"Girlfriends of the Court"

Archive for the ‘law’ Category

The legal profession’s treatment of women lawyers is a barometer of its ethics

In Career, Employment, law, women on December 10, 2012 at 2:13 pm

ImageWoman as justice – but is there justice for women?*

The release of the VEOHRC Report into women in the legal profession raises a number of important issues.  We have already highlighted the concerning lack of progress in terms of women’s retention and progression in the profession.  In this post, we explore the implications of these findings in terms of the health of the justice system.

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What’s so hard about consensual sex?

In law, legal rights, women on August 22, 2012 at 12:56 pm

Ahhh sex.  There has been an unusual global confluence of sex and public life in recent weeks, culminating in an extraordinary display by political leaders and aspiring political leaders around the world.  This has caused me to ask: what sort of man wants to have or defend non-consensual sex with a woman?

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64 (and more) Australian legal tweeters

In blogs, law, law students, legal education, Procrastination, twitter on August 14, 2011 at 9:30 pm

Staying connected

I have been on the lookout for a list of people using twitter to share news and views on Australian law (or in twitter terms #auslaw), mainly for the benefit of law (and legal studies) students who ask me for recommendations. You can follow people’s own curated ‘twitter lists’ that collate tweeters on different topics, but you need to know who to start following in order to make best use of lists. And perhaps this list may prompt some of our non-tweeting colleagues to start up the habit.

So below is my attempt at (an incomplete) listing those twegals who like to tweet (the little bios are the tweeters’ own). I would welcome any other suggestions, and if I have left you off inadvertently, or you don’t want to be here, please let me know.
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Law Week, so many events, so little time!

In Barristers, Judiciary, law, law students, Public Lecture, Solicitors, women on May 12, 2011 at 8:39 am

We're all going to Law Week!

If you are down by law, in-law, outlaw, legally blond, legal tender, below the bar, above the law or presumed innocent, you may be interested in some of the events coming up in Law Week (16-22 May) the official site is here.

All jurisdictions have law tours, open courts, seminars and a mix of serious and fun events, and most have a PILCH/Pro Bono Walk for Justice on the 16th May (see your local Public Interest Law Clearing House for details)

Survive Law blog has kindly set out their national round up for you (click here).

You can select your forum conveniens by clicking the link below.

Like what you see? You can subscribe to this blog by scrolling to the bottom of the page, or follow us on twitter @amicae1.

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Seeing is Believing

In law, Social Media, women on April 3, 2011 at 3:53 pm
Amicae Curiae

Amicae Curiae

If Justice is a woman, how come there are so few in legal practice?

In Judiciary, law, Photography, women on March 27, 2011 at 11:56 pm

Yale professors Judith Resnik and Dennis Curtis have written a book titled ‘Representing Justice’ on the changing face of justice; images of Madame Justice are shown here, and the review in the Guardian is here. We have always wondered why if Justice is a woman, how is it that so few women practicing in law can find the right ‘balance’ (That’s what the scales are for right?). What do you think?

Work, Snakes and Shoes

In Balance, law, Solicitors on March 27, 2011 at 11:30 pm

My friend Fiona (@Soshoemi) has just posted her thoughts on whether ‘You can really have it all‘. She says

When I went through law school more than 50% of students were female. Twenty years on, I am one of the few still in practice. And with the difficulty of achieving work/life balance in the Law it is hardly a surprise.

Her conclusion; sometimes a Killer Python in the office is needed.

Don’t Miss These:

In Advocacy, Career, law, Meeting, Opportunities, Public Lecture, Social Media, women on March 23, 2011 at 8:23 pm

Life as a Government Lawyer: A conversation with Vanessa Twigg

Join the Victorian Women Lawyers for a straightforward conversation on an issue that is far from simple and straightforward: pay and progression challenges faced by women lawyers in government,Wednesday 6 April 2011 1pm-2pm. Click here

‘Will the Revolution be Tweeted? The Role of Social Media in Promoting and Protecting Human Rights’ – Seminar on 5 April 2011

The Human Rights Law Resource Centre and the Castan Centre for Human Rights Law  present
Professor Sarah Joseph, Director, Castan Centre for Human Rights Law
Simon Sheikh, National Director, GetUp!
Jonathan Green, Editor, The Drum, ABC
Alex Pagliaro, Refugee Campaign Coordinator, Amnesty International Australia

Date: 12.30pm – 2.00pm on Tuesday, 5 April 2011

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Journals We Like

In Education, higher education, law, law students, legal education, women on March 23, 2011 at 6:44 pm

The Australian Feminist Law Journal publishes critical, postmodern and feminist writing on practices of legality and justice, broadly conceived.

The Alternative Law Journal is an Australian, refereed law journal focusing on

• social justice, human rights and law reform
• critique of the legal system
• developments in alternative legal practice
• community legal education

Law in Contex is a peer-reviewed socio-legal journal,  that examines key legal questions in the context of broader issues on topics such as:

  • rights protection
  • anti-terrorism
  • patents
  • dispute resolution
  • competition policy and law
  • gender
  • race
  • people with disabilities
  • refugees
  • citizenship
  • the judiciary
  • jurisprudence.

The plight of Law’s Supergirl

In Barristers, Career, Education, higher education, Judiciary, law, law students, legal education, Solicitors, women on March 23, 2011 at 5:59 pm

From Supergirl to Invisible Woman: The divide between student perception and professional reality in corporate legal practice by Melissa Castan and Jeannie Paterson in the Alternative Law Journal 2010

Young women are prominent and successful at Australian law schools, yet women remain under-represented in the senior echelons of the legal profession. In this article the authors examine factors affecting the attrition of young women lawyers from corporate legal practice, and make suggestions regarding the responsibilities of law firms and law schools to address this issue… (Long version here).

 

Hello world!

In Barristers, Career, law, law students, legal education, women on March 23, 2011 at 6:05 am

Welcome to Amicae Curiae, A blog discussing the role of women in the law, in legal education, as students as academics, and within the legal profession. What does Amicae Curiae mean? Literally it means girl friends of the courts. For more on what and Amicus Curae is read this.

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