CA3 (Ethics and Professional Responsibility)
This is Piddington’s online CPD library for ethics. Central to most Piddington events, hear from a range of practitioners about their own ethical issues, how to resolve ethical quandaries and how to prevent them from arising.
If you are looking for other online CPD sessions click the following:
Please note:
Some sessions were recorded before 1 April 2023. In accordance with Legal Profession Uniform Law Application Act (2022), Legal Profession Uniform Continuing Professional Development (Solicitors) Rules (2015) and Legal Profession Uniform Continuing Professional Development (Barristers) Rules (2015), the sessions and questions are regularly reviewed for relevance, and changed or deleted where appropriate.
Unless otherwise marked, all of our sessions are considered “interactive”.
The Hon Rene Le Miere KC: What Judges Want
Now off the bench, the Hon Rene Le Miere KC reflects on an almost two-decade judicial career.
Mr Le Miere shares insights on preparation, advocacy and ethics in how to be a better lawyer, support your clients and achieve resolutions.
CPD allocation: 0.5 points in CA2 (Professional Skills) and 0.5 points in CA3 (Ethics and Professional Responsibility).
Recorded between 1 April 2022 and 31 March 2023.
Out of Office: Craig Sanderson
Craig Sanderson served as a Master of the Supreme Court of Western Australia from 1996 until his retirement in June 2023. Across the course of his service, he became a prominent and revered judicial officer across a very wide range of matters.
In this session, free from the constraints of judicial office, Mr Sanderson, as he now is, will share his reflections on his time, including considering the role of Master, developments in law and practice generally. He provides remarks and takes questions from attendees, led by Amy Pascoe.
Kate McDonald, then the Acting Master, provides closing remarks.
CPD points: 0.5 in CA2 (Professional Skills) and 0.5 in CA3 (Ethics and Professional Responsibility)
Recorded between 1 April 2023 and 31 March 2024.
Guiding clients with FASD and related health issues through the justice system
Magistrate Alana Padmanabham (Children's Court of Western Australia) and Dr Hayley Passmore (Telethon Kids Institute, University of Western Australia) give an overview of what FASD is, the impact it has on clients, how to better communicate with them and maintaining their engagement through legal proceedings.
CPD allocation: 0.5 points in CA2 (Professional Skills), 0.5 points in CA3 (Ethics and Professional Responsibility).
Recorded between 1 April 2022 and 31 March 2023.
Ethics in Mediations
Ethical and professional considerations cross everything we do. With more disputes being resolved in mediations, including online mediations, there are different ethical considerations.
Join this discussion with mediators and practitioners about ethical challenges and experiences. Registrar Russell Trott (Federal Court of Australia) will be joined by Aaron McDonald (Pragma Lawyers) and Lucy Thomas (Paterson and Dowding).
Registrar Trott will be speaking about how ethical conduct by solicitors and counsel can lead to better outcomes, other issues canvassed will include those in family law, ethical requirements and standards in mediations. Mr McDonald and Ms Thomas discuss ethical issues in their respective practice areas.
CPD points: 1 point in CA3 (Ethics and Professional Responsibility).
Recorded between 1 April 2021 and 31 March 2022.
2021 MEET THE SILKS
Join the Hon Justice Gail Archer with the 2020 Senior Counsel appointees, Matthew Curwood SC (Francis Burt Chambers), Graham Droppert SC (Albert Wolff Chambers), Lindsay Fox SC (Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions), Penelope Giles SC (Murray Chambers), Kim Lendich SC (Francis Burt Chambers) and Alan Sefton SC (State Counsel).
CPD points: 1 point in CA3 (Ethics and Professional Responsibility).
Recorded between 1 April 2020 and 31 March 2021.
Ethics in Family Law
Nicola Ashford (ASB Law) leads a discussion with the Hon Justice Richard O’Brien (Family Court of Western Australia), Dr Jacoba Brasch QC (Queensland Bar) and Kondwani Mwenda (FMD Legal) on ethics in family law.
