President’s Message

Community engagement an important part of what we do

JUSTIN STEWART-RATTRAY, PRESIDENT

The legal profession has a proud history of helping the community.

The principles of justice and equality that form the basis of legal education seem to engender a sense of duty and responsibility to the wider community, which is why we see many lawyers engage in signifi cant pro bono work, or use their qualifi cations and experience in numerous volunteer roles.

The Law Society itself also has had a strong community focus throughout its history.

In addition to its key function to represent the interest of the legal profession and uphold the integrity of the profession, its formal objects include undertaking community education concerning the law and the legal profession, undertaking activities designed to improve access to justice, and advocating strongly and publicly for the maintenance and protection of legal rights and freedoms.

The Society is involved in a number of community-facing activities, some more widely known than others.

One of the lesser-known services is the Speaker’s Bureau. Community organisations are able to make a request to the Society for a speaker, and the Society will try to fi nd a suitable speaker for that organisation’s event.

The Speaker’s Bureau serves a number of purposes – it is a way for the profession to educate the community about important legal issues, it boosts the profi le of the profession, and gives lawyers valuable and rewarding experience in a public speaking role.

Anyone that is interested in nominating as a speaker can contact the Society at mcs@lawsocietysa.asn.au.

Some of the more visible community services are the See a Lawyer and Advisory services.

The Society administers an advisory service where members of the public can book a 20-minute consult for $35 (or $25 for concession) with a suitable lawyer. This is a highly valuable community service as sometimes all it takes is 20 minutes with the right lawyer to help someone clarify what their next steps should be in resolving a legal issue.

Similarly, the See a Lawyer service is an online tool that helps connect people with a suitable lawyer. The reason why this is such a highly used service is that the Law Society is a trusted organisation and individuals have confi dence that the Law Society’s service will help them fi nd the right law practice for them.

In exciting news, we are in the process of signifi cantly upgrading our See a Lawyer service to make it easier for people to search for a suitable lawyer. The new tool will allow users to enter in any search term (eg “child custody”; “Centrelink payments”) rather than select the area of law their issue pertains to, although there will remain the option to search by area of law.

This is a far more user-friendly format designed to be simple to navigate and understand.

The service will also have a new accessibility feature, which will allow people with disability to indicate any access requirements they may have, and fi lter their search to law fi rms that can accommodate their needs.

Another important role which impacts the community is our advocacy. Although we advocate on behalf of the legal profession, what we advocate for generally has benefi t for the community.

As a recent example, President-Elect James Marsh recently stood in for me at short notice to speak on a Panel at a public forum in the Town Hall on the implementation and regulation of facial recognition technology.

With SA Police announcing they are rolling out facial technology in the Adelaide CBD, the Society strongly advocated for there to be legislative protections to ensure that members of the public were not subject to intrusions of their privacy and any surveillance technology was governed by strict rules that make authorities accountable for how they use the technology.

Another example of important advocacy work is the recent proposed reforms to the workers’ compensation scheme. Despite the lack of consultation from the Government, the Society prepared a detailed submission outlining the potential effects on the Bill on injured employees. The Bill was subsequently withdrawn and a new version introduced, and the Society once again, with large thanks to the work of the Accident Compensation Committee, put together a comprehensive submission which was guided by the overarching principle that our workers’ compensation scheme should exist fi rst and foremost to protect South Australian workers.

Lastly, an announcement on two upcoming events.

The Society will be holding a quiz night later in the year. It promises to be a great night, and it will be the main fundraiser for the President’s Charity Partner, The Heart Foundation. More details coming soon.

And I’m excited to be hosting the Legal Profession Dinner on Friday, 19 August at Adelaide Oval, with renowned tennis coach Roger Rasheed as the special guest. To register for this special event, contact mcs@lawsocietysa.asn.au. I look forward to seeing you all there. B July 2022 THE BULLETIN 5