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

obiterthe ndsls

t h e n o t r e d a m e s y d n e y l a w s o c i e t y

Week Two Semester TwoVolume Two 201301

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From theEditor

Caroline MiChel

Hi everyone,

Welcome back to Semester 2!

We are well and truly heading

into the second half of the year,

and the NDSLS have kick started

another semester of exciting

events and opportunities.

One of the major changes that

will be happening this semester

is the election for the new

NDSLS Committee for 2013/14!

Nominations start on Monday

of Week 3 and voting will begin

in Week 5. I highly recommend

any of you who are keen and

interested in getting involved

to nominate for a position

- no matter if you are at the

beginning or end of your degree.

I nominated for a portfolio

position half way through my 1st

year- and I was voted in! You’ll

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 will also hear a little bit

more about this year’s ALSA

(Australian Law Students’

Association) Conference! If

you were following Eden’s blog

during the holidays, you would

have seen and heard about

some of the antics the six of us

got up to! On a personal note,

the ALSA Conference was by

far one of the most enjoyable

and useful experiences I’ve

had during university so far. I

competed in the client interview

competition and the skills I built

and developed during that time

were invaluable. They gave

me a great insight into real life

practical legal skills, and lawyer-

client relationships. I encourage

anyone interested to attend the

conference next year.

That’s all for now,

Enjoy

Caroline

acknowledgementsObiter Issue One, Volume Two

EditorCaroline Michel

ContributorsEden Christopher

DesignAlexander Carlos

NDSLS Committee 2013ExecutiveEden Christopher, PresidentNatalie Baladi, Vice-PresidentDaniel Austin, SecretarySean D’almada Remedios, Treasurer

DirectorsJacob Deigan, CareersJulia Lavers, CompetitionsAidan Williams, EducationPeter Gray, ITAlexander Carlos, MarketingCaroline Michel, PublicationsDominique Hermo, Social EventsRachel Bennett, Social JusticeLauren Absalom, Sponsorship

Year RepresentativesAdrian Vincent, First YearShelby van Ooran, Second YearCaitlin Gallagher, Third YearSean D’almada Remedios, Fourth/Final Year

Contact the EditorContact the Committeewww.ndsls.org

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From the President, Eden ChristopherWelcome 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

In this issue:

Calendar

NDSLS Online

ALSA 2013

Elections

Social Justice and Wellbeing Week

Mooting & Paper Presentation

Pub Crawl

YourSay

4

5

6

9

10

10

10

11

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Upcoming Events

august 12 NDSLS election nominations open

14 Mooting Workshop #1

21 Mooting Workshop #2Mature Age Meet Up

23 NDSLS election nominations close

26 NDSLS election voting opens

27 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 DirectorWebsite enquiries: Peter Gray, IT Director

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Students come together mostly to compete in

competitions such as mooting and negotiation,

but also to attend educational forums, meet at

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

we sent a Negotiation team, a Client Interview

team, a Councillor and a General Delegate.

I attended as a competitor in Client Interview.

Having only participated in Client Interview once

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

nervous and apprehensive as to what to expect.

Luckily, my nerves were dismissed by the first

round - my partner Alana and I felt very confident

and had a blast. The next two rounds further

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

their fantastic efforts in what was one of the

largest competitions at the conference. I would

personally like to extend my congratulations to

them.

Our Councillor and General Delegate, Eden and

Chakib, also had great time at the Conference,

participating in several other educational forums,

discussions and experiences whilst we were

competing. Whilst at the conference, Eden wrote

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

great insight into what we got up to and a very

entertaining read! It is available on our website

here.

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.

By Caroline Michel

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Participating in law competitions, whether

on a large scale at ALSA, or a small scale

at university, helps you to learn and be

exposed to essential practical legal skills that

can’t be entirely discovered in the classroom.

Also, the networking and socialising

opportunities that the Conference offers

and delivers are remarkable. The ability to

meet so many students and professionals

from across the country, all with one thing

in common is incredibly enriching. The

ALSA Conference is open to all students to

attend - whether as a competitor or general

delegate. I highly encourage those who are

interested to attend next year.

I will leave you with some reflections from

the Conference:

By ChakibAs 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

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…

I am very thankful for this opportunity; I was very

fortunate to be part of this. I am already looking

forward to the next ALSA.

By CarolineA short blurb can’t really describe my experience

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

that stand out the most. First would have to be

the catchphrases our delegate came up with on

the first day and continued to yell out every single

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

Who knows why. The second would have to be

the comps. I actually enjoyed competing in Client

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

stories were often rather amusing … including

Sven who claimed to have lost $10,000 in one

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

difficult to keep a straight face! Third would have

to be the socials. ALSA doesn’t fall short in terms

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.

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By AlanaAfter 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 AGMIt’s that time of the year again - when the current

NDSLS Committee bows out to let the new reign

of keen and bubbling students to take over.

The positions on the society are open to all

current law students - the only exception is the

Executive. To nominate for an executive role

you must have either held a position on the

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

student signatures to support you.

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

your peers … so start campaigning!

Nominations open on Monday 12th August (Week

3) and voting begins in Week 5. Current NDSLS

positions up for election are:

Executive:

President

Vice President

Secretary

Treasurer

Portfolio Directors:

Careers

Competitions

Education

IT

Marketing

Publications

Social

Social Justice

Sponsorship

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 WeekWe 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 PresentationOur 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 CrawlOur 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.

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.

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.

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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.

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.

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