The Council of the Law Society of Tasmania elected highly respected family lawyer, Ms Julia Higgins, as its new president on 14 October 2023.
Ms Higgins is a partner at Bishops Barristers and Solicitors in Launceston, specialising in family law.
Ms Higgins graduated from the University of Tasmania in 2002 with a Bachelor of Commerce and a Bachelor of Laws before moving to Launceston to commence work at Bishops.
Ms Higgins is a former chair of the Family Law Practitioners Association Inc (Tasmania), playing a pivotal role in advocating for new Family Law Court facilities in Launceston which were officially opened this year.
‘I am very honoured and excited to be appointed as the next president and in particular the first female president from the Northern Region’ Ms Higgins said. Ms Higgins is looking forward to continuing to assist in the important work of the Law Society of Tasmania.
Ms Higgins said that her presidential priorities will be as follows: –
- The attraction and retention of younger legal practitioners within the private profession.
- Addressing the lack of criminal lawyers particularly in the North-West and Northern Tasmania.
- Promoting opportunities in regional, rural, and remote legal practice.
- A continued focus on the health and wellbeing of the Tasmanian legal profession.
- Working collaboratively with Tasmania Legal Aid in relation to access to justice for legally aided clients, given the shortage of private practitioners taking on such work.
Many of these priorities were also championed by Ms Higgins’ predecessor, Amanda Thompson, to whom Ms Higgins expressed the profession’s gratitude for her leadership and dedication over the last year.
Julia Higgins
President
0400 851 547
18 October 2023