Jane Thompson (nee Stimson)

proportion of women is only at 27.5% for All Ordinaries but in 2021 women comprised 44.3% of new appointments to the All Ords. However, 81 Boards in the All Ords still do not have any women. (Refer to the AICD on Board Diversity statistics.) Still some way to go.

What advice would you like to give to junior legal professionals?

Work hard and be open to every opportunity that comes your way. Consistently challenge yourself and embark on a pathway of continuous learning.

What message would you like to give to senior legal professionals?

Mentor and invest in the junior legal professionals. You are the key to the longterm development of the profession.

What top three books could you recommend to our readers?

Henry Kissinger on China provides an important insight to understanding of contemporary China. Cancel Culture edited by Dr. Kevin Donnelly provides an interesting narrative on how the education institutions have played a role in influencing young people’s views. Sometimes for better or for worse.

Duty by Robert M Gates provides an insightful understanding of the relationship between the US bureaucracy and the Executive. Robert Gates served several Presidents of both political persuasions and was considered to be a truly professional Secretary of Defence who cared for the men and women he was responsible for, providing lessons for Australia.

life lessons

My mother’s saying and her mother’s before her was: “There is nothing you cannot do if you set your mind to it’’. I have lived and worked taking opportunities that come my way. I would also add respect other people’s views. It seems to be in short supply today.

The first women to be appointed CEO of the Legal Practice Board of Western Australia

Jane Thompson graduated from Law at The University of Western Australia in 1963. She was admitted to the Supreme Court of Western Australia and the High Court in 1965. Commencing her career as a solicitor at Parker & Parker, she then worked for West Australian Petroleum Pty Ltd (WAPET) in 1966 in the days soon after Barrow Island’s first oil field was established.

Ms Thompson worked as a Legal Officer at the Law Society of Western Australia from 1987 to 1990 before joining the Legal Practice Board of WA (formerly the Barristers’ Board of WA) in 1991. Ms Thompson was CEO/Secretary at the Legal Practice Board from 1993 to 2001. During that time, she was also Registrar of the Legal Practitioners’ Disciplinary Tribunal and sat on the Parole Board of Western Australia as a Legal Member from 1996 to 2005.

Reflections by Jane Thompson, who has been a member of the law society since her admittance date in 1965:

I am delighted to be included in this feature article in the Law Society’s Brief. To be honest, I did not ever consider myself blazing any trails, just fortunate to enjoy a career which complemented what I wanted to do. Having sampled practice in large firms (Parker & Parker) and smaller firms and the corporate world of oil and gas, I reached the conclusion that I would like to work at the interface of public and profession, where the public had different views of what the profession could do for them.

I was on the other side of the world with the family in Boston, Massachusetts at the beginning of 1991, when I received a call from The Hon Kevin Parker AO QC , the then Solicitor General. I was surprised by the call and I did not realise the connection immediately. Before going on leave, I had applied for the position advertised for a legal officer to assist the Secretary of the Barristers’ Board. I was delighted that the call was to advise me that my application for the position at the then Barristers’ Board was successful.

At that time the administrative structure of the legal profession of WA was unclear to the public and to many practitioners. The Legal Practitioners’ Act 1893 had been the subject of discussion for amendment for some 10 years, when, in its 100th year of operation it was reorganised with all agreeing that the complaints and disciplinary process vested in the Barristers’ Board by the Supreme Court should be restructured. The Barristers’ Board had been the statutory admitting authority for the profession and all administrative matters including disciplinary matters. The name Barristers’ Board was misleading as the profession in WA was fused thus all were admitted as barristers and solicitors (and in my day proctors) of the Supreme Court. This meant complaints were usually made to the Law Society in the first instance, and if not solved, the Law Society was empowered to refer matters to the Board. In my role as Legal Officer at the Law Society I had been at the front line of dealing with clients’ complaints about the profession and understood that this would be a great part of the position for which I had applied at the Board but with the advantage of statutory authority. With the amendments to the Legal Practitioners’ Act, in 1993, I became the CEO of the Legal Practice Board (formerly the Barristers’ Board) and the Solicitor General, The Hon. Kevin Parker AO, QC became chairman. I was also appointed Registrar of the Legal Practitioners’ Disciplinary Tribunal. Under the new provisions of the Act, it had been decided that we would be in a separate office building from the Legal Practitioners’ Complaints Committee to be managed by Diane Howell, the previous Secretary of the Barristers’ Board. Also the Disciplinary Tribunal and the Complaints Committee included lay representatives for the first time. I was not the first woman to be involved in the administration of the profession as Sheila McClemans had been in charge of the Law Society for many years in the 1960s and Jackie Musk and Diane Howell preceded me when they each had been appointed as the Secretary to the Barristers’ Board. Another first in my professional life was to move the admission of our daughter Alexandrea Jane Thompson to the Supreme Court. We are the first mother and daughter in WA both graduating from UWA, to be admitted to the Supreme Court of WA (albeit 30 years after my own admission). Certainly, there had been fathers and sons and daughters admitted before, but it was a proud moment for our family and for me to be able to move Alexandrea’s admission.

I was very happy in the years of my legal career and after those years have since kept busy with my husband and family managing our vineyard at Margaret River and supporting my husband, Peter, in his cardiology practice.