LSB July 2022 LR
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PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE<br />
Community engagement an<br />
important part of what we do<br />
JUSTIN STEWART-RATTRAY, PRESIDENT<br />
The legal profession has a proud<br />
history of helping the community.<br />
The principles of justice and equality<br />
that form the basis of legal education<br />
seem to engender a sense of duty and<br />
responsibility to the wider community,<br />
which is why we see many lawyers engage<br />
in significant pro bono work, or use their<br />
qualifications and experience in numerous<br />
volunteer roles.<br />
The Law Society itself also has had a<br />
strong community focus throughout its<br />
history.<br />
In addition to its key function<br />
to represent the interest of the legal<br />
profession and uphold the integrity<br />
of the profession, its formal objects<br />
include undertaking community<br />
education concerning the law and the<br />
legal profession, undertaking activities<br />
designed to improve access to justice, and<br />
advocating strongly and publicly for the<br />
maintenance and protection of legal rights<br />
and freedoms.<br />
The Society is involved in a number of<br />
community-facing activities, some more<br />
widely known than others.<br />
One of the lesser-known services<br />
is the Speaker’s Bureau. Community<br />
organisations are able to make a request to<br />
the Society for a speaker, and the Society<br />
will try to find a suitable speaker for that<br />
organisation’s event.<br />
The Speaker’s Bureau serves a<br />
number of purposes – it is a way for the<br />
profession to educate the community<br />
about important legal issues, it boosts<br />
the profile of the profession, and gives<br />
lawyers valuable and rewarding experience<br />
in a public speaking role.<br />
Anyone that is interested in nominating<br />
as a speaker can contact the Society at<br />
mcs@lawsocietysa.asn.au.<br />
Some of the more visible community<br />
services are the See a Lawyer and<br />
Advisory services.<br />
The Society administers an advisory<br />
service where members of the public can<br />
book a 20-minute consult for $35 (or $25<br />
for concession) with a suitable lawyer. This<br />
is a highly valuable community service<br />
as sometimes all it takes is 20 minutes<br />
with the right lawyer to help someone<br />
clarify what their next steps should be in<br />
resolving a legal issue.<br />
Similarly, the See a Lawyer service is<br />
an online tool that helps connect people<br />
with a suitable lawyer. The reason why this<br />
is such a highly used service is that the<br />
Law Society is a trusted organisation and<br />
individuals have confidence that the Law<br />
Society’s service will help them find the<br />
right law practice for them.<br />
In exciting news, we are in the<br />
process of significantly upgrading our<br />
See a Lawyer service to make it easier for<br />
people to search for a suitable lawyer. The<br />
new tool will allow users to enter in any<br />
search term (eg “child custody”; “Centrelink<br />
payments”) rather than select the area of law<br />
their issue pertains to, although there will<br />
remain the option to search by area of law.<br />
This is a far more user-friendly format<br />
designed to be simple to navigate and<br />
understand.<br />
The service will also have a new<br />
accessibility feature, which will allow<br />
people with disability to indicate any<br />
access requirements they may have, and<br />
filter their search to law firms that can<br />
accommodate their needs.<br />
Another important role which impacts<br />
the community is our advocacy. Although<br />
we advocate on behalf of the legal<br />
profession, what we advocate for generally<br />
has benefit for the community.<br />
As a recent example, President-Elect<br />
James Marsh recently stood in for me<br />
at short notice to speak on a Panel at a<br />
public forum in the Town Hall on the<br />
implementation and regulation of facial<br />
recognition technology.<br />
With SA Police announcing they<br />
are rolling out facial technology in the<br />
Adelaide CBD, the Society strongly<br />
advocated for there to be legislative<br />
protections to ensure that members of<br />
the public were not subject to intrusions<br />
of their privacy and any surveillance<br />
technology was governed by strict rules<br />
that make authorities accountable for how<br />
they use the technology.<br />
Another example of important<br />
advocacy work is the recent proposed<br />
reforms to the workers’ compensation<br />
scheme. Despite the lack of consultation<br />
from the Government, the Society prepared<br />
a detailed submission outlining the potential<br />
effects on the Bill on injured employees.<br />
The Bill was subsequently withdrawn and<br />
a new version introduced, and the Society<br />
once again, with large thanks to the work<br />
of the Accident Compensation Committee,<br />
put together a comprehensive submission<br />
which was guided by the overarching<br />
principle that our workers’ compensation<br />
scheme should exist first and foremost to<br />
protect South Australian workers.<br />
Lastly, an announcement on two<br />
upcoming events.<br />
The Society will be holding a quiz night<br />
later in the year. It promises to be a great<br />
night, and it will be the main fundraiser for<br />
the President’s Charity Partner, The Heart<br />
Foundation. More details coming soon.<br />
And I’m excited to be hosting the<br />
Legal Profession Dinner on Friday, 19<br />
August at Adelaide Oval, with renowned<br />
tennis coach Roger Rasheed as the special<br />
guest. To register for this special event,<br />
contact mcs@lawsocietysa.asn.au. I look<br />
forward to seeing you all there. B<br />
<strong>July</strong> <strong>2022</strong> THE BULLETIN 5
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