The Callover

To mark RUOK Day 2024, we speak with Desi Vlahos, a lawyer, academic and two-time recipient of the Women in Law Award for “Wellness Advocate of the Year”. As a mental health first aider, the founder of Wellceum, a company that aims to help other organisations improve wellbeing, health and safety outcomes, and a Commissioner of the International Bar Associations’ Wellbeing Commission, Desi has dedi...

In celebration of NAIDOC Week, we have the pleasure of speaking with the Honourable Justice Lincoln Crowley. His Honour grew up in Charters Towers and is a proud descendant of the Warramunga peoples. Since joining the legal profession in 1996, Justice Crowley has had a varied and impressive career. He has worked at the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Legal Service in Townsville, for the Quee...

Nicky Davies is a Family Lawyer, Independent Children’s Lawyer, and Chief Executive Officer of Legal Aid Queensland. Earlier this year, she was recognised for her contribution to the legal profession when she was awarded the Queensland Law Society’s President’s Medal. On this episode of The Callover, we discuss the work of Legal Aid and explore the important role that independent children’s lawyer...

The Robodebt Scheme, introduced in late 2016, used income averaging techniques derived from data held by the ATO to raise debts and implement a reverse onus on recipients to disprove the amounts owed. The Scheme was ultimately found to have been unlawful and the failings of the scheme were far reaching. On this episode of The Callover, hear from Justin Greggery KC, the Senior Counsel Assisting in...

On this episode of The Callover, we have the Honourable Fleur Kingham to discuss her life in the law, her most recent appointment as Chair of the Queensland Law Reform Commission, and the criminal defences review that is currently underway. Chair Kingham’s extensive contributions to the legal community in Queensland are quite remarkable. She graduated from law at the University of Queensland in 19...

On this International Women's Day, we celebrate the extraordinary strides of women across social, economic, cultural, legal, and political spheres. In keeping with this spirit, we bring you a true leader of the legal profession, the Honorable Michelle May AM KC, on The Callover podcast to take us through her life in the law. Michelle was admitted to the bar in 1978 and when she became Queen's Coun...

On this episode of The Callover, we speak with the Queensland Law Society’s outgoing CEO Rolf Moses to discuss the 2023 Job Readiness Survey conducted by the QLS in conjunction with researchers at Bond University. Rolf explains the survey results and what the QLS hope to achieve with this added insight into the profession's views on law graduates and newly admitted lawyers entering the profession....

Walter Sofronoff KC has a formidable resume. He was called to the Bar in 1978, made silk ten years later and went on to become the President of the Bar Association, the President of the Queensland Anti-Discrimination Tribunal, the Solicitor General of Queensland, and then in 2017, the President of the Queensland Court of Appeal. Since his retirement from the bench in 2022, Mr Sofronoff has led the...

On this episode of The Callover, we speak to Mel Scott, Senior Legal Counsel at Megaport, a global technology company. Mel has worked in-house for nearly a decade, after deciding to take the leap from a top tier firm just three years post admission. Long before she was awarded the Queensland Law Society’s 2023 In-House Counsel of the Year Award, Mel has been a passional advocate for in-house lawye...

Are you interested in going to the Bar? Have you ever wondered what it takes to become a barrister? On this episode of The Callover, we hear from three junior barristers in Queensland (Melia Benn, Patrick Nevard and Georgina Morgan) about how they made the transition from the solicitor’s branch of the profession to the Bar. This episode is a must-listen for  young law students or lawyers thinking...

Trigger warning! This episode contains content about mental health and suicide. If you need to talk to someone, contact Lifeline on 13 11 14. On this episode of The Callover, we speak with Denise Marshall, a Legal & Workplace Culture Consultant with the Queensland Law Society R U OK Day is held annually on the second Thursday of September. It is a day to remind us to check in with ourselves, o...

On this episode of The Callover, we speak with Fauve Kurnadi, the International Humanitarian Law Coordinator for Australian Red Cross about International Humanitarian Law, what it is, how it’s relevant in 2023 and how it impacts war, law and business. Fauve has a Master of Laws in Public and International Law from the University of Melbourne and was a Pro Bono Australia Impact 25 Winner in 2022. T...

