By Wendy Yang -
Attendees at the 2025 Golden Gavel took time away from their billables this morning to watch six finalists battle it out in front of a packed room of lawyers, law students and guests for the top prize.
Maintaining its yearly tradition, the 2025 Golden Gavel was held at the Fullerton Hotel in Sydney. The finalists and the attendees braved the cold early start for a morning of laughs, food and networking opportunities.
Comedian and the Master of Ceremonies for the event, Nathan Chin, warmed up the crowd with his hilarious quips about the life of a lawyer, how his parents wanted him to become a barrister and not a barista, and whether environmental lawyers are real.
2024 finalist, Alana Rafter, Senior Associate at the Australian Business Lawyers & Advisors was the first competitor to try to win over the crowd. Her topic “three things I learned you can’t claim on expenses (and three things you should),” was particularly timely considering we have just entered a new financial year.
Rafter impressed the audience with her hilarious account of her interactions with the “militia that takes over accounts in June,” especially her debate with “Captain Jenny” from accounts, on whether attending the Golden Gavel can be claimed as an ‘expense.’
Andrew Bell from DLA Piper followed with his take on why “Only CJ Bell can judge me and other tattoos I’d like to get.” In true lawyer fashion, Bell was quick to disclaim any allegations of being a “nepo baby” by affirming he is not related to Chief Justice Andrew Bell,
Bell admitted that he struggled with the topic as he doesn’t have any actual tattoos and likened the challenge to “trying to be funny by making jokes about the law at 8am in front of future bosses and colleagues while representing your firm at a venue right next to where you work…,” he said.
He suggested a few “law themed tattoos”, ranging from a “work/life balance” tattoo for corporate lawyers, to tattoos in Latin, which he described as the “uniting language of lawyers.” Among his Latin inspired tattoo suggestions for lawyers were “quid pro quo” for criminal lawyers and “persona non grata” for defamation lawyers.
The burning question on everyone’s minds was whether attendance at Golden Gavel can count as continuing professional development (CPD). Fortunately, Jayda a graduate solicitor from DLA Piper entered the chat with her take on “Five things I should be able to earn CPD points for.” From developing your knowledge of substantive law from legal dramas and movies like “Legally Blonde,” to developing your professional skills through “impromptu networking opportunities” in the lift and at the coffee machine, there are various ways lawyers can comply with their CPD requirements.
Whilst most lawyers scratch their heads at some of the latest phrases being used by Gen Z and Alphas, Liam Fairgrieve, planning and environment lawyer from McCullough Robertson Lawyers, impressed the audience with his take on “Skibidi testify – preparing to question Gen Alpha in court.”
After listing the reasons he resents Gen Alpha, from being the “first generation” to show disrespect towards their elders, their poor work ethic to their preference to revert back to being “hunter gatherers,” Fairgrieve admitted he had never actually had an “interaction with a Gen Alpha kid” and lamented that perhaps his resentment comes from the fact that he was “no longer the cool young thing,” he once was.
Georgia Delinicolas, lawyer at Pearson Emerson Family Lawyers, entertained the audience with her take on “Barristers – why without solicitors they’re just robes and stuffing.” Delinicolas stressed the impact of family law on people. ”[I]t … touches the lives of many of the senior practitioners who are in the room here today, sometimes twice,” she joked.
The final competitor to take the stage was Raymond Sun, a technology lawyer from Herbert Smith Freehill Kramer who provided his take on “I used ChatGPT to pass my exams, can someone now tell me what a tort is?”
The irony of a technology lawyer being given a topic on AI was not lost on Sun and he admitted all he remembers of tort law from law school was a snail and negligence.
It was a close competition. After much deliberation, the judges, Timothy Roberts, 2025 President of the NSW Young Lawyers, Ronan MacSweeney, 2025 Senior Vice President of the Law Society of NSW and Tom Hillyard, special counsel at Sparke Helmore revealed the runner-up and winner. Andrew Bell won the People’s Choice award and was runner-up and Liam Fairgrieve was crowned the 2025 Golden Gavel winner.