Consideration is given to model behaviour, obligations in relation to parenting matters as set out in the Act, what to do when you see an ethical issue coming, client management and capacity issues.
CPD points: 1 point in CA3 (Ethics and Professional Responsibility).
Recorded between 1 April 2020 and 31 March 2021.
Managing Up
In this session, three lawyers from different parts of the profession will discuss their experiences and share their advice on how to manage up in ways that maintain sustainable workflow, knowing how and when to say no, considering your own mental health and navigating ethical issues. Consideration will be given to issues relating to working with clients, non-lawyers and within larger teams.
At time of recording, Julien Blais is a legal associate at Gold Corp and previously worked in commercial litigation for a top-tier firm, Richa Malaviya is a lawyer in the Djinda team at the Women's Legal Service and has worked across the community legal sector in Perth and regional Western Australia and Maggie Shipp is a solicitor at Cullen Macleod Lawyers working across litigation and commercial matters.
CPD points: 0.5 CPD points in CA1 (Practice Management) and 0.5 CPD points in CA3 (Ethics and Professional Responsibility)
Recorded between 1 April 2021 and 31 March 2020.
Balancing careers
Many parents aren't just managing raising children and their own careers, they are also having to consider the career and ambitions of their partner, too.
In this session, we have brought together her Honour Judge Natalie Whitby (District Court of Western Australia) with her husband the Hon Reece Whitby MLA (Minister for Environment and Climate Action) who will discuss how they mutually have pursued their own careers and raised four children as a team.
This session will is led by Felicity McLeish (Wright Prospecting) and consideration will be given to issues around dealing with deadlines and high-pressure workplaces and jobs, home-life structures that allow people to maintain demanding work, prioritising family responsibilities over those at work and escaping the stress of work and family demands.
CPD points: 0.5 CPD points in CA1 (Practice Management) and 0.5 CPD points in CA3 (Ethics and Professional Responsibility).
Recorded between 1 April 2021 and 31 March 2022.
A discussion with Richard Beasley SC
Richard Beasley SC is a leading silk, with a prominent practice in environmental and public law. He has been Senior Counsel Assisting various inquiries, including on covid-19, the Murray-Darling river and more.
Outside of his legal successes, Mr Beasley SC wrote Hell Has Harbour Views.
Here he discusses ethical challenges and how they have developed, his work on major inquiries and environmental law.
CPD points: 0.5 CPD points in CA2 (Professional Skills), 0.5 CPD points in CA3 (Ethics and Professional Responsibility).
Recorded between 1 April 2021 and 31 March 2022.
The Boyles - 50 years in law
Shortly following their retirement as Registrars of the Supreme Court of Western Australia for 25 and 20 years, respectively, Sandra and Christopher Boyle reflect on what they have learned across five decades in law, what makes a good lawyer, what makes a good mediator and what they see developing in practice.
CPD points: 1 point in CA3 (Ethics and Professional Responsibility).
Recorded between 1 April 2020 and 31 March 2021.
Meet the GC’s
A panel discussion with some of Australia and the Asia-Pacific's leading in-house lawyers: May Lin Chew (then: Associate General Counsel and Head of Legal (Singapore), Shell), Peter Huston (Chief General Counsel and Director of Corporate Services, Fortescue Metals Group), and Maya vanden Driesen (Group General Counsel, Wesfarmers).
They consider their paths to in-house, what challenges them, how they operate within a business when their clients are sitting next to them and how they navigate ethical issues that confront them.
CPD points: 1 point in CA3 (Ethics and Professional Responsibility).
Recorded between 1 April 2022 and 31 March 2023.
Ethics with Matthew Howard SC
Matthew Howard SC, President of the Australian Bar Association, considers how people make unethical decisions, how to spot them, how to resolve them and how to move on from them.
CPD points: 1 point in CA3 (Ethics and Professional Responsibility).
Recorded between 1 April 2019 and 31 March 2020.
