Half-Yearly President Report 2022 by Macquarie University Law Society

Session 1, 2022

HALF-YEARLY

PRESIDENT'S REPORT Prepared by

Devlin Greatbatch Murphy Designed by

Josh Yoe

TABLE OF CONTENTS

All information in this Report is true as of 31st July 2022. Macquarie University Law Society acknowledges the traditional custodians of the Macquarie University land, the Wattamattagal clan of the Darug Nation, whose cultures and customs have nurtured, and continue to nurture this land, since the Dreamtime. We pay our respects to Elders past, present and emerging.

Introduction

Administration

Education

Career Engagement

Social Justice

Competitions

Publications

Marketing

Events

Juris Doctor & Postgraduate

Conclusion

INTRODUCTION

Devlin Greatbatch Murphy President

In 2022, the thirty-eight member Executive Council and seven MULS representatives have been working incredibly hard across nine portfolios to deliver unique and enriching opportunities and experiences for MULS members. This report will cover the operations and initiatives of each of these portfolios in detail below. In 2022, our vision has been to:

Improve the governance framework established by previous Executive Councils; Ensure the efficient and smooth running of the Society by providing Executive Council Members with an encouraging and supportive environment, and proper guidance as they perform their duties; Offer a range of social events to encourage the interaction between members and a balanced lifestyle whilst facilitating the return of Society events back onto campus and in-person in a COVID-safe manner; Continue expanding our marketing capabilities to promote the Society through in-person and digital communication channels, including social media and the MULS newsletter, and release a profitable sale of MULS hoodies; Co-ordinate opportunities for students to practice their legal skills with MULS competitions, whilst implementing not only new mooting competitions such as the International Humanitarian Law Moot but also an International Women’s Day Mooting program; Provide opportunities and events for members to interact with and learn about issues affecting the wider community.

ADMINISTRATION Kenya Walker Administration

Tess O'Connor Treasurer Brendan Piech Secretary

The MULS Administration Portfolio is comprised of Brendan Piech, Secretary, Tess O’Connor, Treasurer, Kenya Walker, Executive Officer (Administration) and myself (Devlin). In 2022, MULS has been active in liaising with other law student societies through the Australian Law Students’ Association (ALSA) and the NSW Young Lawyers Special Committee of Law Student Societies. Through these connections, we have leveraged invaluable opportunities to learn from other law societies and share ideas and advice in the pursuit of enriching the university experiences of our student members. In July 2022, MULS attended the ALSA Conference in Brisbane, which provided a range of networking events and learning sessions which I am committed to implement in the remainder of 2022. The Administration Portfolio also regularly engages with the Macquarie Law School, to discuss ideas raised by the student membership base and the Macquarie Alumni Office to build MULS’ alumni community.

The Administration Portfolio has undertaken the following activities in the first half of 2022: Conducted a thorough review of internal policy documents, for example, the MULS Equity Policy Implemented further policy documents relating to internal governance, specifically in the management of Executive and Board meetings Established a strong membership base through successful campaigns at O-Weeks Opened constructive lines of communication to express ideas and concerns with Macquarie Law School Maintained financial and regulatory compliance with external entities including the Australian Charities and Not-for-Profits Commission (ACNC) and the Australian Taxation Office Developed strong relationships with other law student societies/associations both within New South Wales and interstate, to increase collaboration and knowledge sharing

FINANCE

In 2022, MULS has maintained an incredibly strong financial position, ensuring that MULS is able to continue providing high quality events and initiatives without compromising the ability of future Executive Councils to do the same. The combination of profitable social events such as the Law Ball in February, and a strong year for sponsorship has created a healthy base for expanding Society events and initiatives. I wish to extend my thanks to Tess O’Connor, for her hard work in preparing documents for the annual audit, crediting the MULS 2022 Budget and her ongoing hard work in managing the many aspects of financial stewardship of the Society. A full financial breakdown will be provided at the Society’s AGM in October and the results of our financial audit produced by our accounts has been reviewed and accepted by the ACNC.

EDUCATION Subcommittee Kristy Spinelli Campus Experience

Breanna Ivankovic Olivia Holland Jasmine Saluja Amy Ridley

Sami Shamsi Education Director MULS is committed to advancing the education of our memberships by providing a suite of opportunities designed to equip students with critical, academic skills. The Director (Education), Sami Shamsi, and Executive Officer (Campus Experience), Kristy Spinelli, have hosted a wide variety of highly successful initiatives including Thomson Reuters Legal Research and AGLC4 Referencing Workshops. Entering its third season, Sami and the team have been hard at work producing new episodes of Justified, which have included an interview with Dean of Macquarie Law School, Professor Lise Barry, and a clerkship-focused episode with representatives from Herbert Smith Freehills.

