Twenty-three prominent Australian female lawyers will be paired up with the next generation of rising female litigation stars as the University of Wollongong (UOW) launches its LUCY mentoring program.
The LUCY Mentoring program, a NSW Government initiative now in its sixth year running, is designed to inspire, motivate and educate female students about career direction and the opportunities available in leadership roles specifically using their law degree.
From Crown Prosecutors, Magistrates, Public Defenders to General Counsels for government organisations such as NBN Co Ltd and the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation (ANSTO), all mentors who have joined the program, some for the second time, are in senior and high profile legal roles in the corporate, public and not-for-profit sectors. They are successful women volunteering to share their professional and personal insights into work and life with students, and how to build traits, skills and networks that will serve them well once they graduate.
President of UOW’s Law Students’ Society, Jessica Dawson, will be partnered with Solicitor Advocate, Belinda Baker from the Crown Solicitor's Office, to kick start her dream of practicing criminal law. Jessica hopes to work for a social justice organisation such as Legal Aid or the Aboriginal Legal Service in the future.
Larissa Santos will get a valuable insight into intellectual property law when partnered with ANSTO Legal Counsel, Stephanie Cole. Larissa hopes to work with those on the cutting edge of medical technology, to help bring science breakthroughs to the people who urgently need them.
And to help Wollongong local Bethany Doust get a head start on her goal of becoming an international law expert, she will be paired with Renata Matyear, who is a solicitor at Carter & Ferguson. Bethany aspires to one day be working for the Australian Government’s Department of Defence or an international Non Government Organisation.
The LUCY Mentoring Program has seen the number of applicants in 2013 double compared to last year, demonstrating a need for this type of support service available to young aspiring female lawyers. The program runs for 12 weeks and matches mentor and student based on the mentor’s area of expertise and student’s area of study or interest.
“I was matched with one of the most intelligent, funny and inspiring females I've ever met. LUCY not only gave me the opportunity to gain experience in legal practice, but to also know that as a woman you can still bring your own unique personality to the legal profession, and be very good at what you do,” Bachelor of Law student Adair Moar, 2012 mentee, said.
“It is a fantastic initiative and wonderful to see the program thriving at UOW. Our mentors again this year are very highly regarded in their fields of expertise and incredibly generous female lawyers. We are thrilled for our students to be working alongside positive mentors of this calibre. We can’t wait to follow the many success stories which come from this program,” Professor Warwick Gullett, Dean of Law at UOW, said.
“The School of Law is deeply committed to providing our students experiential learning opportunities and LUCY is just one of the ways we do this,” he said.
