Annual General Meeting Lecture Theatre 6, University of the Sunshine Coast 17:00-20:00 Wednesday 30 September 2015
Chairperson: Anne Rees Returning Officer: Neil Rees
Annual Reports President: David Knobel It is hard to believe twelve months has passed since the last AGM. What a year it has been! In just our second year as an Association, we have seen a doubling of the Association’s membership, our competitions portfolio has expanded to include a (highly successful) client interview competition, our finances continue to remain healthy with almost $7,500 being generated through external sponsorship, and we’ve begun to make a strong name for ourselves, both within the Law School and University as well as within the local profession, as a professional, energetic and dedicated Association of highly competent, intelligent and attractive future leaders. (Disclaimer: no one has actually said we’re an attractive Association of students but with fashion sense like Harrison McDonald and Michael Jefferies and devastatingly beautiful good looks like Jessica Popple and our poster boy Callum Lee, it is a reasonable inference that such an adjective is apposite). My year as President has been exciting, stressful, satisfying, terrifying, dreadful, frustrating, and fantastic, sometimes all in the same day, but I could never say it has been dull. My growth as an individual and a leader are directly correlated and I could not have gotten through the year without the support, encouragement and dedication of my Executive and Committee. There is a great deal of background work that is required to deliver the end product seen by our members, and to continue to deliver results at such a professional level, whilst juggling studies, work and personal commitments is testament to your character as individuals and your capacity as a team. Thank you all for the hard work you have put in this year to deliver such a stellar result for our members. Some of our key milestones include:
Built the capacity of the Committee through an end of year review and instituted an annual Committee planning retreat, this year held at Rainbow Beach; Managed the incorporation of a new cohort of students, navigating the various administrative challenges which such a change brings to an organisation; Assisted the expansion of the competitions portfolio to include client interview, as well as a second year of mooting; Increased our community engagement through involvement in the QPILCH Legal Walk, QLS Law Week and USC Imaginarium Mock Trial, and collaborated with SCLS on ‘One Punch Can Kill’ legal education stall during USC Welcome Week; Adapted our Constitution and By-Laws to be more flexible and responsive to the needs of our growing organisation; Generated approximately $7500 in sponsorship from:
University of the Sunshine Coast Law Students’ Association
Documentation written by Secretary: Michael Jefferies
“Building our students, building our profession”
o
Maurice Blackburn Lawyers (premium sponsor – Client Interview; Basic Supporter – Social Justice Forum series - $2400); o Sunshine Coast Law Association (premium sponsor – Mooting Tournament - $2000); o College of Law (basic supporter – Mooting Tournament - $500); o ANU Legal Workshop (basic supporter – social justice forum series - $1000); o USC Student Guild (2015 “Welcome Back Dinner” Gold Sponsor - $1000); and, o Shultz Toomey O’Brien – Slater & Gordon (basic supporter / table sponsor Law Ball $500) Published a first-year handbook and LSA newsletter; and Hosted our inaugural ‘R U OK Day’ Mental Health in the Law Forum sponsored by ANU Legal Workshop.
Whilst we had wonderful wins, we also faced some challenges this year as well. Due to circumstances that are both personal and understandable we had a number of our Committee and Executive members resign from their positions. This meant we needed to share their responsibilities between the remaining Committee members. Nonetheless, I want to thank all those members who have been involved in the Committee throughout my tenure as President. Finally, I want to thank all our members who have attended our social events, engaged with our forums, participated in our competitions and have gone out of their way to make this challenging experience called Law School more bearable by helping each other out. I cannot wait to work with you all again next year as we grow the LSA together.
