Obiter, Issue 1, Semester 2, 2013

the ndsls

obiter

Our 2013 ALSA Delegation: Alana, Caroline, Dominic, Eden, Chakib, and Scott

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Week Two Semester Two Volume Two 2013 the notre dame sydney law society

From the

notre dame sydney law society

acknowledgements Obiter Issue One, Volume Two Editor Caroline Michel Contributors Eden Christopher Design Alexander Carlos NDSLS Committee 2013 Executive Eden Christopher, President Natalie Baladi, Vice-President Daniel Austin, Secretary Sean D’almada Remedios, Treasurer Directors Jacob Deigan, Careers Julia Lavers, Competitions Aidan Williams, Education Peter Gray, IT Alexander Carlos, Marketing Caroline Michel, Publications Dominique Hermo, Social Events Rachel Bennett, Social Justice Lauren Absalom, Sponsorship Year Representatives Adrian Vincent, First Year Shelby van Ooran, Second Year Caitlin Gallagher, Third Year Sean D’almada Remedios, Fourth/Final Year

Editor

Caroline Michel

Hi everyone,

more about this year’s ALSA (Australian Law Students’

Welcome back to Semester 2!

Association) Conference! If

We are well and truly heading

you were following Eden’s blog

into the second half of the year,

during the holidays, you would

and the NDSLS have kick started

have seen and heard about

another semester of exciting

some of the antics the six of us

events and opportunities.

got up to! On a personal note, the ALSA Conference was by

One of the major changes that

far one of the most enjoyable

will be happening this semester

and useful experiences I’ve

is the election for the new

had during university so far. I

NDSLS Committee for 2013/14!

competed in the client interview

Nominations start on Monday

competition and the skills I built

of Week 3 and voting will begin

and developed during that time

in Week 5. I highly recommend

were invaluable. They gave

any of you who are keen and

me a great insight into real life

interested in getting involved

practical legal skills, and lawyer-

to nominate for a position

client relationships. I encourage

- no matter if you are at the

anyone interested to attend the

beginning or end of your degree.

conference next year.

I nominated for a portfolio

Contact the Editor Contact the Committee www.ndsls.org

position half way through my 1st

That’s all for now,

year- and I was voted in! You’ll

Enjoy

never know until you try. There are a range of positions that suit the many differing interests and capabilities of law students. On our website, we have provided an election guide, where you will find brief descriptions of each position. This should give you a clear idea of what you might want to apply for.

Further on in this edition, you will2also hear a little bit

Caroline

the obiter , issue one , volume two

From the President, Eden Christopher

2013

In this issue:

Welcome back my minions.

Semester 2 means one thing ... summer is coming.

I find Semester 2 the hardest to stay focused in. As the days get warmer, the beach is hard to forego and lectures drag on that little bit longer. I stare longingly out the window into the sunshine and dream to be outside. I am sure there are a few of you who share this sentiment.

Semester 2 is also a quiet time for the NDSLS due to changeover and the above. However, this year we are doing things a bit differently. We are making our last efforts of our term as Committee to help enrich your student experience.

We have planned a social event or two and our mooting comp is getting a face-lift with workshops and a change in the rules to help everyone get more skills out of it.

The elections will be around the corner and I look forward to seeing the ideas of a new Committee and where the NDSLS will go from here. There are many challenges facing our Society and you really have to want to meet these challenges. This means finishing off tasks handed on by the last Committee and pushing forward with new ideas and tackling tough tasks with real determination.

I look forward to seeing you all and as always, if you have comments, feedback or just want to have a chat, feel free to stop me in the courtyard or send me an email.

Yours in law, Eden O Captain, My Captain el Presidente’ #President

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Calendar

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NDSLS Online

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ALSA 2013

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Elections

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Social Justice and Wellbeing Week

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Mooting & Paper Presentation

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Pub Crawl

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YourSay

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Upcoming Events

august

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NDSLS election nominations open

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Mooting Workshop #1

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Mooting Workshop #2 Mature Age Meet Up

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NDSLS election nominations close

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NDSLS election voting opens

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Pub Crawl

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The NDSLS Online Connect with us on all of our online portals to make sure you never miss a story!

facebook.com/NotreDameSydneyLawSociety twitter.com/NDSLS youtube.com/NDSLS www.ndsls.org

Social media enquiries: Alexander Carlos, Marketing Director Website enquiries: Peter Gray, IT Director

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By Caroline Michel For one week in July, six students from the Notre Dame Sydney Law School travelled to Perth to attend the Australian Law Students’ Association (ALSA) Conference.

