Her honour’s appointment to the High Court — the swearing-in for which is occurring today (Monday, 17 October 2022) — breaks a glass ceiling. The appointment has been lauded by legal professionals across the country: here, here and here.

Jagot J was, until recently, a board director of Minds Count.

At this year’s event, Berkeley Cox — who was the chief executive partner for King & Wood Mallesons (KWM) in Australia from 2017 to 2022 — will speak about his personal journey in law, how leaders can model appropriate behaviours, and how EIC professionals find striking a difficult balance between supporting their mental health by working reasonable hours and making time for self-care or being a team player and capitalising on development opportunities meaning extra commitments and hours — among other things. He will deliver his keynote together with KWM solicitor Margaret Cai.

Chief Justice James Allsop of the Federal Court of Australia will also be in attendance to open the proceedings.

The lecture will be held in person at the Federal Court of Australia in Sydney and televised via closed webcast on Thursday, 27 October 2022, from 6:00pm. The event is being supported by McCabes Lawyers and Leo Cussen Centre for Law.

Speaking about the upcoming lecture, Minds Count chair Melinda Upton said that it is fantastic to have someone of Mr Cox’s calibre share his thoughts with the broader legal profession.

It is also fantastic, she added, that Ms Cai — a rising star in Australia’s legal profession — has also put her hand up to eulogise on such a sensitive and pertinent topic. 

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“The foundation is honoured to host this year’s event, and eagerly anticipates the wisdom and insights from Mr Cox and Ms Cai — in particular, the diversity of thought and perspective they will share, based on their own experiences and observations of the scourge of psychological distress in Australia’s legal profession,” she said.

“The board is delighted to once again host the annual lecture as an in-person event, and we look forward to welcoming legal professionals of all stripes to the event.” 

The Minds Count Foundation is an independent, charitable organisation with the objective of decreasing work-related psychological ill-health in the legal community and promoting workplace psychological health and safety.

Since 2008, the foundation has hosted an annual lecture that aims to raise awareness of and promote practical solutions to the prevalence and causes of psychological distress, anxiety, depression, suicide ideation and related ailments among legal professionals in Australia.

The foundation’s annual lecture has hosted keynote speakers, including former attorney-general Robert McClelland, former Australian of the Year Professor Pat McGorry and Lieutenant General David Morrison, Lifeline national board chair John Brogden, and former magistrate David Heilpern.

For more information about this year’s lecture, visit the Minds Count website.

Editor’s note: The author of this story is a board director for the Minds Count Foundation.