President’s Report 2018
Leon Warren | President 2018 Macquarie Univeristy Law Society
Members and friends of the Macquarie University Law Society (MULS), It is my honour to present this report on behalf of the 2018 Executive Council, which will cover the operations and achievements of MULS throughout the year.
Contents 3
Introduction
4
2018 Highlights
6
Report
8
List of 2018 Initiatives by Department
11
2018 MULS Executive Council
13
2019 MULS Executive Council
15
Conclusion
2
Introduction
In 2018, the twenty-nine member Executive Council and five MULS Representatives have been working across six distinct departments to deliver the best possible opportunities and experiences for MULS members. This report will cover the operations and initiatives of each of these departments in detail below. As noted in my half yearly report, the vision of the 2018 MULS Executive Council has been to: •
Maintain and improve the governance framework established by previous Executive Councils;
•
Transition to a new membership platform whilst ensuring the smooth running of the society and holding Executive Members accountable for their actions (‘Administration’);
•
Maintain high-quality events and initiatives financially without compromising the ability of future Executive Councils to do the same (‘Finances’);
•
Advance the education of members by running events and initiatives which complement the academic pursuits of law students (‘Education’);
•
Further strengthen our career initiatives to facilitate networking between Australian and global law firms and Macquarie Law students, as well as promoting alternative career pathways in law (‘Career Engagement’);
•
Provide opportunities for members to interact with and learn about issues affecting the wider community (‘Social Justice’);
•
Offer a range of social events for the purposes of encouraging interaction between members and promoting a balanced lifestyle (‘Events’); Maintain the strength of MULS competitions whilst implementing a new mooting competition structure (‘Competitions’);
•
• Continue publishing a range of high-quality publications and continue building MULS’ large social media presence, including the introduction of a new membership platform and newsletter (‘Publications’).
3
2018 Highlights
With over 70 unique initiatives and events running this year, it is difficult to identify just a few highlights, as each initiatives brings value and diversity to the service MULS offers to its members. Nonetheless, initiatives which were either new or ran with outstanding success this year included:
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Introduction of an entirely new membership platform, Education portfolio and MULS Newsletter;
•
Well-planned, attended, and safe social events such as Law Camp, Law Ball and Law Cruise;
•
The introduction of a new and successful subject-based mooting structure to diversify the range of competitions available to law students;
•
The inaugural MULS Alumni and Friends Cocktail Evening, which brought 160 students, alumni and MULS supporters together;
•
A successful and comprehensive careers and clerkship season, which included bringing over a dozen firms onto campus to deliver presentations, running a clerkship mentoring program and co-hosting the Options with Law Fair;
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The production of 3 editions of the Brief, our award winning law student magazine, as well as a clerkship, education and careers guide.
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13
Report
Now in its 43rd year, MULS has continued to expand on the range of opportunities offered to members, contribute to the Macquarie Law and wider community, and strive toward constant improvement. This report will provide an overview of the 2018 administrative department and the major changes which were made within MULS this year. From an administrative perspective, the most significant change made in 2018 was the transition to a new membership platform. I am incredibly proud of the 2018 Board and our IT Officer, Alex Moss, who made the most of this opportunity and worked together to create mulsmembership.org, an entirely new online membership platform which integrates membership payment and generates an accessible list of members. This record of members created opportunities to bring greater value to members such as member discounts for social events and a mailing list for the MULS Newsletter, which diversified the distribution of information to members to lighten the traffic on our Facebook page. This new membership platform also allowed for the creation of a new membership category ‘Friends of MULS’, which provides an avenue for alumni and others who are interested in keeping up with MULS to stay informed without paying a membership fee. Ultimately, this change resulted in MULS going from having limited information about its member base to having over 1000 registered Ordinary Members, Associate Members and Friends of MULS. Another major change implemented in 2018 involved significant reform to the structure of mooting competitions. The 2018 Competitions Director, Sarah Schooley, and the entire Competitions department put in a superb effort to enact these significant changes. MULS also ran the largest number of competitions in MULS’ history this year, with 12 internal competitions and over 10 external competition teams competing across Australia and the globe. Five of these competitions were run for the first time ever this year as part of the mooting structure reform. The third major initiative implemented in 2018 was the introduction of the MULS Education department. The 2018 Education Director, Cynthia Constantin, managed to not only establish this position, but coordinate her team to produce the inaugural edition of the MULS Education Guide and run 6 different workshops focusing on referencing skills, time management, study skills and legal research.
