Her Honour Justice Helen Winkelmann, Chief High Court Judge of New Zealand, presented the 18th Annual New Zealand Law Foundation Ethel Benjamin Commemorative Address at the Dunedin Centre on 7 November 2014. The Address was entitled “Access to Justice – Who Needs Lawyers?” Justice Winkelmann spoke eloquently about the barriers to accessing justice and what she described as the “justice gap”. There was a focus on the costs of accessing civil litigation and the rise in self-represented litigants.

The topic of the Address was very timely, particularly considering the recent changes to the Family Court justice system and sparked some good discussion following the Address. The Address was extremely well attended and OWLS were pleased to host another successful event with the help of our generous sponsors the New Zealand Law Foundation, the University of Otago Law Faculty, and the Williams Trust.

The Address has been well received within the legal community and will be published in an upcoming issue of the Otago Law Review. The transcript of the Address is now available on this website (under the Ethel Benjamin Address tab) and the DVD recording of the address is available to members upon request.

Thank you very much to Justice Winkelmann for her informative and engaging Address.

The annual OWLS 20 year lunch celebrates OWLS members who have been in practice for 20 years or more. This year Brenda Thom from Webb Farry joined the 20 year club and was presented with flowers to mark the occasion. Congratulations to Brenda and to our other OWLS members who have been in practice for 20 or more years. This is a very impressive achievement.

This year the lunch was held at Two Chefs and it is fair to say that the two course meal was delicious, especially the dessert! (It was so delicious in fact that I forgot to photograph it!) This was a lovely social occasion attended by approximately 25 members. It was a good opportunity to catch up with colleagues and celebrate each other’s achievements.  We look forward to hosting this event again in 2015.

Our 2014 Suffrage Day Breakfast was once again held at Nova Cafe on the 19th of September 2014. This year we were celebrating 121 years since New Zealand became the first country in the world to give women the right to vote. This was a very popular event as always and was attended by approximately 20 OWLS members, including special guest Justice Helen Winkelmann. During breakfast OWLS took a collection for Women’s Refuge to give back to New Zealand women less fortunate than ourselves.

Our speaker this year was Sandra Clair, the founder of Artemis, a successful Dunedin organic healthcare range. Sandra was an engaging and stimulating speaker who talked about the history of family healthcare and the important role women have always played in keeping their families well. Sandra also spoke about the range of health teas and body care products she has developed and provided some free samples.

Thank you very much to Sandra for speaking at this event, and to naturopath Emily Boese for her time. For more information about the Artemis range please visit their website http://artemis.co.nz.

Following on from the successful Wise OWLS Re-Launch in July, OWLS held a Wise OWLS lunchtime forum on 10 September 2014 with our 2014 Wise OWLS and interested members. The event took the format of an informal roundtable discussion focusing on both the good and the bad aspects of working part-time. This was a very informative and productive dialogue and we heard from people who had chosen to work full time, flexible full time, and part-time for a variety of family and lifestyle reasons. This was particularly informative for our younger members who may need to make similar decisions in the next few years.

OWLS would like to thank our Wise OWLS for their input into the practical and frank discussion, and those members who were able to attend. We intend to have another similar lunchtime forum on a different topic before the end of the year. A reminder that contact information for all of our Wise OWLS can be found under the Wise OWLS tab of this website. For more complete profiles, check out our Facebook page or email members.owls@gmail.com.

Our first Wise OWLS Lunchtime Forum will be held TOMORROW on Wednesday 10 September at 1pm at the Otago Branch Meeting Room in John Wickliffe House. Please join us and your 2014 Wise OWLS for an informal discussion about the potential solutions to issues faced by women in the profession. We encourage all of our members to attend.

On 7 August 2014 OWLS hosted a special lunchtime career planning forum. This event consisted of an informative discussion led by Christine Grice (the Executive Director of the New Zealand Law Society) and ably facilitated by Associate Professor Donna Buckingham (from the University of Otago Law Faculty). The forum followed up on the NZLS Women in the Legal Profession Initiative and was designed to promote discussion as to how women can develop a successful legal career.

Christine discussed some of her own career choices, and what she found helpful and/or difficult along the way. Christine and Donna spoke at length about the various paths and opportunities currently available to women in the law.

This was a very successful and well attended event and we hope to use this format again next year for a similar event.

A big thank you to Christine Grice for making the time to come to Dunedin and speak with us, as well as to Donna Buckingham for facilitating the event.

The Wise OWLS initiative was designed to provide an informal setting for OWLS members who are experiencing difficulties to contact an experienced practitioner for advice and assistance. Wise OWLS was suggested several years ago, but never quite came to fruition. This years committee decided to get this important programme up and running in 2014.

To resume the initiative in style, we held a Wise OWLS Relaunch on Wednesday 30th July 2014 in the Anderson Lloyd Boardroom. This event proved to be very popular, with over 30 OWLS members in attendance. The Wise OWLS who were able to attend introduced themselves and explained how they might be helpful to other OWLS members. It was a very relaxed opportunity to get to know our Wise OWLS better over a glass of (very appropriately named!) wine and some tasty nibbles provided by OWLS.

Based on the positive feedback received, it seems like Wise OWLS will be a very enjoyable and successful enterprise. OWLS will hold several Wise OWLS lunchtime forums this year and members are also encouraged to contact an individual Wise OWL directly for more one-on-one assistance.

For more information about Wise OWLS (and to obtain the names and contact information of our 2014 Wise OWLS) please see the Wise OWLS tab on this website. More detailed profiles about each of our Wise OWLS will be available on the OWLS Facebook page in due course or by emailing us at members.owls@gmail.com.

On Wednesday 2nd July (a dark and wet Dunedin night) 25 OWLS got together at Di Lusso after work for drinks and nibbles to celebrate the appointment of Dunedin Barrister Anita Chan as a QC. Anita was one of the founding members of OWLS and is a national and international Family Law expert. Her appointment to QC is clear recognition of her impressive legal career and the esteem in which she is held by the judiciary and the legal profession alike. The OWLS Committee was extremely proud to host this event in Anita’s honour and provide our members with an opportunity to raise a glass of champagne to celebrate Anita’s achievements. Congratulations Anita!

OWLS would like to invite its members to a special event to celebrate Anita’s recent appointment as a QC. Please join us for drinks and nibbles at Di Lusso (117 Lower Stuart Street, Dunedin) on Wednesday 2nd July 2014 at 5.30pm to mark the occasion.

*OWLS will provide champagne and nibbles. All other drinks to be at members’ own cost.

Please RSVP to members.owls@gmail.com by 30 June (or phone Sarah McNeill on 03 471 5497) if you wish to attend.

We hope to see you there.

On Wednesday 25th June 2014 around 20-25 OWLS members attended our Mid-Winter Christmas event at No. 7 Balmac in Maori Hill. We started with drinks and nibbles at 5.30pm, which led nicely into dinner at 7.30pm. The mulled wine (which was supplied by OWLS) was a roaring success – the perfect accompaniment to a chilly Dunedin evening. The snacks and dinner were excellent and, judging by the amount of laughter coming from around the dinner table, an enjoyable evening was had by all. This may even become an annual event.