If you’ve been completely out of the loop and haven’t heard, the ALSA Conference is an annual weeklong meeting of law students from various universities around the country.

Students come together mostly to compete in

their fantastic efforts in what was one of the

competitions such as mooting and negotiation,

largest competitions at the conference. I would

but also to attend educational forums, meet at

personally like to extend my congratulations to

Council, network, and socialise … a lot. This year,

them.

we sent a Negotiation team, a Client Interview team, a Councillor and a General Delegate.

Our Councillor and General Delegate, Eden and Chakib, also had great time at the Conference,

I attended as a competitor in Client Interview.

participating in several other educational forums,

Having only participated in Client Interview once

discussions and experiences whilst we were

before (this year at Notre Dame), I was a bit

competing. Whilst at the conference, Eden wrote

nervous and apprehensive as to what to expect.

a blog detailing our day-to-day adventures. It’s a

Luckily, my nerves were dismissed by the first

great insight into what we got up to and a very

round - my partner Alana and I felt very confident

entertaining read! It is available on our website

and had a blast. The next two rounds further

here.

built our confidence and skills and the entire competition was an incredibly enriching and useful experience.

Our two negotiators, Dom and Scott, also shared positive experiences and felt confident with

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Participating in law competitions, whether

I am very thankful for this opportunity; I was very

on a large scale at ALSA, or a small scale

fortunate to be part of this. I am already looking

at university, helps you to learn and be

forward to the next ALSA.

exposed to essential practical legal skills that can’t be entirely discovered in the classroom.

Also, the networking and socialising

By Caroline A short blurb can’t really describe my experience

opportunities that the Conference offers

at ALSA over the past week. I’ll mention the things

and delivers are remarkable. The ability to

that stand out the most. First would have to be

meet so many students and professionals

the catchphrases our delegate came up with on

from across the country, all with one thing

the first day and continued to yell out every single

in common is incredibly enriching. The

time we saw each other…”Hectic wulluh bro!!”

ALSA Conference is open to all students to

Who knows why. The second would have to be

attend - whether as a competitor or general

the comps. I actually enjoyed competing in Client

delegate. I highly encourage those who are

Interview a lot more than I expected. Our ‘clients’

interested to attend next year.

stories were often rather amusing … including Sven who claimed to have lost $10,000 in one

I will leave you with some reflections from

night of drinking. Needless to say, it was often very

the Conference:

difficult to keep a straight face! Third would have to be the socials. ALSA doesn’t fall short in terms

By Chakib As an ‘older’ student, I’ve been stretched to the max in so many ways. I have to say that the friendliness was amazing … starting from the group, led by Eden – this was the glue that held everything together!

I came here as a general delegate and not really knowing what to expect, was

of organising epic nights out. We had two black tie galas, a cocktail evening, a networking evening, a pub-crawl and a theme night.

I would highly recommend the ALSA conference to anyone. Whether you are interested in competing or not, the Conference definitely does not disappoint.

encouraged to throw myself at all the activities and functions. Through the myriad of workshops, competitions, conferences, not to mention the partying, I can truly say this is the best investment in ‘time’ I’ve ever made … and had heaps of fun in the process. It was like a huge shot in the arm…

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By Alana After attending ALSA in Melbourne 2012 as a General Delegate … to say I was keen, to do it all over again would be an understatement.

This time round I was fortunate enough to compete in Client Interview.

Caroline and I gave it our all interviewing clients such as Sven Svenska – an intoxicated and incompetent tour guide – I couldn’t help but laugh when the volunteer playing the role of Sven ended up being my Perth tour guide the next day (in the infamous white van!).

When fiction meets with reality!

A personal highlight was spending Community Day at angelhands. This organisation works with people directly affected by homicide and violent crime. I was overwhelmed and inspired by the personal stories the volunteers were so willing to share. It was an eye-opening experience that highlighted the need to remember clients and victims are real people.

