Shanghai World Expo 2010

The Attorney-General’s Department will hold a legal program at the Shanghai World Expo 2010 to showcase Australia’s expertise in legal and related services. Three events will be held in the Australian Pavilion on 15 and 16 July 2010 (to be confirmed). The proposed events are a dinner for Chinese and Australian lawyers and in-house counsel, an arbitration forum, and a legal education dinner.

A high level delegation will attend the Expo. It is expected that the Attorney-General will attend the program.

The Thursday night dinner will bring together key figures from Chinese law firms and in-house counsel and representatives of Australian law firms with an interest in China. The event will showcase Australia’s world class and innovative international commercial legal services expertise to major businesses in China. It will also provide a high level networking opportunity for Australian law firms with major Chinese lawyers.

On Friday morning, the Department will host an event to promote the skills of Australian arbitrators and mediators in international commercial dispute resolution and Australia as a desirable venue for the resolution of disputes in the region. The Friday evening legal education event will consolidate links between Chinese and Australian legal academics and universities. The Legal Education Event will highlight the ways China and Australia can learn from each other in preparing lawyers for international practice.

Legal Education Symposium 2010

A symposium with the theme 'With what should Australian law graduates be equipped to lead the world in legal practice?' is proposed for August/September 2010. -The symposium aims to increase the professional mobility of Australian lawyers and explore how to better prepare our graduates for legal practice.

The symposium will feature sessions with short oral presentations and discussion. Presenters will be from academia, the judiciary, the profession (local and international), legal professional bodies, admitting authorities and ILSAC.

APEC Legal Services Initiative

The APEC Legal Services Initiative workshop, held in Singapore on 30-31 July 2009, was a resounding success. Representatives from 17 APEC Member economies’ legal services regulators engaged in in-depth discussion and analysis of the various approaches to foreign lawyer regulation as well as critically examining the regulatory schemes in their own economies.

This is the first time that legal regulators from APEC economies have been brought together and it provided a cooperative environment for a frank exchange of views between legal experts and regulators on a number of key issues affecting foreign lawyers across APEC. A key outcome of the workshop is the development of best practice principles for the regulation of foreign lawyers which are under consideration by APEC.

The next phase of the Initiative is the development of a legal services framework for reducing impediments to the provision of services in foreign and international law between APEC economies.

The Initiative was proposed by Australia and co-sponsored by Singapore, New Zealand, Canada, Chinese Taipei and the United States. It was jointly funded by APEC and the Australian Government.

New Chair of the International Legal Services Advisory Council

On 17 June 2009, Attorney-General, the Hon Robert McClelland MP announced the appointment of Mr Tim Bugg as the new Chair of the International Legal Services Advisory Council. A media release was issued by the Attorney-General following the announcement.

Mr Bugg took over as Chair from the Hon Sir Laurence Street AC KCMG QC, the founding Chair of ILSAC, on 1 July 2009 for a four year term.

Mr Bugg is a partner at Dobson Mitchell & Allport in Tasmania and Chair of the Board of the Tasmanian Centre for Legal Studies. He was the President of the Law Council of Australia (LCA) in 2007 and is a past President of the Law Society of Tasmania. Mr Bugg’s international work during his term as President of the Law Council has given him a high profile overseas, particularly in the US, China, Singapore, Malaysia and India – all markets of priority interest to ILSAC. This work and the ambitious domestic agenda he drove through during his Presidency of the Law Council, including the establishment of the large law firm group as an integral part of the Law Council, has earned him the respect of the legal profession.

A Celebration of 19 years service to ILSAC

On 1 June 2009, forty current and former members of ILSAC and friends joined Sir Laurence and Lady Penny Street at a dinner at Ottoman Cuisine in Canberra hosted by the Attorney General, the Hon Robert McClelland MP, to acknowledge nineteen years of contribution by Sir Laurence to the work of ILSAC as its Chairman. Guests who attended included two former Attorneys-General, Professor the Hon Michael Lavarch and the Hon Philip Ruddock MP and the current Secretary of the Attorney-General’s Department, Mr Roger Wilkins AO and three former Secretaries, Mr Patrick Brazil, Mr Alan Rose AO and Mr Stephen Skehill.

The Attorney-General paid special tribute to Sir Laurence noting in particular his strategic vision on identifying the value of taking a public-private sector coordinated approach to the internationalisation of the profession. He also acknowledged the achievements of ILSAC and thanked Sir Laurence, on behalf of his and former governments, for guiding the work of the Council over a period close to two decades. He then presented two gifts to Sir Laurence and a bouquet of flowers to Lady Street.

The Hon Andrew Rogers, Deputy Chair of ILSAC, spoke on behalf of current and former ILSAC members and thanked Sir Laurence for his vision and initiative in 1989 that was instrumental in the establishment of ILSAC. Recalling with fondness and good humour, Andrew spoke of his long association with Sir Laurence from the days in the Supreme Court of NSW to the present, noting with gratitude the many lessons learned by those who were fortunate enough to work with a unique and outstanding figure in the field of law.

Sir Laurence then spoke about the period leading up to the establishment of ILSAC and some of the highlights of its work. He also thanked the Attorney-General, Andrew Rogers, the Department, ILSAC members and colleagues and friends, and the ILSAC Secretariat for their support.

The Hon Robert McClelland MP presenting the Hon Sir Laurence Street AC KCMG QC with a gift from ILSAC members and friends

The Hon Robert McClelland MP presenting the Hon Sir Laurence Street AC KCMG QC with a gift from ILSAC members and friends.

View more photos of the function.