Source: MinterEllisonRuddWatts–Julia Batchelor-Smith, a Senior Associate at MinterEllisonRuddWatts has been appointed to the New Zealand Law Society’s ‘Culture Change Taskforce’ – a group committed to driving systems and culture change within the legal community.
As well as being a Senior Associate in the firm’s leading construction law team, Julia is the author of Balancing Work and Life: a Practical Guide for Lawyers (LexisNexis 2015), providing strategies to achieve work/life balance, effective practice management, and diversity within the legal profession.
She is also active in her community and a regular speaker on diversity in the legal profession and issues impacting the working parent, having addressed local and central Government, Universities, legal associations, private corporations, and industry bodies.Chair of MinterEllisonRuddWatts Lloyd Kavanagh said: “We are very proud Julia has been chosen to contribute to this vital project for the legal profession. Julia’s experience provides her with a unique perspective and understanding of the strategic options to increase diversity and inclusion in the law, especially for women.
This is something we at MinterEllisonRuddWatts have been working hard at for well over a decade, but there is still more to do.
“The work Julia will be undertaking on the Taskforce is extremely important. It fits well with our wider commitment to initiatives such as Champions for Change and TupuToa.”Established for an initial term of three years, the taskforce will deliver a draft strategy and action plan to the New Zealand Law Society by 30 November 2019.The taskforce is one of the Law Society’s initiatives in response to its Legal Workplace Environment Survey which was released in late May 2018. The survey showed 18% of lawyers (31% of women and 55% of men) have been sexually harassed and 52% of lawyers have been bullied during their working lifetime.
