March Mastery Launch and Keynote: Presented by The Hon. Justice Yehia

We’re excited to welcome you back for our second March Mastery Launch!
This year, we’re building on the success of our inaugural event with another inspiring evening designed to spark collaboration, innovation, and professional growth. 

March Mastery Month returns as a month-long celebration of CPD learning events, giving you the tools and insights to elevate your career.

Join us for an evening of networking, discovery, and thought leadership, featuring an engaging keynote from Justice Yehia. Her Honour will provide insights into the Application of the Bugmy Principles and the Bugmy Bar Book.

 

The Application of the Bugmy Principles and the Bugmy Bar Book

In this session Justice Yehia will outline the principles enunciated in Bugmy v The Queen (2013) 249 CLR 571 with particular focus on the relevance of an offender's background to the assessment of moral culpability and the weight to be afforded to the purposes of sentencing. 

Her Honour will also present on the Bugmy Bar Book including the origins of the resource and its relevance and application to sentencing proceedings. 

 

THE HONOURABLE JUSTICE YEHIA

The Honourable Justice Yehia graduated with a Bachelor of Arts/Law from the University of NSW and subsequently completed a Masters in International Criminal Law at Sydney University.
Her Honour was admitted as a solicitor in 1989 and worked with the Western Aboriginal Legal Service from December 1989 until September 1996. In that capacity, her Honour appeared for thousands of Aboriginal people in towns such as Bourke, Brewarrina, Wilcannia and Broken Hill.
Her Honour worked as a Solicitor Advocate with the Legal Aid Commission and was called to the Bar in 1999. Her Honour was then appointed a Public Defender. Her Honour took silk in 2009 and became the first female Deputy Senior Public Defender in 2013.
Her Honour’s practice in the Supreme Court included murder trials and the year-long terrorism trial at Parramatta in 2009. In 2013, her Honour appeared as lead counsel in the High Court case of The Queen v Bugmy and in the Special Leave application in Honeysett.
Her Honour was appointed a Judge of the District Court in May 2014.
Between 2019 and November 2022, her Honour was the Chairperson of Diverse Women in Law, an Organisation which has been formed to mentor women of diverse backgrounds in the profession. In that position, she has mentored many women in the law and commenced the Court Observation Program which provides an opportunity for a woman from a diverse background, studying law, to spend a day with a Judge in either the Supreme or District Court, observing proceedings and generally engaging with the Judge and her/his staff. Her Honour was formerly a Board Member of Diverse Women in Law.
Her Honour is also the current Chair of the Ngara Yura Committee. The Ngara Yura Program aims to increase awareness among Judicial Officers about First Nations social and cultural issues. Her Honour is also a member of the Bugmy Bar Book Committee and Board Member of the Australian Institution of Judicial Administration (AIJA).
On 23 June 2022, her Honour was appointed a Justice of the Supreme Court of New South Wales. Her Honour was sworn in on 4 July 2022.
In January 2023, her Honour became an Adjunct Professor at the Law School of the University of New South Wales. Her Honour currently teaches a newly devised sentencing course to undergraduate and postgraduate law students at the University of New South Wales.
Her book “The Essential Guide To Sentencing in NSW” was published in December 2023.
On 29 September 2025, her Honour became a Patron of Diverse Women in Law.

 

DETAILS

• When: Monday 3 March 2025, 4:30pm - 7pm (registration from 4pm)
• Where: ACT Law Society
• Cost: $100 member, $60 student, $150 non member (includes networking canapes and drinks)
• CPD: Members will earn 1 CPD point, core area 4
• RSVP extended to Thursday 27 February
• For further information please contact events@actlawsociety.asn.au

Reduced rates may be available to some of our members to ensure equal training opportunities. Please make contact to discuss your eligibility.

 

March Mastery is proudly supported by Lawcover and Opteon. 

 

Lawcover is proud to be the primary provider of professional indemnity insurance, claims and risk management education to ACT law practices and we remain focused on continuing to provide enduring insurance protection and claims prevention support to ACT lawyers, while assisting the ACT Law Society in promoting best practice of the law.

Opteon ACT has had a local presence in Canberra since 1985. Opteon offers in-depth property valuations for various purposes, supporting our clients with well-informed, independent, and impartial valuation advice. Recognised as the largest independent valuation firm in Australia and New Zealand, the depth and breadth of our services speak for themselves. Powered by a network of over 600 valuers servicing 98% of all Australian postcodes from over 80 locations, we offer the geographical reach, local knowledge and technical expertise that is uncomplicated and comprehensive.