Dear Colleagues,
Happy New Year! I hope that you had a wonderful festive season and summer break.
The team at ADC is excited to be starting the year with preparations for the 8th Australian ADR Awards. The Awards are the highlight of our annual calendar, and we hope you can join us in 2024. We invite you to be part of several unmissable events.
Hopefully, the inaugural Australian ADR Awards Conference is already on your radar. It is shaping up to be a brilliant one-day event to connect you with dispute resolution practitioners from across the country and internationally, and to hear from a gold-class of previous ADR Award winners, plus Australia’s leading jurists and special international guests. The Conference is being held on 21 March, at The Mint on Macquarie Street, Sydney, with a theme to inspire us all – Pure Gold: The Minting of Australian Dispute Resolution.
Australia has much to be proud of - and we all benefit every day - from the incredible work of our dispute resolution practitioners.
If you have not yet submitted your nomination/s in the Australian ADR Awards 2024, I encourage you to click onto the submission forms below. Nominating in the ADR Awards, helps us all – as a community and as an industry – to recognise your expertise and achievements in the previous 12 months. It also creates a brilliant marketing opportunity for all Award nominees and winners to promote their professional services. We consistently hear that clients love the Australian ADR Awards, because ‘by definition’ they say that you are laser focused on saving clients’ time, money, and reputations. You still have plenty of time for submissions, so please help us recognise you and your team by nominating by 15 February.
The ADR Awards Ceremony and Gala Dinner is on Friday 22 March. Stay tuned for the ‘big reveal’ on this year’s venue. Please don’t miss this opportunity to be part of what has become THE event on the Australian ADR calendar. A heads up that we have priced the combined Conference and Gala Dinner tickets at a deep discount to make both events readily available to you. Plus, we are adding in a special event for Conference delegates - see the website for details on Coffee & Connections.
On 22 February we have the annual ADR Address of the Supreme Court of New South Wales, with Professor Luke Nottage presenting this 2023 Address (postponed from late last year). The ADR Address is part of a national series that has over many years been at forefront of dispute resolution Thought Leadership. Seating is limited, so please sign up today. My warm thanks to Chief Justice Bell for hosting this event in the Banco Court.
The ADC Book Club is sharing the love on 14 February with its first meeting for 2024. The ADC Book Club is another fantastic way to deepen your professional connections and stay current in your practice. See details are below.
Also, in this Bulletin we have a callout for volunteers for the Vis Pre Moot 2024, run by the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators Young Members. If you have time to contribute as an arbitrator to this wonderful student learning opportunity, please see details below.
I look forward to seeing you over the coming months, and please take the time to click on the ADR Conference & Awards website (linked here and below), and sign up to meet your peeps and get your professional development and marketing started for 2024!
Warm Regards,
Deborah Lockhart