Winner of the McCallum Medal demystifies legal issues

Blake Dawson graduate Andrea Ho has won the McCallum Medal 2011 for her comprehensive yet straightforward explanation of general protections applications where dismissal has not occurred. “The judges were very impressed with the fact that Andrea took a very complicated topic and made it easily understandable,” said judge and lead partner of the Clayton Utz national workplace relations, employment and safety practice group Joe Catanzariti. “It’s a very difficult area and she demystified it.”

Ho said she chose the topic because there had been very few cases in the courts where the applicant in the dispute had not been dismissed. “I wanted to look at what the situation would be if they had not yet been dismissed and what procedural hurdles they would have to address in order to bring a claim,” she said. During her investigations Ho said she realised that the provisions introduced to allow employees not dismissed to launch action were in fact very complex. “I think it would be very difficult for a person of a non-legal background to get their heads around it,” she said. “It would be hard for everyday people to access these provisions even though that is why they exist.”

The McCallum Medal is an annual public speaking competition for young lawyers and students with an interest in industrial relations and employment law. The competition is named in honour of Professor Ron McCallum, a leading academic in this field. Ho and the other four finalists were each given eight minutes to put forward their topics to the judges including Justice Robert Buchanan of the Federal Court of Australia, Fair Work Australia deputy president Lea Drake and Catanzariti. The judges also asked each of the finalists questions relating to their presentation which Ho described as daunting. “You can’t prepare for them, you have to answer them on the spot – the only thing you can do is read widely about the topic and hope you have the answer,” she said.

As the winner Ho’s name will be engraved on the McCallum Medal perpetual shield and she will receive a A$500 book voucher from Thomson Reuters (publisher of this website); A$500 from The College of Law and publication of her article in the Thomson Reuters Workplace Review journal. Event organiser Aaron Allegretto, immediate past chair of the Employment and Industrial Law Committee at NSW Young Lawyers, said the competition was an excellent way for young lawyers to build their profile and expertise within the profession, "and to mix with other young lawyers and law students with similar interests, to engage in debate about topical employment law issues".

Ho said she entered the competition because of McCallum and saw her win as a step in increasing her expertise and experience in understanding legal issues. “We have a responsibility as legal professionals to be aware of these issues so that we can provide the right advice to your clients,” she said.

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