Dr Christopher Kendall, who has served on the Society's council since 2008 and was the senior vice president and chair of the education committee in 2010, said he is privileged to have been elected to the position.

"My first priority will be to ensure first rate services to Society members," he said in a statement. "I am committed to the continued success and growth of the Society's professional education program and the implementation all of the Society's recent initiatives in relation to mental health and well-being in the legal profession.

"I will also seek to advance and protect the interests of members at the national level at a time of significant reforms to the national legal profession landscape."

Kendall said other key priorities for 2012 include implementing the recommendations of the Society's mental health report, titled Report on Psychological Distress and Depression in the Legal Profession, which was commissioned by the Law Society and released in May following an increase in the number of legal practitioners suffering from anxiety, stress and depression; reviewing risk management initiatives and broadening risk management programs to better assist practitioners; expanding the Society's CPD program; assisting with the review of Western Australia's Legal Profession Act; and progressing the Society's application to the Professional Standards Council.

As well as being a practising barrister, Kendall is a commissioner with the Insurance Commission of Western Australia, and was formerly the Dean of Law at Murdoch University and a commissioner with the Law Reform Commission of Western Australia.