About
NSW Young lawyers
NSW Young Lawyers is the largest body of young and newly practising lawyers, and law students, in Australia, with 15 Committees each dedicated to a particular area of law.
Active, innovative and dynamic, we support practitioners in the early stages of their career development, giving them the opportunity to extend their network, expand their knowledge, advance their career and contribute to the profession and community.
To join the NSW Young Lawyers are:
- Legal practitioners (including barristers) admitted to practice in NSW who are under the age of 36
- Legal practitioners (including barristers) in their first 5 years of practice post admission in NSW
- Students enrolled in an approved course of studies, the successful completion of which leads to the entitlement to apply for admission to practise as a lawyer or legal practitioner in NSW
- Associate Members of the Law Society who meet one of the first three criteria
NSW Young Lawyers Committees
Become a Law Society member to take advantage of exclusive benefits and be part of the Young Lawyers community.
Events & Programs
The NSW Young Lawyers hold a number of exciting events each year and programs designed to expand your skills and knowledge.
Unisearch
Unisearch is Australia’s leading and most established provider of expert opinion services. Read The Practitioner’s Guide to Briefing Experts here.
Publications
& Resources
Several committees of NSW Young Lawyers have researched and written free guides, helpful booklets and pamphlets aimed at both young and new practitioners.
View all current NSW Young Lawyers Publications.
NSW Young Lawyers has standing positions on law and justice policy issues that are of importance or interest to its members. Those positions are published in the form of policy statements. Policy statements are prepared in close consultation with the members of NSW Young Lawyers, to ensure that those positions are reflective of the views of the membership as a whole.
The following policy statements have been developed to assist NSW Young Lawyers' Committees to prepare submissions and media releases:
Submissions
NSW Young Lawyers committees are active in influencing and shaping government policy and legislation through their written submissions.
2020
- Submission on the Australian Law Reform Commission’s Discussion Paper 87 – Corporate Criminal Responsibility (Business Law Committee & Criminal Law Committees)
- Submission by NSWYL on Environmental Planning and Assessment Amendment (Territorial Limits) Bill (Environment and Planning Law Committee)
2019
- Response to draft proposals of the NSW Law Reform Commission’s Inquiry into Consent in relation to sexual offences (Criminal Law Committee)
- Building and Development Certifiers Regulation 2019 Submission (Environment and Planning Law Committee)
- Submission on Nationhood National Identity and Democracy (International Law Committee)
- Inquiry into the Provisions of the Right to Farm Bill 2019 (Animal Law Committee)
- NSW Young Lawyers - LACC Review of Academic Requirements (Executive Council NSW Young Lawyers)
- Submission to the Australian Human Rights Commission’s National Conversation on Human Rights (Human Right Committee)
- Exposure Draft Introducing an Economy-Wide Cash Payment Limit (Business Law Committee)
- Inquiry into the Criminal Code Amendment (Agricultural Protection) Bill 2019 (Animal Law Committee)
2018
- NSW Young Lawyers deeply concerned by sexual harassment in the profession, June 2020
- Australian Marriage Law Survey, November 2017
- Medical and humanitarian evacuations from Manus Island, November 2017
- Federal Budget and Family Law, May 2017
- Thousands of asylum seekers have protection visas lodgement times slashed, March 2017
- Refugee Assistance Project, August 2016
Keeping our members ‘in the know’ is important to us.
Each month, we will email the latest edition of our e-newsletter Debrief to all young lawyer members.
Debrief contains feature articles on issues affecting the legal profession as well as information on our activities, upcoming events and committees.