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.

See the members of the Committee here.

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

As a delegate of the Council of the Law Society, the Licensing Committee has statutory responsibilities under the legal profession legislation relating to licensing matters including consideration of non-standard applications regarding the grant or variation of practising certificates and its conditions, so as to ensure practitioners’ compliance with statutory requirements. The Committee also considers and reviews the Law Society’s policies on licensing matters. 

The Committee plays an integral role in the regulation of the legal profession in assisting practitioners’ compliance with the conditions on their practising certificates, whilst also enhancing the protection of clients of law practices and the protection of the public generally.  

The Committee is comprised of members of the legal profession and at least two Law Society Councillors. The Committee works in consultation with the Law Society’s Licensing Department and meets on a monthly basis to consider matters. 

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

2024 Committee:

Mr Gary Ulman (Chair), Ms Miriam Ziegler (Deputy Chair), K. Andronos, P. Argy, F. Bayari, T. Cullenward, K. David, G. Ettinger, G. Fabiani, O. Finemore, D. FitzGerald, S. Kendall, P. Lewis, J. McDermott, N. Malhotra, M. Mills, S. O'Connor, P. Onisforou, J. Robb, A. Roy, C. Seil,  K. Wu.

Committee page

Business Law

2024 Committee:

Ms Amber Cerny (Chair), Mr Timothy Masters (Deputy Chair), A. Balis, S. Brown, V. Caldwell,  D. Chien, O. Fischbein, M. Gupta, P. Harrison, J. Iyer, M. Lo,  K. McLean, T. Mierendorff, K. Redenbach, B. Roe, F. Schoneveld, L. Serafim, R. Snowden, R. Staltare, J. Stathis, T. Stevensen, C. Sylow.

Committee page

Children's Legal Issues

2024 Committee:

Mr James Clifford (Chair), Ms Kerri Phillips (Deputy Chair), K. Bromley, N. Callander, E. Canning, R. Carty, I. Caulfield, S. Clarke, Z. De Re, R. Frankham, L. Goodwin, A. Hall, S. Hargans, S. Ienna, K. Kelso, E. Leong, E. Mathenge, G. Mojtahedi, T. Moore, D. Neligan, S. Niles, Z. Robinson, A. Ross, K. Rowley, J. Smith, J. Stanton, S. Sunna.

Committee page

Criminal Law

2024 Committee:

Ms Jane Sanders (Chair), Mr Michal Mantaj (Deputy Chair), C. Bell, V. Chan, E. Conditsis, D. Elston, B. Ford, P. Gibson, D. Giddy, E. Hoile, R. Hoyles, S. Ienna, S. Joyner, L. Kaban, J. King, J. Lewis,  R. McCarthy, J. Ramsland, S. Rees, T. Spohr, J. Sutton, T. Tsavdaridis, R. Tumeth, F. Way, A. Whitehead, J. Wong.

Committee page

Diversity and Inclusion

2024 Committee:

Ms Jade Tyrrell (Chair), Miss Iona Luke (Deputy Chair), A. Albury, E. Allen, G. Burke, A. Chebbo, D. Cheung, J. Dawes, Z. Edries, V. Giang, R. Grant, M. Gurlica, K. Hanigan, J. Horsburgh, S. Ibrahim, J. Jayasuriya, R. Karim, B. Koh, S. Lee,  A. Lyras, R. MacSweeney, S. Mtango, A. Pale, K. Pender, V. Roles, J. Skelton, T. Spirovski, C. Stebbing, N. Stewart, G. Wijeratne, C. Wu, E Yazdani.

Committee page

Elder Law, Capacity & Succession

2024 Committee list:

Ms Jennifer McMillan (Co-chair), Mr Richard Neal (Co-chair), L. Absalom, B-J. Attard, E. Azzi, A. Britton, L. Brown, J. Clarke, N. Darcy, S. Davis, M. Dixon, A. Gordon, B. Hayward, D. Heffernan, G. Kirwan, S. Kisrwani, A. Koumoukelis, A. McIntyre, M. Money, P. Onisforou, K. Penfold, J. Pignataro, R. Pollard, G. Ryan, C. Saradetch, A. Schiralli, L. To, J. Vuu, K. Wright.

Committee page

Employment Law

2024 Committee:

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

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Environmental Planning and Development

2024 Committee:

Ms Roslyn McCulloch (Chair), Ms Angela Penklis (Deputy Chair), M. Bonanno, A. Cahill, B. Charlton, R. Chick, D. Fitzclarence, J. Hewitt, K. Huxley, R. Kandola, A. Knox, M. Macken, L. Morphett, S. Murphy, P. Murray,  J. Sheehan, M. Thomas, S. Urlich, P. Vergotis.

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Family Law

2024 Committee:

Ms Jacqueline Dawson (Co-chair), Mr Glenn Thompson (Co-chair), C. Banks, B. Bryant, J. Burreket, N. Callander, L. Coady, S. Cole, S. Costi, P. Davis, M. Gittoes-Caesar, M. Hayward, F. Hoad, F. Kirkman, C. Knox, O. Lacey, C. Lam, M. Livermore, L. McGregor, G. Morgan, J. Morris, A. Murray, C. Pitcher, M. Whitehead, S. Yigit.

