Members of TULS 2009

 Has been a great year together and we wish 2010 TULS all the best!!

As the year draws to an end, the graduating class of 2009 celebrated!!

We all look froward to more celebrations at the graduate lunch next week at The Sandy Bay Yacht Club!

Thanks to Terence Munday for taking the picture for us!!

 Goodluck in Exams everyone!!

Dean of the Law School, Professor Don Chalmers, Mr Simon Nicholson, Law School Staff and fellow law students, I would like to echo Ronan’s comments in welcoming you all to the 2009 Law Ball.

Milestone

2009 has been a milestone year in so many ways. This year the world celebrated the 40th anniversary of the moon landing by Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin, something which greatly influenced the choice of tonight’s theme. Exactly 50 years ago the first Barbie doll came off the production line and Alaska and Hawaii became the forty-ninth and fiftieth States of the United States of America respectively. In 2009 we celebrate the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall and the 500th anniversary of Henry VIII’s accession to the throne in England. It is also 50 years since Che Guevara and Fidel Castro marched into Havana to establish Communist Cuba. But these world events are nothing compared to the milestone which I would like to talk to you about tonight. 2009 marks the 50th anniversary of the Tasmanian University Law Society or TULS.
No doubt things have changed around the Law School since the first President of TULS, former Governor and Chief Justice of the Tasmanian Supreme Court Sir Guy Green, took office in 1959. At that time, the Privy Council was the highest appellant court in Australia, notoriously difficult cases such as Vallance or Phillips No.1 were yet to cause headaches for criminal law students, the High Court had not considered the Tasmanian Dams Case, the immunity for rape in marriage still existed, students spent hours trawling through law reports which we now access online, and pleasures such as recorded lectures and MyLO were a distant dream. However, whilst the legal and social environment has changed dramatically in fifty years, many aspects of TULS have remained constant.

Representative Body

The central purpose of TULS has not changed. We continue to act as a representative body for the students who have elected us to office. It is our duty to keep law students informed as to any Faculty or University decisions which could affect their interests and take action where necessary to express the concerns or grievances of law students. This was best illustrated late last year where TULS played a pivotal role in lobbying the University to shelve a planned merger which would have seen the Law Faculty subsumed into the Faculty of Business.
Our job is made much easier due to the strong support we receive from the Law Faculty. What is even better is that this support is not merely token. By allowing myself and the Vice President of Education sit on the Faculty’s Teaching and Learning Committee, the Faculty recognises the importance of student input into Faculty decision making which has the potential to affects the interests of law students. I’m not sure that students could have exercised such influence over Faculty decision making in Sir Guy’s time.

Social Events

Another constant since 1959 has been that TULS has been trusted with organising all those social events which make the law degree just that little bit more bearable. Although Sir Guy may not have presided over a glitzy Law Ball, or negotiated the price for a Cocktail Party at the Metz, I’m assured that end of year get togethers were an important part of the law student calendar. This year the 2009 Committee has organised over twenty social events to enhance the Law School experience for all students; from Wine and Cheese Nights to End of Semester barrels, from Intro Camp to Twenty20 cricket matches, from Year Group Functions to Societies Day. 

Success

A constant for TULS and law students generally is success. This year for the first time, UTAS made the semi-finals for three out of the six competitions run as part of the annual ALSA Conference. This means that out of the 35 participating universities from Australia, New Zealand and Singapore, UTAS was ranked in the top four for Mooting, Client Interviewing and Witness Examination. Furthermore, our Client Interviewing team finished the highest ranked Australian team, meaning they will compete at the International Competitions in Hong Kong next year. UTAS has also won the national final for the Law Council of Australia Family Law Moot and made the semi-finals of the Isaac Isaacs Constitutional Law Moot.
UTAS has had great success in recent times of increasing our profile with top-tier firms on the mainland. This year at least 12 students in their penultimate year will take up the highly-sought-after clerkships with firms in Melbourne or Sydney. While not wanting to take anything away from the successful applicants, I’m assured that the Clerkship Seminar run by TULS in Semester 1 motivated a number of students to apply who otherwise may not have applied.

Similarly, of last year’s graduating class, close to 10% of students got jobs with top-tier or mid-tier firms, which is a fantastic achievement for a Law School of our size and a statistic which stacks up very well compared to other so-called ‘better’ universities.
And of course whilst talking of success we can’t forget about the all-conquering Law Faculty Football Team, who earlier this month re-established their dominance of cross-faculty sporting events by taking home the Football Cup for the fourth consecutive year.

International Students

The biggest change since 1959 is that the student population has become much more culturally diverse. Today we are lucky enough to have International Students from all parts of the world, most notably Malaysia, Singapore, China, Thailand, the Maldives and India, as well as exchange students from Switzerland, the U.S and Canada. In order to be truly representative of the whole student body, it is important that the activities offered by TULS are conducive to all cultures. This prompted the 2009 Committee to introduce the Law Undergraduate Mentoring Program, aimed at promoting greater interaction between domestic and International Students. We are optimistic that this will be embraced by the Faculty, allowing greater interaction between local and international students. Similarly TULS participated in the inaugural Multicultural Night, an event organised to celebrate the cultural diversity of Tasmania. We have continued to offer the very popular International Student Trips, showcasing the best of Tasmania.
Finally, I would like to thank everyone who has made this year such a success. In particular I thank the entire 2009 Committee who have supported me in my role as President and worked tirelessly throughout the year to make the Law Faculty a better place. Also, I would like to thank Professor Chalmers for his guidance and support throughout the year. And last but definitely not least, I would like to thank all you law students who gave me the opportunity to represent your interests and have a damn great time along the way.