This session was recorded on 6 February 2025 as part of the Important issues for in-house lawyers: mandatory rule 6.1 - live webinar.

AI and your professional skills – Caryn Sandler, Partner + Chief Knowledge and Innovation Officer, Gilbert + Tobin

Artificial Intelligence (particularly Gen AI) has now well and truly arrived in the legal industry and has the potential to shake up the way we practice. This session will serve as your guide to the Gen AI technologies that will likely change the way we find, review and write legal content. Taking a vendor-agnostic approach, we’ll bypass the hype and explain everything you need to know about:

• The current state of Gen AI in the legal industry.
• Emerging legal use cases.
• Gen AI demonstration.
• Considerations when working with Gen AI.
• What you need to do now to prepare for potential changes to legal service delivery.

This session was recorded on 12 December 2024 as part of the Navigating change: Mandatory 6.1 – live webinar.

AI technology is becoming more prevalent and useful in legal practice, especially in the area of legal research. Rhiannon Perrin will demonstrate this in a presentation that aims to help lawyers leverage the power of AI to enhance their legal research skills and outcomes.

This presentation will:

• demonstrate some practical applications of AI tools that can help lawyers conduct legal research more efficiently and effectively
• cover topics such as organising authority lists, comparing versions of a Bill and creating Boolean search strings
• provide guidance on how to use free AI tools such as Copilot Web
• demonstrate how lawyers can create effective prompts to conduct research tasks with the help of AI

This session was recorded on 13 March 2024 as part of the Buzzwords: The T-Shaped Lawyer – live webinar

The Law Society of NSW is pleased to launch the first Buzzwords webinar of 2024 focused on decoding the concept of the T-Shaped Lawyer.

Join Law Society President Brett McGrath, for a discussion with Peter Connor, Founder and CEO of AlternativelyLegal, and Santhi Latha, Dean at Rajah & Tann Asia Academy, about what a T-Shaped Lawyer is and why it might be a compelling concept for your career, your legal department and your legal practice.

Discover:

• Insights into the practice of law 
• How to become a businessperson, not just a lawyer, and do business work, not just legal work
• Key non-legal skills crucial for modern legal professionals.
• Strategies to embrace change and stay ahead in the dynamic legal landscape.
• Practical application of the T-Shaped Lawyer Vision and Framework within legal practice.

Register now and unlock the potential of being a T-Shaped Lawyer in shaping your future success.

We are pleased to deliver this webinar complimentary to members.

This session was recorded on 27 February 2024 as part of the Key knowledge and skills for family lawyers: Mandatory rule 6.1 – live webinar

The Family Law Amendment Act 2023 (Cth) (passed 19 October 2023), among other changes, repealed the presumption of equal shared parental responsibility, expanded the definition of member of the family, simplified compliance and enforcement provisions, and ensured that children’s voices are heard in international child abduction cases. This session will: 

• provide an overview of the substantive changes recently effected to the Family Law Act 1975 (Cth);
• assess their impact upon precedent letters and documents (eg parenting plans, orders and advices) to ensure that those changes are incorporated; and 
• offer practical drafting suggestions for practitioners when formulating templates which comprehensively and accurately address the legislative issues.   

This session was recorded on 19 March 2024 as part of the Property law: One day intensive - live webinar.

Leaving no room for error: Best practice drafting for put and call option deeds – Spyridon Augoustinos, Associate, Green & Associates Solicitors

In this session you will learn:  

• About the implications of recent changes to conveyancing regulations and the NSW stamp duty regime and potential pitfalls and alternatives to entering into option deeds that may be relevant to your clients 
• To use precise language when drafting clauses dealing with grantor and grantee obligations  
• To draft favourable clauses for a property developer client entering into a call option arrangement such as extension, nomination, interdependent contracts, caveat, early access and facilitation of DA clauses  
• To draft favourable clauses for option grantors, such as grantee provision of security deposits and option extension fees being paid in addition the purchase price 
• About recent case studies and option deed disputes which reflect the important of precise option drafting. 

This session was recorded on 9 March 2024 as part of the Focus on sole practice: Mandatory rule 6.1- live webinar.

Business Development skills for solo practitioners – Alistair Marshall, Director, Professional Services Business Development

In this session Alistair Marshall will cover proven, simple and effective marketing and business development ideas to drive profitability. 

Practitioners should inform themselves of Rule 6.1 of the Legal Profession Uniform Continuing Professional Development (Solicitors) Rules 2015 which sets out the requirements for the four (4) mandatory CPD areas for NSW legal practitioners – (a) ethics and professional responsibility; (b) practice management and business skills; (c) professional skills; and (d) substantive law. It is the responsibility of each legal practitioner to self-assess as to whether a particular educational activity extends their knowledge and skills in areas that are relevant to their practice needs or professional development. If so, then the practitioner may claim one (1) "unit” for each hour of attendance, refreshment breaks not included. 

An introductory session for recently admitted lawyers or those new to briefing counsel. By the end of the session participants will:

• Understand the different roles in the relationship between instructing solicitor and counsel
• Be able to brief and instruct counsel effectively to get the most out of the engagement
• Know how to compile a counsel brief with a good working structure

Communicating effectively with non-lawyers, including decision makers – Ali Dibbenhall, Head of Legal, Asia Pacific, LexisNexis 

Transform legal advice into clear, compelling communications. In this 1-hour workshop for in-house counsel, learn proven techniques to actively listen, tailor your style for any audience, craft crisp written communications, and handle sensitive conversations. Whether you're new or seasoned, gain confidence in communicating legal risks and recommendations effectively to business stakeholders.

Practitioners should inform themselves of Rule 6.1 of the Legal Profession Uniform Continuing Professional Development (Solicitors) Rules 2015 which sets out the requirements for the four (4) mandatory CPD areas for NSW legal practitioners – (a) ethics and professional responsibility; (b) practice management and business skills; (c) professional skills; and (d) substantive law. It is the responsibility of each legal practitioner to self-assess as to whether a particular educational activity extends their knowledge and skills in areas that are relevant to their practice needs or professional development. If so, then the practitioner may claim one (1) "unit” for each hour of attendance, refreshment breaks not included. 

Client interviewing skills: the art of obtaining instructions – Heather McKinnon, Partner, Bryant McKinnon Lawyers 

Practitioners should inform themselves of Rule 6.1 of the Legal Profession Uniform Continuing Professional Development (Solicitors) Rules 2015 which sets out the requirements for the four (4) mandatory CPD areas for NSW legal practitioners – (a) ethics and professional responsibility; (b) practice management and business skills; (c) professional skills; and (d) substantive law. It is the responsibility of each legal practitioner to self-assess as to whether a particular educational activity extends their knowledge and skills in areas that are relevant to their practice needs or professional development. If so, then the practitioner may claim one (1) "unit” for each hour of attendance, refreshment breaks not included.