brief

In Brief Issue #879

Law Library Launch

On Monday afternoon Justice Macaulay and I officially launched the new Victorian Bar branch of the Law Library of Victoria in the Richard Griffith Library on the first floor of Owen Dixon Chambers East.

17Aug

In Brief

In Brief Issue #878

Robert Richter QC & Philip Dunn QC portrait unveiling

There were two contenders for event of the week - the farewell for Justice Tracey (speech linked below) and the unveiling of Martin Tighe’s portrait of Robert Richter QC and Philip Dunn QC, two giants of the criminal bar, on Tuesday evening in the Peter O’Callaghan QC gallery.

10Aug

In Brief

In Brief Issue #877

Update on Law Council’s Equitable Briefing Policy

Earlier in the year, I asked members to demonstrate their commitment to equitable briefing by adopting the Law Council of Australia’s Equitable Briefing Policy. The policy, which has been endorsed by the Bar, aims to achieve a nationally consistent approach towards bringing about cultural and attitudinal change within the legal profession with respect to gender briefing practices.

3Aug

In Brief

In Brief Issue #876

Hong Kong Conference

If you haven’t yet booked, now is the time to commit to next month’s Hong Kong 2018 International Commercial Law Conference to be held by the Victorian Bar and the Commercial Bar Association.

27Jul

In Brief

In Brief Issue #875

In Brief Holiday Edition

A fortnight ago, I updated members on the Bar Council’s review of our pro bono duty barrister schemes with Victoria’s courts and tribunals. Last week, I updated members on work being done by the Bar Council to drive an increase in the volume of direct briefing work available to members.

Constitutional Reform

This week, I want to update members on the status of the Bar Council’s governance review and to foreshadow the imminent release of a discussion paper and survey to canvas the opinions of members in relation to the election of the Bar Council and the tenure of Bar Councillors.

20Jul

In Brief

In Brief Issue #874

In Brief Holiday Edition

This week, another in the series of updates to members on the Bar Council’s priorities for the remainder of 2018, which replaces my usual President’s Message while I am on leave in July.

Direct Briefing Working Group

Last week, I reported on the Bar Council’s ongoing comprehensive review of its various pro bono duty barrister schemes.

This week, an example of some of the work going on to respond to the lessons we learned from the results of the State of the Bar report released earlier this year.

13Jul

In Brief

In Brief Issue #873

In Brief Holiday Edition

Over the next three weeks, I will be devoting most of my weekly message in In Brief to updating members on some of the signature projects currently being undertaken by the Bar Council. One of the great privileges of being President is the first-hand exposure I get to the dedication, dynamism and creativity of the members of Bar Council, the members of our many Associations and Committees, and the staff who work in the Bar Office.

So far, 2018 has been a busy year, with members of the Bar Council contributing in myriad ways through involvement in various working groups as well as the ordinary business of the Council. In all of our projects, we are guided by the vision in our Strategic Plan for the Victorian Bar: “independence, excellence, leadership, growth”. I do not see the pace letting up over the balance of the year.