Secretary: Michael Jefferies It has been a great year for the LSA and a pleasure to see it continue to grow and I would like to commend all Committee members and the Executive in particular for all of their work. As Secretary I have supported all of the Association’s activities with the sometimes immense ‘backstage’ work in keeping it all running. From dealing with hundreds upon hundreds of emails and messages, to managing all announcements, engaging all portfolios’ work, maintaining a balance of meetings and keeping detailed minutes of these, there is always plenty of work to be done. In addition to these tasks, I designed and launched the Association’s website. This is a significant step forward for the Association, and a clear illustration of our development over the past 12 months in transforming from (yet another) student club into a professional student organisation unlike any other at the university. This is also a great step forward for our engagement with both members and other organisations, since the website acts as a publicly accessible hub from where everything can be seen in one place including upcoming events, competitions, opportunities, and also publications. I am really excited to see the website grow next year under the 2016 Committee with all of the fantastic things soon to come. The website can be accessed at: http://usclsa.com/ Speaking of the 2016 Committee, I have recently updated our By-Laws, with immense assistance from David and Callum. Now a 42-page document, the most significant changes are the revised Committee structure, with new portfolios (competitions and publications) among the revisions. As a young organisation the LSA most constantly evolve, particularly where its law student membership base doubled at the beginning of this year, and is about to again in 2016, with the second and third intake of law students at USC. University of the Sunshine Coast Law Students’ Association
Documentation written by Secretary: Michael Jefferies
“Building our students, building our profession”
The other significant addition was the LSA’s adoption of many policies including conflict resolution, social media, media relations, copyright, privacy, confidentiality, and anti-discrimination. This is a further indication of the LSA’s transition into a professional organisation under my two tenures as Secretary since its very foundation over 18 months ago. This transformation will soon be somewhat complete upon the LSA becoming incorporated at the beginning of next year (should the motion be approved by special resolution). As such, I look forward to (pending my election) continuing to manage the Association through 2016 and supporting the Committee with everything it will have to offer in line with our overarching goal of “building our students, building our profession.”
Treasurer: Callum Lee Year to date [YTD]: 1 July 2015 - 29 September 2015; This report is written in consideration of the End of Financial Year Report [the previous report] produced at 30 June 2015. Any of the information given in this report is current at the date of publication. USC Student Guild As outlined in my previous report, the USC Student Guild has withdrawn its support of the Association following a contraction of the budget enjoyed by their organisation. Given the nature of the representations made by the Guild to this Association and the heavy reliance of the Association upon that funding, the Executive decided, in consultation with the Co-Heads of School, the Pro-vice Chancellor for Students, and other informed members of the university academic and administrative staff, to commence proceedings against the Guild to recover the costs incurred on reliance of their assurances and representations. Proceedings are currently still in mediation and the Association would like to see the issue resolved before costs are incurred by the parties involved. The Association has issued invoices to the Guild for the amounts outstanding and intend to pursue the matter until a suitable agreement is reached and fulfilled. As at the time of publication, the tireless work of the Financial Executive, notably David Knobel and Michael Jefferies, has seen the Guild and this Association reach an interim agreement for the payment of the outstanding invoices. Sunshine Coast Law Association As other portfolios will discuss, the Association is thrilled to announce the strengthening of our relationship with the Sunshine Coast Law Association through their becoming the premium sponsor of our 2015 Moot Tournament. I would like to extend my thanks to the Executive of the SCLA for their eagerness to support us. I further encourage all students of the Association to become members of their association as well to further strengthen ties, improve the presence of the law school in the local profession and to gain valuable networking knowledge through your interactions with the professionals involved. College of Law The Association further extends its thanks to The College of Law for their support of our 2015 moot tournament. I am eager to see this relationship grow in the future. University of the Sunshine Coast Law Students’ Association
Documentation written by Secretary: Michael Jefferies
“Building our students, building our profession”
USC LSA 2015 Annual Law Ball The sales of tickets for the Annual Ball have been encouraging so far. The Association is hopeful of producing a sell-out event. Patrons and members are reminded that the Ball is a chance for all students, and their friends, families and partners, to enjoy a night together celebrating the year that has been. I would encourage everyone to attend if they can. It will certainly be a fun time. The LSA finds itself in a strong financial position heading into the next term of the committee. I would like to again thank the Executive, but particularly David and Michael, for their work since the previous report was produced.
