Viewing articles from June, 2014
CWLA AGM
29 Jun 2014
On 29 May 51 of Canterbury’s female lawyers gathered at Duo for the Canterbury Women’s Legal Association (CWLA) AGM and presentation of the Dorothy Thompson scholarships.
Of course these matters were secondary to the other reason many attended and that was to hear the guest speaker, Canterbury’s own newly appointed High Court Judge, Justice Dunningham who provided those present with an insight into life behind the bench.
As the saying goes, the stories will grow in their telling, and no doubt, by the time this makes it to print, the penthouse suite (that is the Judge’s chambers), the morning and afternoon tea starvation that occurs due to the lack of biscuits and the freedom that comes without being shackled to a timesheet, will be legendary. When one cannot purchase either Whittakers or Cadbury chocolates for fear of showing a perceived bias, the true sacrifices of the bench became clear to those present.
There were of course other insights offered by Her Honour, however, in the best practise of intrigue and inducing members to attend future events, a first hand account of those insights will remain with those that were present.
On a serious note, Her Honour reminded the audience that often female lawyers are far too hard on themselves expecting perfection in all they attempt - thus affecting our perception of available opportunities and creating needless worrying.
The evening also provided the occasion for the formal awarding of the Lady Dorothy Thompson scholarships. These scholarships are awarded annually by the Thompson family to the top two outstanding female achievers at the IPLS professional courses.
Shelley Robotham was the top graduant.. Shelley is currently working at Kensington Swan in Wellington. The runner up was Aja Trinder who currently works at the public defence service.
At the AGM itself, the CWLA bid farewell to the following committee members Sarah Eveleigh, Fleur McDonald, Melanie Jones and Lauraine Frampton and welcomed new committee members Kathy Bell, Natalie Peters, Stephanie Melbourne, Kathy Basire and Kate Bradley. Kate will also serve as a junior representative for the year.
The committee members for this year are:
- Catherine Bibbey - Convenor (Barrister)
- Roz Burnside - Treasurer (Roz Burnside Law)
- Dee Morgan - Secretary (Lexington Legal)
- Emily Whiteside (Chapman Tripp)
- Angela Searle (Baldwins Law)
- Stephanie Melbourne (James and Wells)
- Kathy Bell (Raymond Donnelly)
- Natalie Peters (Buddle Findlay)
- Kathy Basire (Raymond Donnelly)
- Kate Bradley (Buddle Findlay)
Not long after our AGM the Association was pleased to hear that a women practitioner in Christchurch has, for the first time, been appointed a Queens Counsel. Congratulations to Pru Steven. This is an appropriate appointment and one which is inspiring for all women practitioners in Christchurch.
Mark These Dates
17 July[held 26 July]–Women’s professional dinner. As well as providing the opportunity to network with other female professionals across disciplines and specialties, the professional women’s dinner is also the main fundraising event for the CWLA scholarship.
2 September - Women’s conference on 2 September.
Helen Cull QC returns to the women’s conference, again to be the chair and one of the most prominent human rights lawyers in Zimbabwe, Beatrice Mtetwa, will be the keynote speaker. Lisa O’Neill will be returning and Linda Clark and Gillian Coumbe QC has also been confirmed as one of the speakers. Our Mayor has agreed to open the conference.
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Catalyst for Change – Business Women’s Conference
19 Jun 2014
Photos by Sheena Haywood Photography. On Wednesday 16 May, 2014, I attended the Queenstown Chamber of Commerce’s Women’s Business Conference in Queenstown. This is the third year that the Chamber of Commerce has run this conference and again it was a sell out at an early stage....
