Saturday, 29 August 2015
2015 ACT Young Lawyer of the Year
Kavina Mistry was presented with the 2015 ACT Young Lawyer of the Year Award by the chair of the judging panel, the Hon Justice John Burns of the ACT Supreme Court, at the Law Society’s Annual Dinner on Friday 28 August. The Award recognises the professional achievements and community involvement of outstanding young lawyers in the region.
Kavina moved to Canberra in 2012 after completing a Juris Doctor (Hons) from Bond University in 2011, graduating with Honours in the top 5% of her class. As both a new young lawyer and a new Canberran, she saw firsthand the difficulties of connecting with other young lawyers in the region, and networking with more experienced members of the legal profession. Faced with this challenge, Kavina approached the Young Lawyers Committee with a mentor program designed to connect young lawyers with more senior practitioners for advice, guidance and support. Her program was accepted in whole by the Law Society, and since its launch in 2014, has received a fantastic response.
Kavina is justly proud of the mentor program. She says: “Your first few years as a lawyer can be overwhelming, and one of the best ways to avoid burnout and thrive in the profession is to develop positive connections with other members of the legal community. The Mentor Program helps facilitate this.”
Kavina is an advocate for promoting mental health awareness in the legal profession. She raises funds for the Tristan Jepson Memorial Foundation, helping to raise awareness of work-related psychological ill-health in the legal community and promoting workplace psychological health and safety. She is a regular writer for the Law Society’s member magazine Ethos, encouraging open discussion of mental health issues.
Kavina also runs a blog and podcast (called Lawyer Jr.), where she provides general advice, support and a sense of community for young lawyers. She says: “I conceived Lawyer Jr. as a safe place for young lawyers to ask the ‘silly questions’. It’s important to know that you are not alone in what can be a trying (but rewarding) profession. It’s also good to simply have a laugh and remember why we chose to do law!”
Kavina is employed as a family law solicitor at Claire Naidu & Co, and currently serves as Secretary of the ACT Law Society’s Young Lawyers Committee. She is also a regular volunteer at the Women's Legal Centre and the Legal Advice Bureau, providing pro-bono legal advice to Canberra’s most vulnerable people.
The ACT Law Society commends Kavina for her contributions to the legal profession and the Canberra community.