“We’ve had fantastic levels of engagement from students across all cohorts, particularly from the incoming first years! It is great to have the entire community back in person” – Sami Shamsi

After several disrupted O-Weeks over the last few years, the Education Portfolio created a fantastic stall at the 2022 Session 1 OWeek and hosted exciting events such as LLB and JD Panels and a first-of-its-kind Exhibition Moot. Additionally, MULS collaborated with Macquarie Law School on two Law School welcomes, and we also held a First Year Afternoon Tea, which also received great engagement. The Education Subcommittee comprised of Amy Ridley (Diversity Representative), Jasmine Saluja (External Representative), Breanna Ivankovic and Olivia Holland (First Year Representatives) have provided invaluable support to the Education Portfolio. Amy and Jasmine have done an incredible job in always looking for ways to make MULS more inclusive and accessible for the diverse student base within our members. Breanna and Olivia have been absolutely critical in supporting the reintroduction of first years events such as the First Year Afternoon Tea and the First Year Law Camp. Keep an eye out for further Justified episodes on Oral Advocacy and Competitions and also on International Human Rights as well as some exciting initiatives for World Mental Health Day in Semester 2!

CAREER

ENGAGEMENT Daniel Mallat Sponsorship

Arjun Kumar Public Interest Careers

Georgia Aslanidis Careers Director

Larissa Svetlov Corporate Careers

MULS continues to provide a vast range of career engagement opportunities for MULS members. Led by Georgia Aslanidis, the Career Engagement Portfolio has worked tirelessly to host fourteen events within four weeks, including a fantastic Clerkship Fair and Interview Roulette. Additionally, MULS has continued to develop the Clerkship Buddy Program, with 43 buddies partnered up with mentors to help guide them through the clerkship process. The Career Engagement team has worked hard to adapt to the new hybrid normal, and effectively managed to balance the needs of students and sponsor firms by holding a mix of in-person and online events.

Tiffany Austin Corporate Careers

Sponsorship of MULS events and initiatives falls under the Career Engagement Portfolio. I would like to extend my thanks to Georgia Aslanidis and Daniel Mallat for their hard work and dedication to increasing sponsorship, which allows MULS to provide the suite of high quality opportunities to our members. Final sponsorship figures will be provided in the final reports at the AGM, however we were incredibly proud to onboard 12 new sponsors, and generate a 30% increase in sponsorship in 2022. The flagship event of the 2022 Career Engagement calendar was the Clerkship Fair and Interview Roulette which was an enormous success. After two years of restrictions to both the format and the number of attendees imposed by COVID, the Career Engagement team did an incredible job to maximise engagement from students and firms. We are proud to have hosted 13 firms on-campus and be able to provide Macquarie Law students with the invaluable experience of speaking with firm representatives and Macquarie Law Alumni about their respective firms. Thank you to Cult Eatery, Matthew Herro and Macquarie University for their assistance in putting together this highly successful event. In Semester 2, we are looking forward to a number of Career Engagement events including the Insights to Commercial Law Panel, the Criminal Law Panel and a Legal Roles in Government Panel.

“The careers team has facilitated and organised many events between prominent corporate firms and students in order to give participants an opportunity to understand what it would be like to work in the sector.” - Georgia Aslanidis

SOCIAL JUSTICE

Lei Falculan Community Outreach

Bianca Monti Social Justice Director

Ruponti Atiq Advocacy

MULS is determined to continue its commitment to advancing and discussing social justice issues throughout 2022, whilst placing an emphasis on community wellbeing throughout 2022. Led by Bianca Monti, the Social Justice Portfolio has run multiple fantastic initiatives and events including collaborating with the Competitions Portfolio to include important social justice panels in the International Women’s Day Mooting Program, an Elder Law Speaker Night which focused on elder and aged care law, an Aboriginal Legal Services Speaker Night raising awareness for legal aid in the First Nations communities and a Legal Advocacy Skills Workshop. With the assistance of their excellent subcommittee, the Social Justice team has increased activity on its social media pages by posting Social Justice news, opportunities and updates.

Moving into Session 2, we are excited for the Social Justice team to be holding an Environmental Law Speaker Night, a Careers in Social Justice evening and to collaborate with the Publications team on a monthly mental health blog hosted on the MULS website. I want to thank the Social Justice team for all of their hard work this year.