CHATS WITH THE CHIEF: THE HON JUSTICE PETER QUINLAN, CHIEF JUSTICE OF WESTERN AUSTRALIA, IN DISCUSSION
A wide-ranging conversation with the Hon Justice Peter Quinlan, Chief Justice of Western Australia, and Nicholas van Hattem (Barrister, Francis Burt Chambers; Director, Piddington PLT; President, Law Society of Western Australia) which covers ethical challenges for practice during the crisis and finding a path forward.
The Chief Justice shares some book recommendations.
CPD points: 0.5 points in CA3 (Ethics and Professional Responsibility).
Recorded between 1 April 2020 and 31 March 2021.
THE HON CHRISTINE WHEELER AO QC & THE HON MICHAEL KIRBY AC CMG
One of our most popular sessions, join two judicial luminaries in conversation on ethics and what it means to be a lawyer.
CPD points: 1 point in CA3 (Ethics and Professional Responsibility).
Recorded prior to 31 December 2019.
Directors duties for non-profits
Chris Pearce (Blackwall Legal) provides a comprehensive overview of directors' duties for non-profits. He is followed by a panel discussion with Henry Jackson SC, Gemma Nugent and Curtis Ward, three lawyers who serve on community and non-profit boards.
CPD points: 0.5 points in CA3 (Ethics and Professional Responsibility); 1 point in CA4 (Substantive Law).
Recorded between 1 April 2021 and 31 March 2022.
Watch session here (attracts CPD points)
Watch session here (does not attracts CPD points)
A view from the District Court
Their Honours Judges Troy Sweeney SC, David MacLean and Mara Barone SC consider what they have learned on the Bench, what they are seeing and how advocates can be more persuasive before them.
With candour and humour, their Honours office insight into what makes a good advocate and what practitioners should be wary of.
CPD points: 0.5 CPD points in CA2 (Professional Skills), 0.5 points in CA3 (Ethics and Professional Responsibility).
Recorded between 1 April 2020 and 31 March 2021.
conflicts and ethics in family law
Samantha Nadilo (Fourth Floor Chambers) discusses issues regarding ethics and family law as an outsider and what family lawyers should consider from broader civil law ethics.
CPD points: 0.5 points in CA3 (Ethics and Professional Responsibility).
Recorded between 1 April 2020 and 31 March 2021.
FIONA MCLEOD AO SC ON PRACTICE, PERSEVERANCE AND PEOPLE
Fiona McLeod AO SC (Victorian Bar) discusses the developments she has seen in the law over her 30-year career, including challenges and opportunities for lawyers. She talks about her own experiences with collegiality and the role of support in sustaining a long career.
McLeod AO SC is a former president of the Law Council of Australia, Australian Bar Association and Australian Women Lawyers.
CPD points: 0.5 points in CA2 (Professional Skills) and 0.5 points in CA3 (Ethics and Professional Responsibility).
Recorded between 1 April 2020 and 31 March 2021.
2019 MEET THE SILKS
Join the Hon Justice Gail Archer with the 2018 Senior Counsel appointees - Carolyn Thatcher SC, Alain Musikanth SC, John Ley SC, John Hedges SC and Mara Barone SC.
CPD points: 1 point in CA3 (Ethics and Professional Responsibility).
Recorded between 1 April 2018 and 31 March 2019.
ETHICS AND ADVOCACY WITH THE HON JUSTICE KATRINA BANKS-SMITH
Join Justice Banks-Smith (Federal Court of Australia) in conversation about ethical issues that arise in advocacy, generally and for new practitioners, and how to prepare your case.
CPD points: 0.5 points in CA3 (Ethics and Professional Responsibility).
Recorded between 1 April 2019 and 31 March 2020.
ETHICS AND CRIMINAL LAW WITH SAM VANDONGEN SC
Leading criminal silk, Vandongen SC, discusses the ethical challenges that arise from being a criminal lawyer.
CPD points: 1 point in CA3 (Ethics and Professional Responsibility).
Recorded between 1 April 2019 and 31 March 2020.