On this episode of The Callover, we speak with the Honourable Justice David Boddice about the findings of the Commission of Inquiry into Forensic DNA Testing in Queensland and the Court’s approach to dealing with them.   Admitted as barrister in 1984, Boddice JA developed a busy practice in civil and criminal matters, appearing in state and federal courts and the High Court of Australia. He was ap...

Good journalism is fundamental to a democratic society. On this episode of The Callover, we unpack what constitutes good journalism, how it has shaped Australia and why it is so important to our legal system, with special guest, Russell Marks.  Russell Marks, an author, adjunct Research Fellow at La Trobe University, journalist for The Monthly and criminal defence lawyer practising in the Northern...

Jo-Anne Bragg OAM has been advocating in public interest environmental law for more than three decades. In 2022, she was awarded an Order of Australia Medal for her services to environmental law and is currently serving as the General Counsel of the Environmental Defenders Office. She is the perfect person to speak to in celebration of World Environment Day 2023, about the state of environmental l...

Lawyers are lifelong learners. Legal education traditionally consists of three stages: the law degree, practical legal training and the continuing legal education that occurs post-admission. On this episode of The Callover, we focus on that final (yet never-ending) stage of a lawyer’s education in our conversation with Professor Nick James, the Executive Dean of the Faculty of Law at Bond Universi...

Preparing for your first trial or sentence can be intimidating and stressful, but on this episode of The Callover, we try to make it a little easier by seeking advice from Nick Dore, Managing Principal of Fisher Dore Lawyers, a leading criminal law firm in Queensland.   Nick has been practising since 2000, is an Accredited Specialist in Criminal Law and a well-regarded and respected solicitor in t...

On this episode of The Callover, we speak to Rebecca Fogerty, an accredited criminal law specialist, a partner at Jasper Fogerty Lawyers and the current the Vice President of the Queensland Law Society 2022. We discuss the Queensland Government’s changes to the Youth Justice Act, as well as why it is so important that the profession stand up to protect judicial independence. Special thanks must go...

On International Women’s Day, we had the pleasure of speaking with The Honourable Anthe Philippides, a retired judge of the Queensland Court of Appeal, about the benefits of and need for a diverse legal profession and bench. Justice Philippides was the first woman of Hellenic heritage to be admitted as a barrister in Queensland in 1984 and to attain silk in Australia in 1999. Many would know her f...

Most people have never heard of the Forensic Disability Service but if you are alleged to have committed a crime in Queensland and deemed unfit for trial because of an intellectual or cognitive disability, you may find yourself as one of its residents. On this episode of The Callover, we are joined by John Chesterman, the Public Advocate for Queensland, who will explain what the FDS is and why it...

The Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Queensland, the Honourable Helen Bowskill, needs no introduction. Before Her Honour was appointed as the Chief Justice in 2021, she was a University medallist, a successful barrister and a judge of both the Queensland District Court and the trial division of the Supreme Court. Her Honour is committed to supporting (and inspiring) a community of connected a...

Joelene has worked in family law for almost 20 years and is a mediator and an Associate Director at McLaughlins Lawyers on the Gold Coast. Joelene spearheaded the Gold Coast District Law Association’s mentoring program in 2016 which is an ongoing initiative they provide today.  We talk about when Joelene was first a mentee in law and her more recent experiences as a mentor and some of the question...

In honour of RUOK Day, our newest episode on The Callover features two special guests who offer their insights into how to manage our mental health to ensure we can sustain a long and fulfilling legal career.  Retired Magistrate David Heilpern AM, who served in the New South Wales local court from 1998 to 2020 is our first guest. In 2017 when he delivered a lecture entitled, “Lifting the judicial...

If there’s anyone who knows about how to take the combat out of legal conflict, it’s Anne-Marie Rice. She’s now a Senior Judicial Registrar of the Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia and before that she was a Director of Rice Dispute Resolution and the principal mediator at Rice Mediations. She’s been practicing in Family Law for 20 years, is an accredited specialist in family law and a...

In celebration of NAIDOC Week we welcome Joshua Creamer to The Callover. Josh is a barrister specialising in human rights class actions and native title. He is a proud descendant of the Waanyi and Kalkadoon people from North Western Queensland, received the National Indigenous Legal Professional of the Year Award in 2017 and sits on the Board of Legal Aid Queensland. On this episode, Josh shares h...