The MULS Social Justice Portfolio is passionate about continuing to provide students with the opportunity to engage with social justice issues throughout 2022. The broad variety of events and initiatives led by the team in Semester 1 highlights the team’s commitment, determination, and dedication in raising dialogue on pertinent issues in today’s society." - Lei Falculan 13

COMPETITIONS Rahin Badar Foundations

Sharni Selzer Foundations

Taylor McCoy Competitions Director

Taniya Tomas Advocacy

Simone Alexander Professional Skills

Marcelo González Danke External Advocacy

Sophie Baxter Advocacy

Sophie Cant Professional Skills

Tracy Tang External Professional Skills

In 2022, the MULS Competitions team, under the leadership of Taylor McCoy, have leveraged our developing expertise in running hybrid format competitions to continuously grow the number of competitors and competitions that we are able to offer to our members. Our internal competitions including the Negotiations, Senior Client Interview, Criminal Law Moot and Championship Moot ran seamlessly, with incredibly high engagement across all cohorts. MULS competed in a range of intervarsity events in the first half of 2022, giving students an opportunity to compete against other law student societies in Sydney. This year, MULS competed in the Sir John Peden Contract Moot and ADR Championship against Sydney University Law Society, and in the Bilateral Contract Law Moot against University of Technology Law Student Society.

MULS was also fortunate to send a number of teams to the ALSA Competitions held at the first in-person ALSA Conference in three years, and we had one of our best years to date. Some major successes included Bethany Burns and Annya Reshty victory in the Client Interview competition, beating Griffith University in the Grand Final, Rojina Parchizadeh took home the Runners Up award for her paper on body image law in the Paper Presentation Grand Final and Jaz Cremen, Caitlin Johnson and Lauren Forrester reached the semifinals of the International Humanitarian Law Moot.

I want to sincerely thank Taylor McCoy and the Competitions for their innovation and hard work in Session 1. This year, MULS introduced the inaugural International Womens Day Mooting Program which focused on providing panels and workshops for female and non-binary law students to develop their mooting abilities, which providing a relaxed, constructive environment to practice. This is an incredibly important new initiative in the MULS calendar that I look forward to be continued in future years. Additionally, the Competitions portfolio introduced a new moot being the International Humanitarian Law Moot and ran a number of competitions workshops at the beginning of Session 1. I am looking forward to the number of fantastic competitions scheduled for Session 2, including the revamped Private Law Moot, and wish to thank all staff, students and Alumni for their support of the Competitions Portfolio.

"Competitions continue to play a vital role in the personal and professional development of students" - Taylor McCoy 17

PUBLICATIONS Tamika Mansell The Brief Editor-in-Chief

Maryrose Sukkar Publications Director

Jess Go Editor

In 2022, the Publications Portfolio, led by Maryrose Sukkar, continues to provide our members with high quality, informative publications applicable to all areas of university life and the many career opportunities available after Macquarie Law School. This year, Maryrose and Jessica Go (Executive Officer (Editor)) collaborated again with the MULS Competitions Team, including Competitions Director, Taylor, on a highly informative Competitions Guide, which featured testimonials from past competitors and judges and effectively demystified MULS competitions. Since the introduction of this guide in 2021, MULS Competitions have received a dramatic increase in engagement, and we look forward to further collaborations, including with the Careers Portfolio on a MULS Career’s Guide in the remainder of 2022.

Tamika Mansell, Editor-in-Chief of The Brief has continued to uphold our flagship publication’s strong reputation in the legal sphere with Edition 1 of The Brief: Unchained. Under Tamika and Maryrose’s stewardship, The Brief subcommittee has continued to grow, providing students from all year groups an opportunity to write articles, share ideas and gain editorial experience. Key an eye out for Edition 2 and Edition 3, which are coming out very shortly.

"The ability to be exposed to a variety of careers and opportunities in one guide, is a great benefit provided by the pubs team and useful for all students undertaking a law degree. Being able to see what is possible and what opportunities are available post university studies is very helpful. There are many career paths which can be undertaken, and many of these are beyond what students have considered. " - Maryrose Sukkar

MARKETING Craig Bourne IT

Josh Yoe Marketing Director

Vithika Parashar Publicity

In 2022, the Marketing Portfolio, helmed by Josh Yoe, have taken the MULS social media, merchandise and marketing strategies to a new level. Josh, supported by the fantastic Executive Officers (Publicity) Vithika Parashar and Amala Jaimes and Executive Officer (IT) Craig Bourne, have continued to grow our impressive social media following and awareness both on campus and within the legal sector. The success of their marketing effects is demonstrated in the growth of our social media following on all platforms, with Instagram now having over 1900 followers and LinkedIn reaching over 1200 followers.

Amala Jaimes Publicity

Our main social media channel, the MULS Facebook Page, has over 7700 likes and continues to be our main form of marketing to Macquarie Law Students and the MULS community. Our followers will have noticed some innovative and highly engaging marketing posts in the lead up to large events such as Law Ball and Law Cruise, in the form of video trailers. This quality of marketing is unparalleled and has greatly increased engagement and ticket sales in MULS events.