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Report
The Adminstration department also made significance progress in developing relationships with several important partners this year, particularly with Macquarie University and the Office of Advancement. This year’s First Year Afternoon Tea was the first event in several years to be jointly funded and organised by MULS and the Macquarie Law School. MULS has also been involved in meetings with the Law School and University this year to develop a law alumni mentoring program, has also been seated at the table when discussing the architectural design of the new Law School building, and was invited to provide feedback on behalf of law students to the Law School. The 2018 Secretary, Renata Labio, and I were additionally invited to attended and speak alongside the Vice Chancellor at several events run by the university to inform alumni on the new Law School building project. The development of this strong relationship with the University ultimately culminated in significant support for the inaugural MULS Alumni and Friends Cocktail Evening. This event brought together over 150 Macquarie Law students, staff and alumni including barristers, judges, MULS Life Members and even one of the founders of MULS, to strengthen our community and facilitate networking. MULS’ relationships outside of North Ryde also remained strong in 2018. MULS was represented at all the Australian Law Students Association conferences this year, where MULS shared information to contribute to the development of other law student societies around Australia and also received useful advice and ideas in return. MULS has also been active in the Special Committee of Law Student Societies, a committee organised and hosted by the NSW Law Society. Through this committee, MULS continues to foster a very close bond with our neighbour law student societies and the Law Society of NSW. The 2018 Executive Council has been a pleasure to work with and I commend each Executive for their hard work this year. I am pleased to note that we did not lose a single Executive Member in 2018, and I believe this is a true testament to the quality of the 2018 Executive Council as is shows their dedication and willingness to help and support each other. I would like to specifically thank Renata, Secretary, Matthew Harris, Treasurer, and the remainder of the 2018 Board for their efforts this year – it was a pleasure to work alongside you and I am proud of what we achieved this year. Your efforts have contributed so much to the Society and it was through your hard work and dedication that MULS was able to function successfully. Thank you for the opportunity to represent MULS as President this year. It has been a true privilege.
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2018 Initiatives
Education
Career Engagement
1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11.
Education Guide First Year Afternoon Tea JD Drinks How to Succeed in Law School Panel AGLC3 Referencing Seminar x2 Westlaw AU Workshop LexisNexis Workshop Jade Workshop Welcome Back BBQ Macquarie University Open Day presentation Macquarie in a Day presentation
12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. 19. 20. 21. 22. 23. 24. 25. 26. 27. 28.
MULS Alumni and Friends Cocktail Evening Introduction to Careers BBQ Ashurst Interview Skills Presentation Clayton Utz Firm Presentation MinterEllison Application Skills Presentation Allens Firm Presentation Clerkship Mentoring Program Launch Clerkship Fair Options with Law Fair College of Law PLT Presentation x2 ANU GDLP PLT Presentation Norton Rose Fulbright Firm Presentation Clifford Chance Firm Presentation Herbert Smith Freehills Networking Skills Allens Personal Branding Workshop Macquarie University Careers Service Networking Skills Session SmarterDrafter Presentation
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2018 Initiatives Social Justice
Events
Publications
29. 30. 31. 32. 33.
Clayton Utz Social Justice Speaker Night MULS x Will It Your Way Trivia Night Mental Health Month MULS Social Justice Facebook Page
34. 35. 36. 37. 38. 39. 40. 41.
First Year Law Camp Law Cruise MULS Sports Day Clayton Utz Social Sports teams (Touch Football and Fast5 Netball) Start of Semester Drinks 1 Start of Semester Drinks 2 SCLSS Intervarsity Sports Day Allens Law Ball
42. 43. 44. 45. 46. 47. 48. 49. 50. 51.
Creation of MULS Membership and MULS Portal MULS Hoodies Introduction to Coding Workshop Fortnightly MULS Newsletter Clerkship Guide The Brief Edition 1 The Brief Edition 2 The Brief Edition 3 Careers Guide Management of MULS Facebook Page
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2018 Initiatives
Competitions
Administration
52. 53. 54. 55. 56. 57. 58. 59. 60. 61. 62. 63. 64. 65. 66. 67. 68. 69. 70. 71.
Clayton Utz Championship Moot King & Wood Mallesons Contract Law Moot Herbert Smith Freehills Foundations Moot Maddocks Novice Moot Criminal Law Moot Torts Moot Allens Negotiations competition Allens Witness Examination competition King & Wood Mallesons Senior Client Interview Herbert Smith Freehills Junior Client Interview Paper Presentation MULS v SULS Annual Competition Sir John Peden Contract Law Moot MULS v UTS LSS Margaret Cunneen Witness Examination Sir Harry Gibbs Constitutional Law Moot team Michael Kirby Contract Law Moot team International Media Law Moot team Herbert Smith Freehills Delhi International Negotiation Competition team UNSW Intervarsity Skills Competition team UTS Technology Law Moot team
72. 73. 74. 75. 76.
Represented MULS at triannual Australian Law Students Association Councils Represented MULS at monthly Special Committee of Law Student Societies meetings Development and introduction of ‘Friends of MULS’ MULS Board Meetings x12 MULS Executive Council Meetings x6
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2018 Executive Council
I would like to thank the tireless work of each of the Executive Members who I had the pleasure of working alongside this year.
