President's Welcome
Welcome to the University of Sydney Law Society. SULS is run by a team of 21 law students from all grades, degrees and backgrounds. We aim to reflect the interests of all members and provide curricular support and advocacy, as well as extra-curricular opportunities that match the enormous potential of our members and to ensure that the experience of students at the Sydney Law School is without comparison. Above all else SULS stands for inclusion and opportunities for all our members and invites you to get involved in the range of activities that comprise our annual program. Do not hesitate to contact the Executive with any questions, concerns or issues.
Geoffrey Winters
President
About SULS
Sydney University Law Society (SULS) is the primary association for students studying law at Sydney University, and is officially associated with the Faculty of Law. The membership of the Society comprises all students in the Faculty of Law (including undergraduates, post-graduates, Juris Doctor or Honours students) proceeding to a degree or diploma. As the largest and most active society at Sydney University, SULS aims to enrich the law student experience. SULS provides the law student community with a variety of social events, academic competitions, careers events, sporting functions, and initiatives which inspire students to use the law as an instrument for social change. All law students at Sydney University are automatically members of SULS.
Portfolios
President: Geoffrey Winters (president@suls.org.au)
SULS encompasses a huge range of student activities and maintains a good working relationship with the Law Faculty. The President engages with all portfolios and is responsible for the overall direction of SULS as a society to represent the interests of Sydney Law students.
Vice-President (Careers): Clementine Rendle (careers@suls.org.au)
SULS provides information on the career options available to law students. This includes putting on clerkship information sessions with a number of commercial law firms, as well as introducing students to the Judges’ Associates and Tipstaves Panel. In 2011 SULS will provide even more information on international career pathways. SULS also produces an annual Careers Guide, assisting students in making the decision of what to do with their law degrees.
Vice-President (Education): Claire Burke (education@suls.org.au)
The Education portfolio represents student academic interests within the Faculty and the University. It has the ongoing role of being a good contact for students with academic concerns, or simply for clarification on academic policies. 2011 will also see the pilot of the Peer Assisted Study Sessions (PASS) program, which is a fantastic program that will provide academic support to undergraduate law students.
Vice-President (Social Justice): Alexandra Chappell (socialjustice@suls.org.au)
The Social Justice portfolio encourages students to reach out to communities beyond the Law School and provides them with an alternative to commercial legal pursuits. SULS runs a number of initiatives with this aim, including the very successful Road Trip, which sees a group of Sydney Law students engaging with high school students in rural and regional NSW on the topic of tertiary education. In 2011 the Social Justice and Careers portfolios are uniting to produce ‘Publicly Interested’, an online database of social justice career options. SULS also produces an annual social justice journal, Dissent, written and edited by law students.
Secretary: Kelly Xiao (secretary@suls.org.au)
As you can imagine, the operations of SULS require a great deal of communication within the Executive and with the student body. The Secretary is a vital part of the ability of SULS to put on the numerous events and sessions that it does. The Secretary is also an incredibly helpful contact for students who may not be sure how to address their concern, and has the role of ensuring constant accountability and transparency of SULS activities.
Treasurer: Antony Ghavazi (treasurer@suls.org.au)
The Treasurer has the extremely important role of dealing with SULS expenses, and making sure that SULS is at all times responsible and accountable with its finances.
Social Directors: Anique Mawa and Katie Simmonds (social@suls.org.au)
SULS knows how to throw a party. Social events are an important part of what we do, because university should be fun. The big event of the year is the Law Ball, with proceeds donated to the charity Beyond Blue. In addition to this, SULS hosts a number of events throughout the year that help break the ice and celebrate a lot of hard work. All upcoming events will be posted on this website, as well as in SULS Weekly.
Competitions Directors: Domenico Cucinotta and Rob Pietriche (competitions@suls.org.au)
SULS runs a number of internal and intervarsity competitions, such as Mooting, Negotiations, and Client Interviewing. Sydney Law School has a history of excellence in competitions, and this is where it all starts. In 2011 the Competitions portfolio is teaming up with the Women’s Officer to organise a women’s mooting competition. SULS provides a seminar series for competitions on campus, and stages mooting finals presided over by eminent judges. Whatever your level, there is an opportunity at Sydney Law School to get involved in competitions.