The main highlight of the Marketing team’s fantastic work in 2022 so far has been the most successful hoodie and merchandise launch in MULS history. In the first half of this year, MULS has sold 540 hoodies, which is double previous years. Not only is this hugely successful for MULS branding, and our presence on campus, but the MULS hoodies have always been a critical part to connecting with our community. I cannot thank Josh, Vithika and Amala enough for their hard work this year. A further thank you is owed to Josh and Craig, who have worked tirelessly to maintain the MULS website and create a new online store, which remains a critical part of our operational and marketing strategies, as well as supporting the entire Executive team in their IT issues.

"MULS Marketing is like never before. From our revamped Instagram page, to the bestdesigned Macquarie Law Hoodies, I'm so proud of the extraordinary leap in quality the portfolio has displayed this year." - Josh Yoe

EVENTS

India Vlotman Socials

Sascha Gassmann Sports

Lara Huby Events Director

Annie Papageorgiou Socials

In 2022, the Events Portfolio rose to the challenge of setbacks of previous years and have organised a suite of incredibly enjoyable events for our members. The team, consisting of Events Director Lara Huby and Executive Officers (Socials) Annie Papageorgiou and India Vlotman, have been instrumental in reconnecting with Macquarie Law Students that have been displaced due to COVID restrictions. In the first half of the year, we have been able to hold a Law Ball, Start of Semester Drinks and Law Cruise which were all enormous successes. These fantastic events provide our members with a chance to socialise and connect with other students from all cohorts at Macquarie Law School.

Further, for the first time in three years, the Events team, supported by the Executive Council, held the MULS First Year Law Camp for students beginning their legal studies in 2022 at Macquarie. The First Years had an incredible time and we have particularly enjoyed their enthusiasm and engagement in subsequent events. It has been particularly special to connect with First Years after a number of years of disconnection due to COVID. Additionally, Sascha Gassman, Executive Officer (Sport), coordinated a number of MULS teams within Macquarie University Social Sport and held a fantastic MULS Gala Day. It has been utterly inspiring to experience the Events team’s hardwork, resilience and innovation that have created such excellent social opportunities for our members.

"After three years of Covid disruptions, we are so thrilled to have brought First Year Law Camp back to life; it's a very special feeling watching new students create friendships that you know will last the entirety of their degree and even beyond their university experience." - Lara Huby In the second half of 2022, the Events team will be hosting another Law Ball and Start of Semester Drinks, as well as the first Intervarsity Sports Gala Day since 2019. I can’t wait to see what you do in Session 2!

JD + POSTGRAD

Antonia Mangos Engagement

Carla Hennery JD/Postgrad Director Michael Mendel Advocacy

Aryana Khaja Careers

At the end of 2021, MULS was incredibly excited to expand the Executive Council to include the new Juris Doctor and Postgraduate Portfolio, designed to introduce a postgraduate voice into the MULS Board of Directors and enhance student engagement within the juris doctor and postgraduate cohorts through new and exciting events. Helmed by Carla Henery and supported by the Executive Officer (JD/PG Engagement), Antonia Mangos, Executive Officer (Advocacy) Michael Mendel and Executive Officer (JD/PG Careers) Aryana Khaja have done exactly that by ensuring that MULS events and initiatives are accessible to juris doctor and postgraduate students, often balancing work and other commitments. Additionally, the Juris Doctor and Postgraduate team organised an on campus social event, and collaborated with the Law School on O-Week initiatives including a Juris Doctor Law School Welcome. Thank you very much to Carla and her team for their fantastic work this semester.

"This year MULS has introduced a new Juris Doctor and Postgraduate portfolio. We are committed to delivering initiatives that are better suited to the juris doctor and postgraduate cohort. Our aim this year is to host events online and during after work hours so juris doctor and postgraduate students can join in the initiatives that MULS has to offer." - Aryana Khaja

CONCLUSION MULS would not exist as it does today without its dedicated and incredible members, that actively engage with the Society across a range of events and initiatives, whether that is through competing in MULS competitions, contributing to The Brief or attending our many fantastic events. It is your passion and love of MULS which drives the Executive Council to consistently deliver high quality opportunities, and promotes a strong, innovative environment within our Society. I also want to extend my gratitude to our corporate sponsors. It is through their sponsorship and support that MULS is able to provide the large suite of opportunities and initiatives that enrich the personal and professional development of our members. I want to thank Professor Lise Barry, Dr Andrew Burke, Sheyana La Brooy and others from Macquarie Law School, along with Sami Uddin and the Macquarie University Student Engagement team for their ongoing support. MULS is incredibly grateful to each of you for your invaluable assistance, guidance and advice. As President, I am committed to ensuring the continued improvement of MULS and I welcome any feedback, suggestions or questions relating to MULS. I am very proud of the hard work and achievements of MULS so far in 2022, and the collective contribution of the entire team to enhance the student experience for all MULS members. I wish you all the best for the remainder of 2022. Devlin Greatbatch Murphy President, Macquarie University Law Society

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