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Human Rights

2024 Committee:

Mr Ali Mojtahedi (Chair), Ms Jade Tyrrell (Deputy Chair), W. Ahmed, K. Beirne, S. Calnan, S. Clarke, M. Coidan, S. Dhillon, R. Dominguez, A. Drayton, A. Duvall,  J. Hall Spence,  S. Henderson, M. Iskander, E. Leong, A. Levin, K. McKenzie,  P. Novotna, S. Parsons, D. Pereira, J. Redfern, K. Renehan, C. Robinson, G. Rohan, N. Ruppert, A. Sinclair, A. Small, G. Stribling.

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Indigenous Issues

2024 Committee:

Mr Jason Behrendt (Co-chair), Ms Danielle Captain-Webb (Co-chair), Z. Armytage, B-J. Attard, E. Bastable, M. Brazel, D. Byers, S. Calnan, B. Charlton, S. Crellin, Z. De Re, L. De Silva, B. Dufty, J. Fing, M. Gleeson, L. Holden, M. Holden, E. Hudson-Buhagiar, J. Lovric, O. Monaghan, S. Mortimer, P. Mulroney, P. Novotna, C. Robinson, L. Swan, L. Walder, R. Welsh.

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Injury Compensation

2024 Committee:

Mr Timothy Concannon (Chair), Mr Leigh Davidson (Deputy Chair), A. Abboud, N. Baker, S. Butcher,  R. Dababneh,  T. Driscoll, E. Garnett, G. Guest, P. Hunt, I. Jones, K. Kennedy, C. Khoudair, C. Lehmann, A. Lopes De Lima, P. Macken, R. May, R. Mellor, L. Mitchell, 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

2024 Committee:

Mr Elias Yamine (Chair), Ms Sylvia Fernandez (Deputy Chair), J Ball, S. Birchall, S. Brodowski, K. David, J. Emmerig, A. Fernando, V. Giang, P. Green, M. Greenwood, A. Hack, D. Hing, J. Howard, C. Hutchinson, G. Johnson, E. Keir, S. Loughnan, K. Martin, K. McLean, C. Morson, C. Peterson, J. Prowse, J. Punthakey, R. Ryan, M. Saville, M. Stephens, P. Sutherland, B. Thomson, J. Tyrell, S. Willis.

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Privacy and Data Law

2024 Committee:

Ms Olga Ganopolsky (Chair), Ms Amber Cerny (Deputy Chair), S. Blanks, H. Brown, P. Cenoz, D. Chien, C. Cloudsdale, N. Commins, S. Eibl, A. Jacquet, G. Jefferson, K. Keogh, P. Leonard, B. Liang,  J. McAteer, S. McLaughlan, L. Mannering, A. Mitchell, S. Ng, L. Nicholson, S. O'Gorman, L. Sinclair, B. Viset, E. Vollebregt.

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Property Law

2024 Committee:

Mr Richard Harvey (Chair), Mrs Clarissa Huegill (Deputy Chair), M. Andrews, E. Ashley, A. Cahill, G. Channell, J. Crittenden, M. Devitt, E. Di Stefano, R. Dimis, D. Fitzclarence,  M. Jebeile, O. Kiely, A. Landy, M. Macken, G. Maksimovic, T. McKibbin, J. McMillan, G. Milani, G. Newton, M. Osborne, S. Pallavicini, N. Scanlon,  K. Shahani, D. Skapinker, A. Stiles, G. Stilianou, M. Swan, A Yazdani.

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Public Law

2024 Committee:

Mr Graeme Johnson (Chair), Ms Debra Smith (Deputy Chair), A. Chalk, E. Hammond, R. Heinrich,  M. Keenan, V. La, C. Lithgow, A. Mojtahedi, M. O'Brien, K. Renehan, G. Rohan, K. Smith,  M. Smyth, V. Tiano, A. Tsacalos, A. Walsh, A. Zekanovic.

Committee page

Revenue NSW / Law Society Liaison

2024 Committee (Law Society members):

Mr Adrian Chek (Co-chair), R. Barbour, M. Brewster, G. Carry,  P. Gell, D. Lam, J. Lee, R. Nguyen, S. Paterson, G. Ryan, G. Samaras, M. Telan, L. To, G. Vale, D. Wong.

Rural Issues

2024 Committee:

Ms Georgiena Ryan (Chair), Mr Anthony Gordon (Deputy Chair), C. Colwell, J. Dawson, C. Egan, A. Ferguson, J. Fletcher, V. Gibson, W. Glowrey, S. Morgan, A. Parbery, N. Savage, J. Sheen, J. Spear.

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Segment Committees

Government Solicitors

2024 Committee:

Dr Mel Keenan (Chair), Miss Jennifer Wong (Deputy Chair), L Absalom, S. Alden, K. Boyd, J. Camden, I. Campbell, L. Chee, G. Ettinger, M. Filippeli, T. Haber, M. Kelly, T. La, C. Lithgow, A. Parapuram, K. Redenbach, J. Stathis, R. Su, J. Tozer, A. Tsacalos, P. Vartuli.

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In-House Corporate Lawyers

2024 Committee:

Ms Rebekah Hunter (Chair), Mr Andrew von Konigsmark (Deputy Chair), C. Collingwood, C. Cloudsdale, A. Daquinag, A. De Govrik, N. Derry, J. Farah, O. Finemore, R. Fletcher, M. Guilday, P. Housden, G. Ingram, O. Irvine, J. Li, R. MacSweeney, J. O'Shannassy, E. Papanikolaou, M. Smyth, T. Swan, C. Sylow, M. Tangonan,  G. Wijeratne, E. Wong, D. Yadav.

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