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President's Message – November 2009

Change is in the air for NSW Young Lawyers. A change in the direction of the organisation and the way this organisation will seek to serve you, our Members, the profession and the community. On the 14 and 15 November 2009, the delegates to our Annual Assembly gathered in Coogee, in Sydney's South East, to elect new officers to the organisation and to set a course for renewal and development for the coming years.

We have set ambitious goals for 2009/2010, to reorganise our projects and processes and to make systemic change to some of our structures, making them more effective and inclusive. The purpose of these changes is to realise the great potential of Young Lawyers in order to serve our Members, the profession and the community.

As part of the organisation's mission to serve the community, Young Lawyers is set to embark on a new and exciting campaign of civic education. It is a campaign aimed at enhancing our fellow citizens' knowledge of the rules and institutions that govern us in Australia, but also internationally. As Australians and global citizens, all of us cherish the gift of openness and democratic principles and should share our knowledge of the rules and institutions that safeguard them with others in our community. Watch this space as we will be announcing more details about this campaign soon!

During November and December of every year, our Committees meet to discuss their long range plans. If you are a member of one of our Committees, I encourage you to attend your Committee's long range planning meeting. If you are not a Member of our Committees, I encourage you to become involved! After all, this is your organisation!

Becoming involved in our Committees allows you to meet fellow young legal practitioners from different legal backgrounds, to network, to become more deeply involved with an energetic community of young lawyers, to share with them your experiences and to have fun. Active membership gives you the opportunity to become involved in preparing submissions to government to effect policy change, in organising our projects aimed at serving the profession and in our community activities.

For law students, involvement in Young Lawyers means having ready access to young practitioners, who can provide first-hand experience of working in the legal profession and guidance about the advantages of working different areas of practice.

Membership of Young Lawyers is automatic for practitioners who are either under 36 years of age or who have been admitted for less than five years, and all law students. If you are interested in getting involved or would like to find out more about us, our upcoming events, Committee activities or projects, explore our website to find the Committee or project that you are passionate about getting involved with.

If you have any suggestions about how we can improve our organisation, please contact me at President@younglawyers.com.au.

Pouyan Afshar
President
NSW Young Lawyers