Women’s Officer: Julia Su (women@suls.org.au)
The Women’s portfolio provides a forum for students to discuss the experiences of women in the law. One of its key projects is the Women’s Mentoring Program, which pairs female students with women established in the profession, providing a network for students entering the same field. SULS also publishes Yemaya, the annual women’s journal, which seeks contributions from students on gendered or alternative experiences of the law.
Sports Director: Matthew Kirkwood (sport@suls.org.au)
The sporting events organised independently by SULS, as well as those run by the University in which SULS competes, offer a great way to meet people from across the Law School. In 2011 SULS hopes to introduce more intervarsity sporting events following the success of the 2010 rugby match against the University of Queensland and the Intervarsity Sport Day at Macquarie University. SULS also takes part in the interfaculty sport competition, which gives us an excuse, should we need one, to be loud and obnoxiously patriotic law students.
Campus Director: Pierce Hartigan (campus@suls.org.au)
The Campus portfolio has the role of ensuring that this place is generally somewhere we want to be. To this end SULS organises regular, informal events on campus, such as the 2011 initiative, ‘Live on the Law Lawns’, providing live music at the end of a long day. The portfolio is supported by the immense help of the Campus Committee, which is made up of representatives from each year group, to make sure that everyone is happy.
Publications Director: Jackson Wherrett (publications@suls.org.au)
SULS produces a number of publications each year, some of which provide valuable information, such as the Careers Guide, and others that showcase the academic talent of Sydney Law students, as seen in the journals Dissent and Yemaya. The Publications portfolio is responsible for these annual publications, which are free and available for all Law students.
Public Forums Director: Xiao Ming Wu (publicforums@suls.org.au)
SULS arranges a number of seminars and lectures available to all students, on a wide range of topics. This year continues the ‘Perspectives’ series, a weekly seminar series with guest speakers. In 2011 the Public Forums portfolio has also arranged exclusive seats for Sydney Law students at ABC’s panel program Q&A.
Sponsorship Director: Carmen Culina (sponsorship@suls.org.au)
Sponsorship is vital to the continuation of SULS as a functioning society, and the Sponsorship portfolio has the responsibility of maintaining good relationships with our commercial sponsors.
Equity Officer: Bavani Moodley (equity@suls.org.au)
The Equity portfolio implements the textbook grants scheme, organizes forums and events which foster equal opportunity, equal access, and equal representation. In recent years, the Equity Portfolio has been committed to raising awareness of depression as an issue affecting law students and the legal profession, and to provide support to law students suffering from anxiety and depression.
Queer Officer: Glen Wolter (queer@suls.org.au)
The Queer Officer plans forums that highlight the achievements of successful GLBT persons in the law and engage with areas of law relevant to GLBT persons; creates and amasses relevant publications and resources for GLBT students within the Law School and wider University community; acts as a grievance and support officer and represents SULS at intervarsity and University-wide events relating to GLBT persons.
International Officer: Natasha Reurts (international@suls.org.au)
The International Student officer serves as a representative of international students in the Law Faculty. Specifically, the ISO raises awareness of issues faced by international students through means such as forums and discussions, and facilitates interaction between international and domestic students through SULS programs. The ISO also assists in the publication of the International Students Handbook.
Design Officer: Luke Reeves (design@suls.org.au)
The role of the Design Officer is to lay out and develop SULS publicity material. This includes posters for events in each SULS portfolio and official SULS documents. The Design Officer will also support the Publications Director with the design of all SULS publications.
IT Officer: Laurence Rouesnel (it@suls.org.au)
The IT Officer is responsible for designing and implementing technological solutions to meet the needs of SULS. This includes creating, updating and administrating the SULS website, recommending and managing the weekly newsletter, and providing guidance on any IT related matters.
