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NSW Law Society announces annual medal award winner
A Children’s Court registrar has been named the 2021 recipient of the Law Society’s President’s Medal.
Lauren Croft
The Law Society of NSW announced that Children’s Court registrar and former Legal Aid NSW solicitor, Mary Gleeson, was awarded the 2021 President’s Medal at their Annual Members Dinner in Sydney this week.
Outside her day-to-day work as a recently appointed registrar in the Children’s Court, Ms Gleeson provides services to The Shed, a male suicide prevention service in Mt Druitt, conducts a health justice partnership clinic attached to Blacktown Hospital, is chair of crisis accommodation service DV West and is a member of the Aboriginal Family Law Pathways committee.
President of the Law Society of NSW, Juliana Warner, said the President’s Medal is a “fitting acknowledgement” of the registrar’s extensive contribution to family law across the country.
“Mary’s passion and commitment to early intervention services in the family law setting has created significant improvements in access to justice for so many Indigenous children and families over the past three decades. Her innovative and pragmatic approach to legal assistance is underpinned by her deep understanding of the sometimes-complex non-legal needs of her clients,” she said.
“And her solution-focused approach means that she often goes above and beyond what might ordinarily be required of a family law solicitor.
“Additionally, her work with The Shed and as duty solicitor at the Federal Circuit Court’s Indigenous Families list, has provided access to the family law system for Indigenous children who would otherwise have been at risk of removal from their families through the care and protection system.”
Lauren Croft
Lauren is a journalist at Lawyers Weekly and graduated with a Bachelor of Journalism from Macleay College. Prior to joining Lawyers Weekly, she worked as a trade journalist for media and travel industry publications and Travel Weekly. Originally born in England, Lauren enjoys trying new bars and restaurants, attending music festivals and travelling. She is also a keen snowboarder and pre-pandemic, spent a season living in a French ski resort.
