SPOTLIGHT

AGS’s Simon Daley takes on new role with Law Council of Australia

12 November 2008

Simon Daley

Simon Daley, National Practice Leader of the Litigation and Disputes Management Group, has recently been appointed as the Chairman of the Federal Litigation Section of the Law Council of Australia. Simon was formerly the Deputy Chair of the section. Other AGS specialists involved with the Law Council include Tom Howe QC, AGS’s Chief Counsel Litigation, who is a member of the Executive of the Federal Litigation Section.

Federal Litigation Section of the Law Council of Australia

The Law Council is the peak representational body for lawyers in Australia. The council’s specialist Federal Litigation Section has wide-ranging functions, including:

representing the interests of lawyers through committees and special interest groups in the areas of administrative law, Commonwealth compensation and employment law, federal court practice, and industrial law
consulting on various issues with bodies such as the Federal Court of Australia, the Australian Industrial Relations Commission, the Australian Law Reform Commission, Comcare, and the Attorney-General's Department
organising periodic seminars and workshops, and producing a member newsletter.

Committees of the Federal Litigation Section

Much of the section’s work is undertaken through its committees – the Industrial Law Committee, the Administrative Law Committee, the Commonwealth Compensation and Employment Law Committee, the Federal Court Liaison Committee and the Administrative Appeals Tribunal Liaison Committee. These Committees are regularly involved in providing input to Law Council submissions to government and running practitioner forums.

Committee work: seminars and workshops

In the past year the Federal Court Liaison Committee co-hosted the Joint Law Council / Federal Court Workshop in Adelaide on Case Management and the Docket System. This was a particularly significant event which has led to several new Notices to Practitioners, including:

a Notice to Practitioners in relation to the conduct of the Tax List, with some features similar to the so-called ‘Rocket Docket’ (a fast track list) in Victoria
a Notice to Practitioners which reinforces the importance of the docket system and the Court’s expectations regarding case management
a revised set of expert evidence guidelines.

These new notices give effect to the approaches to more effective case management that were identified at the Adelaide Workshop. A clear focus for the committee remains working closely with the Court to maintain the impetus created by the Adelaide workshop and continue to promote more effective case management (by the Court and practitioners).

The Industrial Law Committee ran a successful seminar series on occupational health and safety (OH&S) laws, as well as contributing to the reviews of Comcare and the OH&S laws.

The Administrative Law Committee and the Administrative Appeals Tribunal Liaison Committee are currently working with the Tribunal to host a joint Law Council / Administrative Appeal Tribunal Seminar in the new year.

The section is also active in the area of client legal privilege and hosts a website containing updates on new cases and links to topical material. It is expected that the section will run a series of client legal privilege seminars in the new year.

If you have any questions regarding the Federal Litigation Section or the Law Council, please contact Simon Daley.

Resources

Click here for more on the Law Council of Australia and here for more on the Federal Litigation Section.