Administration
President: Leon Warren Secretary: Renata Labio Treasurer: Matthew Harris
Education
Director (Education): Cynthia Constantin Executive Officer (Campus Experience): Eamon Melican
Career Engagement
Director (Career Engagement): Kush Sood Executive Officer (Corporate Careers): Anneliese Cooper Executive Officer (Corporate Careers): Jessica Lau Executive Officer (Public Interest Careers): Jazmine Reid Executive Officer (Sponsorship): Travis Stuart
Social Justice
Director (Social Justice): Despina Bouletos Executive Officer (Advocacy): Pelin Ersoy Executive Officer (Community Outreach): Luke Gallen
Events
Director (Events): Natalie Hissey Executive Officer (Socials): Nessa Salvador Executive Officer (Socials): Harley Sawalha Executive Officer (Sports): Casey Thomas
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2018 Executive Council
Publications
Director (Publications): Daniel Lim Executive Officer (Editor): Michael Graziano Executive Officer (Publicity): Maryellen Fairfax Executive Officer (Brief Editor-In-Chief): Swatilekha Ahmed Executive Officer (IT): Alex Moss
Competitions
Director (Competitions): Sarah Schooley Executive Officer (Advocacy): Ashleigh Lister Executive Officer (Advocacy): Marica Ratnam Executive Officer (Professional Skills): Cyrus Daruwalla Executive Officer (Professional Skills): BethanymBurns Executive Officer (Foundations): Samantha Marshall Executive Officer (Foundations): Isabelle Messenger Executive Officer (Externals): Nadine Jacob
I also thank all of our Representatives who assisted the Executive Council this year: Sian Sykes and Julian Favero (First Year), Liam Cross (JD), Chris Alchian (External) and Evan Thomson (Alumni).
12
2019 Executive Council
I would also like to congratulate the new MULS Executive Council. Although a few position are yet to be announced, I am confident that the 2019 team will continue to bring value the Macquarie Law community and I wish them all the best of luck next year.
Administration
President: Matthew Harris Secretary: Jazmine Reid Treasurer: Casey Thomas
Education
Director (Education): Lauren Said Executive Officer (Campus Experience): Cyrus Daruwalla
Career Engagement
Director (Career Engagement): Nadine Jacob Executive Officer (Corporate Careers): Beheshta Wasseh Executive Officer (Public Interest Careers): Ivy Shi
Social Justice
Director (Social Justice): Michela Mueller Executive Officer (Advocacy): Paul Kaletsis
Events
Director (Events): Sian Sykes Executive Officer (Socials): Tess O’Connor Executive Officer (Socials): Georgia Weeden Executive Officer (Sports): Taris Watson
Publications
Director (Publications): Michael Graziano Executive Officer (Editor): Adam Lewis Executive Officer (Brief Editor-In-Chief): Emalee Walker-Philcox Executive Officer (IT): Alex Moss
Competitions
Director (Competitions): Bethany Burns Executive Officer (Foundations): Georgia Murray Executive Officer (Externals): Marica Ratnam
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Conclusion
MULS is incredibly grateful for the generous support of our corporate sponsors, without which MULS would be unable to run such a large variety of high-quality initiatives to enrich the personal and professional development of our members. I wish to also express my gratitude to each of our Directors, Executive Officers, Representatives and Sub-Committee members. MULS simply would not exist if it were not for your determination, enthusiasm and willingness to dedicate your time to help build the Macquarie Law community. I commend each of you for your success this year and sincerely thank you for your contribution. I would also like to say a special thank you to the MULS Secretary, Renata Labio, who has demonstrated incredible dedication to MULS and has made a outstanding contribution to the Society this year. I hope that her efforts are recognised by MULS for years to come. I thank Ben Schreer, Lise Barry, Eleanor McGhee, Debbie Loo, Ilija Vickovich, Sonya Willis, Shireen Daft, Zara Bending and others from Macquarie Law School, along with Bruce Dowton, Martina Mollering, Ellen Kirkpatrick, Tania Currie, Andrew Hewett and Maura Brookes from Macquarie University for their ongoing support. MULS is deeply grateful to each of you for your invaluable assistance. I also extend thanks to the countless number of volunteer competition judges, guest speakers and alumni who have assisted MULS this year. As a result of 43 years of hard work by previous Executive Councils, MULS is able to provide a diverse range of experiences and opportunities to enrich the other side of the Macquarie Law degree. Nonetheless, MULS is continually subject to review and improvement, and I encourage future Executive Councils to continue striving for excellence and to constantly look for areas to improve. I am proud of what MULS has achieved in 2018 and the collective contribution of the entire team in providing opportunities for all MULS members to learn and develop. I wish all members and friends of MULS all the best and hope to see you at Macquarie Law events in the future.
Leon Warren President, Macquarie University Law Society
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