Young guns sworn in
Hard work pays off as lawyers take oath
YEARS of hitting the books has paid off for a group of young legal eagles who have formally been sworn in as practising lawyers.
Julia Maro Petratos, Katie Jane Paff, Lynette Sudholz, Shania Jade Thomas, Michelle Mary Kerr, Connor Lochlin David Davey, Joel Bartholomew Murgha, George Lance Druery and Emma Jane Wallis were admitted as practising legal professionals before Justice Jim Henry at the Cairns Court House on Friday.
For 23-year-old Yarrabah lawyer Joel Murgha, the signing in was the realisation of a lifelong ambition.
“I have had this dream (for a long time) so to finally get admitted as a lawyer with my friends and family today means a lot to me and a lot to them,” he said.
Being so early in his career he was not sure of the direction in terms of a specialty, but he was clear on the significance of his achievement as a role model.
“Doing this and setting an example for the younger people in communities, to show that we can break the cycle and we can achieve these things,” he said.
“If we all see that we have these mentors that we can follow, the cycle will be broken.
“We will be better educated, will have better resources (and) better health (to) close the gap between us and non-Indigenous Australians.”
Justice Henry congratulated the nine new lawyers and acknowledged that while they all travelled very different paths to signing the roll they each shared a collective responsibility to do their best to represent their future clients.
Encouraging excellence in the pursuit of justice the Cairns judge made special mention of Mr Murgha and the opportunity his admission offered in relation to Indigenous legal representation.
Mr Murgha said the appointment was a proud moment.
“It’s a really special day,” he said.
“I have dreamt of this day for, I don’t know how many years. I said to my mum that I wanted to be a lawyer since I was 12 or 13-years-old.
“And I only worked towards that one goal.
“So to … get admitted now means a lot and I was happy to be and be able to celebrate it with my family.”