21 Mar 2016
On Monday evening, the VGSO launched their internal Equitable Briefing Policy and played host to more than 55 women barristers and bar readers keen to work with government and access high quality briefs.
VGSO are signatories to the Victorian Equal Opportunity and Human Rights Commission (VEOHRC) and the Victorian Bar’s Commercial Bar Association (CommBar) joint initiative on Equitable Briefing and the event was a practical step in enabling VGSO solicitors to broaden their briefing pool and network with new faces at the Bar.
Special guests for the evening included Melinda Richards SC, Crown Counsel who moderated a panel of Fiona McLeod SC, Rachel Ellyard, Janine Hebiton and Monika Pekevska.
The evening was opened by Catherine Roberts, one of the author's of VGSO's internal policy, who highlighted the key points and aims of the Equitable Briefing Policy. The policy commits VGSO to a number of actions including 50% targets in briefing women barristers, identifying new women commercial barristers, and collecting relevant data and reporting this data to VEOHRC.
Catherine was followed by a panel discussion of the solicitor/barrister relationship, how to promote positive working relationships and reflections on the effects of equitable briefing policies, including how the policies can transform the legal profession.
We would like to thank the panel for their engaging discussion and to the attendees for helping create a successful evening and look forward to similar events in the future.