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Early Career Lawyer Committee Guide

For the Early Career Lawyer CPD Series Policy see here.

Early Career Lawyer Committees run from 1 May to 30 April each year. ECLs are guided by the Early Career Lawyer Constitution (and attached schedule).

A. ECL annual obligations
1.1 Committee information and AGM
In every committee year, each ECL is to provide to the Society at cpd@lst.org.au:

  1. by 31 March – the ECL’s April AGM date; and
  2. by 1 May – the AGM minutes and a list of all incoming executive committee members; and
  3. by 31 May – a quality (jpeg 200-400dpi) professional colour head shot of the president (if not previously supplied).

1.2. Minutes of meetings
Within two weeks of each ECL meeting, including special and AGM, the meeting minutes are to be forward to the Society at cpd@lst.org.au.

  • Minutes are to be received as a pdf; and
  • The pdf is to be titled using the protocol: [N][S][NW]ECLDD.MM.YYMinutes. Example – NECL05.07.23Minutes; and
  • Supplied on the Society committee meeting agenda/Minutes/Action template; and
  • Please include the date of the ECL meeting to which the minutes relate in the email subject line. 

1.3. Presidents’ orientation meeting
All incoming ECL presidents are to attend a meeting (either in person or via phone/Zoom) with Society’s Executive Director, Deputy Executive Director and Professional Development Officer as soon as possible after their appointment. The Society will be in touch to arrange a mutually suitable time. The purpose of this meeting is orientation; to discuss policy, guidelines and procedures and any other ECL committee-related matters.

1.4. Society committee chair training
ECL presidents are required to attend Chair Training which is held for all Society committee chairs around May or June. Presidents will be contacted directly with further details as soon as the current year session has been arranged.

1.5. Reports and articles
1.5(a) Society annual report
No later than the first Friday in September, ECL presidents are to provide a written report each year for inclusion in Society’s Annual Report. The purpose of this ECL report is to advise on activities conducted by the ECLs throughout the year. The Society will contact ECL presidents in August with a reminder of the deadline. Examples of previous reports can be found here. For any other information about this report please contact info@lst.org.au.

1.5(b) Society Law Letter articles
Submission of at least 1 article or an update on ECL committee activities in each ECL committee year is recommended by the Society. These will be published in in the Society’s Law Letter Journal (LLJ). See the Society’s Law Letter Hub for examples of articles. See here for details.

B. Communications to ECL Society members
All correspondence relating to an ECL CPD or social event will be distributed by the Society. Wording for the ECL correspondence is to be sent through to amal.cutler@lst.org.au. And if the ECL would like to invite non-Society members please include the non-member address list.

C. Events
1.1 CPD Events – Early Career Lawyer CPD Series
For information about the ECL CPD Series Policy please see here.

1.2 Social Events
(Contact the Society at cpd@lst.org.au for inclusion on Trybooking)
The Society’s TryBooking portal is available for ECLs to list social events that require RSVP and/or payment. This is managed by the Society. To list a social event, please send the following information to cpd@lst.org.au at least 4 weeks before the scheduled social event.

  • event title;
  • a paragraph description of the event to encourage attendees;
  • date and time of event;
  • venue name and address;
  • capacity – quantity of tickets available; and
  • RSVP/close off date.

1.2(a) Note on Society Member Data for Social Events:

  • Through Trybooking, the Society collects attendee name, mobile and firm details plus dietary requirements.
  • If an ECL requires additional information collected for a particular social event, this request should be included in the initial information.
  • Distribution of correspondence for ECL social events is as B above.
  • For ECL committee records, the social event coordinator, or person nominated as coordinating the relevant event, will receive a final list of event registrants soon after the registration portal closes.

D. Financial information – TryBooking events
Financial information about ECL CPD and social event is provided to the ECL treasurer on a quarterly basis. These financials take into consideration a number of factors such as RSVP numbers, refunds, ticket changes and member access discounts, where applicable. See the ECL CPD Series Policy here for CPD event financials.

E. Queries
If an ECL has any queries or concerns regarding any of the above or any aspect of an ECL executive role or that of the ECL, please contact the Executive Director or Deputy Executive Director for an informal chat at any time.

F. Contact details
For all ECL committee management and general queries please contact Amal Cutler on (03) 6234 4133 or at amal.cutler@lst.org.au.