Legal Laneway Breakfast 2023

Victoria Law Foundation warmly invites you to celebrate the start of the legal year at the 20th annual Legal Laneway Breakfast.

We're pleased to announce we are returning to Hardware Lane for an in-person breakfast, and will also be broadcasting live, so you can tune in from wherever you may be.

We encourage everyone working in Victoria’s legal sector to join us to mark the opening of the legal year over breakfast and hear from our line-up of speakers, who will be announced shortly.

Join us for this year’s breakfast, where we celebrate 20 years, and future innovations in the profession.

An Auslan interpreter will be present at the event. 

We'd like to thank Victorian Women Lawyers and the Victorian Bar for co-sponsoring the Welcome to Country. 

Join the livestream: VLF Legal Laneway Breakfast (vimeo.com)

Make a difference today, donate to WAM

This year the Legal Laneway Breakfast is fundraising for Women and Mentoring (WAM)

WAM offer a unique, early intervention program that supports women in contact with the legal system by matching them with a supportive mentor. The volunteer mentors are trained and resourced to provide appropriate support to the program participants, to share their skills and to contribute to the wider community.

WAM began operating in the City of Yarra (in Melbourne) working with the Neighbourhood Justice Centre in 2009. In 2015 they received funding from the Melbourne Women’s Fund to replicate the program in the Sunshine Magistrates Court precinct and this year they are expanding to Ballarat.

We encourage all attendees, colleagues, and friends to make a donation. Make a donation. 

Speakers

Hon. Jaclyn Symes
Attorney General of Victoria
Jaclyn was appointed as Victoria’s Attorney-General in December 2020, tasked with delivering the Labor Government’s important reform agenda.

Jaclyn completed a Bachelor of Laws at Deakin University and was admitted to legal practice in Victoria in 2006. During her tertiary education, Jaclyn worked as a carer for people with intellectual disabilities. This job exposed her to the barriers to inclusion and restrictions on opportunity that those with a disability experience on a daily basis, and the importance of the Government putting in place the right policy settings to address their challenges.

After finishing university, to further her legal training Jaclyn became an Industrial Officer at the Australian Services Union before moving into government as an adviser to Deputy Premier and Attorney-General Rob Hulls. In 2010, she was appointed as Senior Legal and Justice Adviser to then-Opposition Leader Daniel Andrews.

In 2014, Jaclyn was elected Member for Northern Victoria, the area of the state she grew up in and where she is now raising her family. She has a passion for social justice and hard work, and is focused on delivering a just and equitable justice system for all Victorians.
Jaclyn also serves at the Minister for Emergency Services.

Fiona McLeay
Victorian Legal Services Board CEO and Commissioner
Fiona was appointed Victorian Legal Services Commissioner and CEO of the Legal Services Board in January 2018. She was reappointed to the role for a second five-year term in January 2023.

Prior to her appointment she was the CEO of Justice Connect, a leading not-for-profit organisation that provides free legal assistance to individuals and organisations by leveraging the pro bono skills of the private legal profession. Fiona has also held a range of senior roles at World Vision Australia, including that of General Counsel. Before joining World Vision, she worked at Clayton Utz, including as Special Counsel.

Hon. Justice Jacinta Forbes
Supreme Court of Victoria
The Honourable Justice Jacinta Forbes was appointed in April 2019 and officially welcomed as a judge of the Supreme Court of Victoria in May 2019.

After a varied practice as a solicitor, Justice Forbes joined the Victorian Bar in 2000 and was appointed Queens Counsel in 2014. Her Honour has extensive experience and specialisation in the areas of professional negligence, personal injury, product liability and general common law matters.

Jacob Varghese
CEO, Maurice Blackburn Lawyers
Jacob Varghese is an experienced lawyer and currently chief executive of Maurice Blackburn Lawyers. He has steered the firm through a period of significant change, and is passionate about increasing access to the legal system.

Jacob led the team that achieved Australia’s largest food safety class action settlement, and established the firm’s Australian commercial litigation funding business . As the principal overseeing Maurice Blackburn’s social justice practice he contributed to important victories for the rights of some of the most vulnerable in our society. Jacob is the currently chair of Per Capita, an independent public policy think tank. He has three daughters who keep him very busy and has a passion for cooking, history and music.

Hon. Justice Greg Garde AO RFD
Chair, Victoria Law Foundation
Justice Garde is a Reserve Justice of the Supreme Court of Victoria, capping a long and distinguished career in the law, starting in 1974. Beyond his career as a barrister and on the bench, Justice Garde has been highly influential in many aspects of our justice system.

He is Victoria’s longest serving President of VCAT, and is currently Chair of the Law Library of Victoria Committee and the Supreme Court Library Committee; was a founding member of the Courts Council of Courts Services Victoria, and of the Judicial Commission of Victoria. He has chaired the Foundation since October 2020.


Lynne Haultain
Executive Director, Victoria Law Foundation
Lynne leads the Victoria Law Foundation team. She brings with her a wealth of experience in the fields of communications, journalism and management.

For 16 years, she worked with ABC Radio, including a stint hosting The Law Report on Radio National. She has also worked at the ACCC, the City of Melbourne, the Victorian Ombudsman and as a consultant. For over five years she has stood as Executive Director of VLF.

Acknowledgement of Country

Shauntai Sherree
Indigenous Opera Singer
Shauntai Sherree is a Wiradjuri woman with a degree in Music from Melbourne University. A singer, songwriter, composer, writer and vocal coach, Shauntai has decades of experience in all things music.

Beginning as a singer songwriter in Inspirational Soul & Gospel, Shauntai has now embarked on a career in the world of opera, classical music and composition and theatre making. She featured as a principal artist with Short Black Opera, studied in New York, and has performed with The Victorian Opera, the MSO and Black Swan Theatre to name a few. We look forward to her delivering the Acknowledgment to Country.

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