To enter a career as a solicitor is such a great responsibility that shouldn’t be taken lightly – lawyers are advocates and stewards. This workshop has inspired me to give back to my own community and take on more volunteer work.

I strongly recommend that all law students attempt to attend at least one ALSA Conference during your degree, — the friendships made, the networking opportunities and the focus it can bring to your own legal aspirations make it truly worthwhile.

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What’s the Buzz?

Elections, Voting and the AGM It’s that time of the year again - when the current

Executive:

NDSLS Committee bows out to let the new reign

President

of keen and bubbling students to take over.

Vice President Secretary Treasurer

The positions on the society are open to all current law students - the only exception is the Executive. To nominate for an executive role

Portfolio Directors:

you must have either held a position on the

Careers

society before (doesn’t matter when) or gather 25

Competitions

student signatures to support you.

Education IT

Voting is open to all law students - it’s all up to

Marketing

your peers … so start campaigning!

Publications Social

Nominations open on Monday 12th August (Week

Social Justice

3) and voting begins in Week 5. Current NDSLS

Sponsorship

positions up for election are: Year Representatives: Second Year Third Year Fourth/Final Year Graduate/Mature Age

To read an overview of each position written by the current Committee, check out our election guide by clicking here.

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Social Justice and Wellbeing Week We are proud to announce the introduction of an annual Social Justice and Wellbeing Week!

Our Social Justice Director, Rachel Bennett, has been hard at work all year to create and organise an entire week dedicated to social justice, legal justice and well being in the law profession.

We will be hosting an array of events and presentations related to various topics of social justice and wellbeing. The week is bound to be extremely insightful, as well as great fun, so keep an eye out for updates!

Mooting and Paper Presentation Our Semester 2 competitions, Mooting and Paper Presentation, are now open for registration! The NDSLS encourages students of all ages and points in their degree to sign up and have a go. We will be running two Mooting workshops (14th and 21st August), which everyone is welcome to attend and find out more about the competition.

For more details, check out the competitions page on our website here.

Pub Crawl Our Socials Director, Dominique Hermo, has been hard at work organising our Semester Two social event: the NDSLS Pub Crawl! The pub crawl will be on the 27th August and all students are welcome to attend! It is bound to be an epic night out, so keep an eye out on announcements and updates in the coming weeks.

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YourSay Recently, the WA Supreme Court ruled against Gina Rinehart in a case involving Western Australian Newspapers and Journalists. Rinehart’s ‘failed bid’ was to force a Perth journalist to reveal his confidential sources.

The decision has been described as positive for the journalism community, by enacting ‘shield laws’ to protect journalism ethics of confidentiality.

Do you think that journalists should be legally protected from revealing sources? Or does this allow corruption in journalism?

Have your say by submitting 100 words or less here.

How to Contribute The Obiter welcomes original student written pieces. If you would like to have something included in our publication, don’t be shy- we are now accepting a range of original works whether they be short articles, long essays or maybe just a piece of advice for other students.

As long as they are focused on a legal or university related issue/topic we would love to publish your work! If you are a budding writer why not send us something?

You can either upload your document here, or email it directly to Caroline, the Publications Director at publications@ndsls.org. It’s that easy. We look forward to hearing from you.

Disclaimer: All submissions will be considered for publishing provided that they do not contain offensive language or themes. The NDSLS reserves the right to refuse a submission if it is inappropriate.

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The NDSLS would like to recognise the significant contributions of our Gold Sponsors. These sponsors have been with us for many years and have made significant contributions to YOUR society during that time. Check out their website and Like them on Facebook to stay informed on how they can help you more.

Copyright and Disclaimer Š The Notre Dame Sydney Law Society This publication is copyright. Except where permitted under the Copyright Act, no part of this publication may be reproduced or stored by any process, electronic or otherwise, without the express permission of the Notre Dame Sydney Law Society.

This is a publication of the Notre Dame Sydney Law Society. Its sponsors, contributors, the University of Notre Dame Australia, its affiliates or its employees do not necessarily endorse any facts or opinions contained within this publication.

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