PRESS / SPEECHES

New South Wales Young Lawyers and the Women Lawyers’ Association of NSW (WLA NSW) congratulates Louisa Fitz-Gerald on receiving the Australian Young Lawyer of the Year award yesterday.

Louisa single-handedly established a legal referral service for cancer patients in New South Wales and until recently, was the sole worker on the project as its Professional Services Coordinator.

The Australian Young Lawyers’ Committee of the Law Council of Australia recognised Louisa’s strong contribution to the community and the profession and unanimously selected her for the award.

“This is a wonderful achievement by a remarkable individual. A perfect example of someone using her skills as a lawyer and giving something back to the community. We congratulate her and hope that more people will know, use and support this amazing service set up by Louisa”, said President of NSW Young Lawyers Mr Daniel Petrushnko.

The President of WLA NSW and lawyer at TressCox Lawyers Ms Rebecca Barry said “fighting cancer and caring for someone with cancer can at times be extremely stressful let alone having to worry about your legal affairs. I have no doubt the support provided by the Cancer Council Legal Referral Service provides many individuals with great relief that their family and affairs will be looked after. We congratulate Louisa for all her work and encourage more lawyers to volunteer their time to such an important service”.

The Cancer Council Legal Referral Service assists cancer patients and carers across NSW by providing access to legal services when they would otherwise face barriers to access, including cost or illness.

Louisa will be formally awarded with the prestigious title in a ceremony at the University of Adelaide 2011 Advocacy Conference to be held tomorrow.

For further information, please contact Kathryn McKenzie, Executive Officer on 0466 157 087 or at executive@womenlawyersnsw.org.au.