Building the Next Generation of Lawyers: Everything Old is New Again
Tracks
Concurrent Stream 1
| Thursday, September 10, 2026 |
| 10:35 AM - 11:20 AM |
| Wala Mirr Theatre |
Overview
Five generations in the workforce, accelerating technology and pressure to develop lawyers faster with fewer traditional learning opportunities. The challenge is not commitment to people. It is time, clarity and sustainable frameworks. This session argues the way forward is a return to fundamentals.
Generative AI is changing what lawyers do, not what it means to be a lawyer. As routine work is automated, firms must be more intentional about developing judgment, ethical reasoning, communication and commercial awareness, skills that cannot be outsourced to technology.
Designed for firm leaders, practice managers and HR professionals in small to mid-sized firms, the session offers practical approaches to competency frameworks, mentoring and supervision models, and career pathways that work across generations. Participants leave with the confidence that building the next generation of lawyers does not require reinventing the profession, only reconnecting with what has always mattered.
Speaker
Ms Ann-Maree David
National Executive Director
The College of Law
Building the Next Generations of Lawyers: Everything Old Is New Again
Biography
Ann-Maree David was a founding Director of AGEC (2016-2020) and is a past President of Australian Women Lawyers. Ann-Maree is an Executive Director of The College of Law, the largest provider of practice-focused legal education in Australasia. She has worked in the legal profession for over 40 years, in public and corporate sector roles and in private practice as a solicitor.
Ann-Maree has held a career-long passion for developing and delivering education and training programs to enable all involved in the delivery of legal services to thrive both personally and professionally.
In addition to leading the College of Law’s Queensland campus, Ann-Maree chairs the Queensland Law Society’s Equity & Diversity Committee.. She Chairs the All Hallows School Board and is a former President and current Director of the Australasian Professional Legal Education Community, the not-for-profit peak body for pre-admission licensure training. In 2018 Ann-Maree was awarded the Agnes McWhinney Award in recognition of her outstanding professional and community contribution as a lawyer.
