On Friday 18 May, The Westin’s main ballroom was transformed for one of the biggest events on the Law calendar. Lawyers from across NSW joined us for an early morning breakfast with a side of LOLs as we welcomed 10 brave young lawyers to battle it out for the Golden Gavel comedy crowd.

This year’s 2018 Golden Gavel Competition was a huge success, once again proving to be an unmissable event. We couldn’t have done it without all the amazing competitors, judges, speakers, sponsors and spectators.

All the highlights from this year’s Golden Gavel Competition can be found on our Facebook page.

The Competitors

We would like to say a special thank you all of our competitors for their bravery and master whit on coming up with excellent speeches for each of their topics.

Here were this year’s competitors and their topics:

Ben Malone - Massons

Topic:  Smashed avo and other reasons I couldn't be a human rights lawyer

Tom Sorrenson – NSW Department of Industry

Topic: Multitasking Mindfulness for the modern lawyer

Joshua Clarke – Holding Redlich

Topic: Practising in foreign jurisdictions: life outside Sydney CBD

Mama Puna Monica Florence Miranda - K&L Gates

Topic:  Help! My office is embracing innovation!

Liam Fairgrieve – UTS (2018 Student Golden Gavel winner)

Topic:  Hired at First Sight: lessons legal recruitment can learn from reality TV

Kim Fisher – FCB Workplace Law

Topic:  The Parliamentarian's Guide to Better Performance Reviews

Pierce Hartigan – Lander & Rogers

Topic:  The Law Grad's Tale: making servitude fun!

Alexia Ereboni Yazdani – Hillside Legal

Topic:  Section 44 scandals: the ultimate offshoring

Patrick Dunn - Dentons

Topic:  Ten things the Brady Bunch can teach you about a successful merger

David Frew – Norton Rose Fulbright

Topic:  Overachievers and other workplace hazards

The winners

A massive congratulation goes out to our Winner, Tom Sorrenson, NSW Department of Industry, and the Sparke Helmore People’s Choice Award Winner, Joshua Clarke, Holding Redlich.

Thank you

We would also like to thank our judges, the Hon. Justice Fabian Gleeson, Supreme Court of NSW and Mark Doepel, Partner, Sparke Helmore Lawyers. The Hon. Justice Fabian Gleeson brought the laughs with his hilarious critique of each competitor and his love for Deep Purple’s Smoke on the Water.

Thank you also to our MC for the morning, Emily Aitken, a former runner up of the Golden Gavel Competition who didn’t fail to fill the room with laughter for yet another year.

We would like to thank our sponsors for this year, Sparke Helmore and Unisearch Expert Opinion Services. Both Sparke Helmore and Unisearch have continued to provide outstanding support for the Golden Gavel Competition.

Lastly, we would like to thank all of you that attended the event and we hope to see you back for more morning LOLs in the years to come.

Sponsorship opportunities

NSW Young Lawyers hosts the largest Golden Gavel competition in the country. If you would like to be a part of one of the biggest events in the law calendar, please contact the NSW Young Lawyers office to find out what sponsorship opportunities are available in 2019.