Competitions: Krishna Alister Report provided as acting VP of the competitions part of the education portfolio (as it has been until this AGM) while in the position of Director of Competitions (Advocacy) for the 2014-15 term. The USC LSA Competitions portfolio has conducted two successful competitions in 2015: 2015 Maurice Blackburn USC LSA Client Interviewing Competition In semester two the USC LSA conducted its inaugural client interviewing competition, which was proudly sponsored by Maurice Blackburn Lawyers. Seven teams competed in the preliminary round on Saturday the 15th of August where the two highest-scoring teams proceeded to the final. On Friday the 21st of August, the final was conducted at Maurice Blackburn’s Brisbane office, which was judged Principal Solicitors Peter Koutsoukis and Alison Barrett adjudicated. Michael Jefferies and Helen Smith were adjudicated the winners, and will compete in the Client Interviewing Competition at ALSA Conference 2016. 2015 Sunshine Coast Law Association USC LSA Mooting Tournament The USC LSA has commenced their second mooting competition in as many years. Sunshine Coast Law Association has proudly sponsored the tournament, which will send the winning team to compete at ALSA Conference 2016. The final is scheduled to be held on the 23rd of October, which will be adjudicated by Barriers Alex McKean and Geoff Barr, and District Court Judge Robertson. The USC LSA Competitions portfolio is looking forward to incorporating more competitions (negotiation) next year as well establishing a ‘moot club’, which will train students in anticipation to entering a team into an inter-varsity moot in 2016.
Events: Jessica Popple This year, the events portfolio (consisting of Jessica Popple VP Events, Tayleigh Jenkins D. Social and Sporting and Courtney Moloney D. Networking and Professional Events) have worked to put on several successful events. The first ‘event’ to be held in 2015 was the Committee Retreat which was held in Rainbow Beach over the first weekend in February. The weekend away was a fantastic success and set the 2015 committee up for a fantastic year. The Committee Retreat is definitely an event that will be run annually. Next, the events portfolio delivered the 2015 Welcome Dinner which was held at the Post Office Bar and Restaurant in Maroochydore. The dinner was hosted by the LSA to welcome the new first year students.
University of the Sunshine Coast Law Students’ Association
Documentation written by Secretary: Michael Jefferies
“Building our students, building our profession”
The LSA also participated in QLS Law Week Celebrations by participating in the Mock Trial. The USC LSA’s Mock Trial was Draco Malfoy taking action in negligence against Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. The script was written by USC LSA President David Knobel, Treasurer Callum Lee and D. Comps Krishna Alister. We also performed the Mock Trial and USC’s Imaginarium. Tayleigh Jenkins has done an amazing job in her role as D. Social and Sporting and successfully organised two netball teams over both semesters. She also organised a fantastic Pub Crawl on the weekend before Semester 2’s commencement. The 2015 USC LSA Law Ball will be held on the 30th of October at the 4th Floor Restaurant and Bar in Mooloolaba. Tickets will be approx. $90 for members and $100 for non-members, with 150 available (10 will be complimentary). The night received minor sponsorship from Schultz Toomey O’Brien Lawyers. An informal event will be held on the Saturday morning after the Ball. Unfortunately, this year, due to unforseen circumstances, there was no Networking Evening. Next year we will be looking to make sure that this event happens with early planning of the event vital to its success. The Events portfolio also took on the Social Justice Forums with Director of Equity, Jackie Peall, this semester, sponsored by ANU Legal Workshop. This semester we delivered a Mental Health Forum on the 10th of September for R U OK? Day. The panellists included Louise Ferris (McCollough Robertson), Sam Spencer (Open Minds) and Tracey Young (SLL). The event was facilitated by President David Knobel. Approximately $30 was raised for the Tristan Jepson Memorial Foundation from gold coin donations by those who attended the event. Finally, Tayleigh will be organising an end of semester break up. This may coincide with the Ball Recovery day. Alternatively, we may have an early Christmas Party the weekend after the last week of exams.
Public Relations and Sponsorship: Harry McDonald No report provided
University of the Sunshine Coast Law Students’ Association
Documentation written by Secretary: Michael Jefferies