Awards & Achievements
CASE Principal Solicitors win Lawyer of the Year Award
2011
CASE for Refugees is very pleased to announce that its joint
Principal Solicitors, Amanda Goodier and Shayla Strapps, have been
awarded the WA Law Society Lawyer of the Year Award.
The Award celebrates lawyers who have made siginificant
contributions to the WA legal community, above and beyond that
which may be reasonably expected through paid legal
employment . Amanda and Shayla were nominated jointly by
Maria Lammattina, a highly respected prior Convenor of CASE for
Refugees. In her nomination, Maria outlines the important
work that Amanda and Shayla do in contributing to social justice in
WA;
'Throughout their legal careers, Shayla and Amanda have
selected areas of practice and workplaces that enable them to
pursue their passion for ensuring equitable access to justice for
those less fortunate in our community. It goes without saying
that the remuneration they have received for their efforts,
particularly in the community legal sector, with CASE for Refugees
no exception, is far below what they could otherwise receive in the
legal market. They have persisted in their efforts and
commitment to social justice nonetheless, and their clients and the
organisations with whom they have worked have enormously benefited
as a result.
A general description of Amanda's prior work is provided
below:
- Amanda worked during the period 2001 to 2003 as solicitor
and ultimately Acting Principal Solicitor with the Sussex Street
Community Law Service, providing legal supervision of the practice,
representing the service on external committees, developing and
presenting community legal education programmes, supporting tenancy
and welfare rights advocates and financial counsellors and
disability lawyers, and representing clients in courts and
tribunals.
- Amanda worked as Senior Solicitor and Principal Solicitor
at the Women's Law Centre between 2003 and 2007, and was
responsible for the delivery of legal services to women in need,
supervision of the legal practice, representing the service on
external committees, developing and presenting community legal
education programmes and representing clients in courts and
tribunals.
- Amanda worked in 2007 as a consultant to the WA Council for
Social Services in relation to issues affecting incorporated
associations.
- Prior to her practice as a lawyer, Amanda was also a Senior
Project Officer and Policy and Research Officer with the Office of
the Family in WA and the Department of Trade Development, and an
Executive Officer, Private Secretary and Parliamentary Liaison
Officer to the Minister for Education.
- Amanda has also been extensively involved in community
organisations in her spare time, including the All Saints Swimming
Club (Vice President and Club Registrar), All Saints College
(Member, P&F Management Committee), Manning Pre-Primary School
(Vice President, Management Committee), City of South Perth
(Councillor & Deputy Mayor), Lady Gowrie Centre (Chair and
Member of the Management Committee), Manning Senior Citizens
(Member, Board of Management), Karawara Community Project (Member,
Committee of Management), Southcare (Member, Executive
Committee).
A general description of Shayla's prior work is provided
below:
- Shayla worked as a Senior Solicitor and Domestic Violence
Solicitor at the Women's Law Centre from 2004-2007, being
responsible for legal supervision and the legal practice of the
service, providing legal advice on family law matters, representing
clients in court maters, managing the professional indemnity
obligations of the centre, publishing works in the areas of family
law and domestic violence, presenting community education seminars,
and representing the service on various committees and through
liaison with other stakeholders including police.
- In 2006, Shayla also worked with the Employment Law Centre,
providing advice on industrial relations matters, supervising
staff, and preparing information kits and web based materials for
community education purposes.
- During 2003-2004, Shayla worked with Legal Aid, providing
advice on family law, civil and employment law matters, acting as
duty lawyer in petty sessions, and representing clients in the
District Court. Shayla also earlier worked with Legal Aid as
part of their Legal Advice and Information Service in 2001,
advising and informing the public on a wide range of legal
issues.
- Shayla is also currently a volunteer Board member with the
Welfare Rights and Advocacy Service community legal
centre.
Shayla and Amanda have set and continue to provide an
excellent example to other members of the legal profession and the
many law students with whom they have contact through CASE, of the
way in which a legal career can be used to change the lives of
those less fortunate, to educate clients about their legal rights
and entitlements and thus to empower them, and above all to
practise the law in a manner driven by higher values and a
commitment to service, over and above mere remuneration. They
have made a great contribution to the legal profession, not only by
sharing their knowledge and skills with other members and future
members, but also, by providing an outstanding example of legal
practice at its best, encouraging within the community a positive
perception of the profession as a whole"
During their time at CASE, Amanda and Shayla have;
- Increased annual turnover threefold. This is an amazing
achievement in a sector where funding is typically highly
constrained and very worthy causes and organisations routinely miss
out on much needed funding.
- Increased its staff numbers from 3 part time to 11 part
time. This outcome not only speaks of the growth in the
service's capacity to employ staff through its increased turnover
detailed above, but also of the organisation's capacity and direct
efforts of Amanda and Shayla to effectively retain and attract high
quality staff to very challenging roles.
- Expanded their client services to include a generalist legal
service for newly arrived migrants who have limited English.
This represented a critical measure to achieving more holistic
legal service provision for people in the Western Australian
community who are particularly marginalised and vulnerable and
whose access to justice is constrained by their cultural and
linguistic differences, along with their common experiences of
torture and trauma in their country of origin.
- CASE has a significant and loyal volunteer base and Amanda and
Shayla's work has ensured their enduring commitment to the service,
with 53 volunteer lawyers, law students, migration agents and
others contributing 2814 volunteer hours in during the 2010
financial year alone
- CASE has also continued to contribute significantly to
education and training within the legal profession, among law
students, and migration agents, in areas of their expertise,
particularly in working with people of culturally and
linguistically diverse backgrounds, persons who have suffered
torture and trauma, working with and through interpreters, as well
as targeted training in migration law.
- Shayla and Amanda were instrumental in reforming and building
databases, process and procedures to ensure the effective
monitoring and auditing of client files, and coordination of staff
and the service's many volunteers, and compliance with Commonwealth
and other funding requirements.
"As a former Convenor and volunteer at CASE, I have been
particularly inspired by Amanda and Shayla's courage, commitment
and tenacity in their work, and their achievement of the highest
standards of professionalism and service in a community legal
centre setting. Faced with constant funding, staffing and
space challenges, and working for limited financial reward, they
have managed to transform a centre into a sustainable, highly
respected and effective organisation that works to help those
marginalised, and often vilified, in our community. I believe
that their commitment to this organisation, and their past careers,
should therefore be recognised through awarding them the title of
2011 Lawyer of the Year".
CASE congratulates Shayla and Amanda on this Award and thanks
them for their commitment.
Other Awards
In its short history, CASE for Refugees has already been
recognised for its valuable contribution to refugees and the
community. This includes:
-
Nominee for Multicultural Community Service Awards in
category of 'Community Service Excellence Award'.
-
being awarded a grant by the Sidney Myer Fund and Myer
Foundation as part of the 2009 Commemorative Grants Program in
recognition of CASE for Refugees' contribution to the Western
Australian community. CASE was the only community organisation in
Western Australia to receive this recognition. See further details
in the following media release.
-
being a finalist for the 2007 Community Service Industry Award
for 'Strengthening Volunteering'
-
being shortlisted in 2005 for the Community Service Industry
Awards in the areas of 'Working creatively to make a difference'
and 'Strengthening Volunteering'
- 2003 LAW AWARD from the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity
Commission. Highly Commended Award for protection and promotion of
human rights of refugees and asylum seekers, particularly those on
temporary protection visas