Law graduates forced to celebrate in camera

There will be no chief justice, no wood-panelled courtroom, and no ceremonial signing of the ­Supreme Court roll.

Law graduate Stefanie Costi has organised an online celebration for newly admitted lawyers in Sydney, and a similar event will take place in Victoria. Picture: John Feder

There will be no chief justice, no wood-panelled courtroom, and no ceremonial signing of the ­Supreme Court roll.

But new lawyers in NSW and Victoria will get a chance to mark their admission to the legal profession with online celebrations led by legal luminaries from their state.

Traditional legal admission ceremonies have been cancelled this year due to the pandemic.

Legal graduates have been given two choices: delay their admission until after the pandemic and risk impacting their career; or get admitted “on the papers” and forego the traditional ceremony. It is not possible to be admitted twice.

So far this year, 1210 lawyers in Victoria and 1860 in NSW have been admitted on the papers.

Those who are being admitted without a traditional ceremony are still being hit with hefty admission fees: $950 in NSW and $867 in Victoria.

Two law graduates — Stefanie Costi in Sydney and Stefani Janson in Melbourne — have decided to take matters into their own hands, organising online celebrations in their respective states so that lawyers admitted on the papers can mark what is usually a special milestone.

“We want the admitted class of 2020 to feel like their outstanding achievement is just as celebrated as the lawyers who have gone ­before them,” Ms Costi said.

Some law graduates also had their university graduation ceremonies cancelled, which she said was “pretty tough”.

Ms Janson said many graduates were struggling financially during the pandemic and finding it difficult to afford the admission fee, but it was hard to land a job as a lawyer without being admitted. Other professional membership bodies had introduced fee-relief measures, Ms Janson said.

“It’s almost essential, I would argue, to be admitted, but that fee is so huge … There have been no payment plans and no concessions for young lawyers facing a very challenging job market in Victoria,” she said.

Legal Profession Admission Board of NSW executive officer Christopher Banks said the admission fee had not increased in three years. It covered the cost of assessing an application, and helped to fund the regulation of the legal profession. There had never been any charge for attending a ceremony, he said.

“During the pandemic, the LPAB’s costs in processing admissions applications have increased, not decreased,” he added.

A Supreme Court of Victoria spokeswoman said that Victorian Chief Justice Anne Ferguson would release a message for newly admitted lawyers in December. And a NSW Supreme Court spokeswoman said that from February, small live ceremonies would resume — up to six ceremonies a week.

The Victorian online celebration for new lawyers will take place on Friday. About 150 people have registered to attend. The NSW celebration will take place on December 18.