Date & time: 27 March 2025, 1.30pm – 5.00pm AEDT
In this 3-hour live webinar, tick off all your non-substantive law CPD mandatory requirements, while refreshing your knowledge and gaining valuable best practice tips.
By attending this webinar, you will:
Facilitated by:
At the end of this live webinar, you will earn 3 CPD points.
1.30pm: Login and Welcome
1.35pm – 2.35pm: Practice Management and Business Skills: Busting Business Development Myths
Speaker: Sue-Ella Prodonovich, Principal, Prodonovich Advisory
“Just pick up the phone and speak with the client” or “If you do a good job, your client will refer you to others.” Could these Business Development (BD) mantras be wrong in today’s environment?
In this session, this leading expert on law firm BD will ‘bust’ ten BD myths. You will learn to replace BD myths with practical tactics and tips to develop clients for today’s contemporary legal practices.
2.35pm – 2.45pm: Stretch break
2.45pm – 3.45pm: Professional Skills: Communication skills to navigate conflict.
Speaker: Anne-Marie Cade, Divorce Coach & Family Mediator, DivorceRight and Adjunct Lecturer, College of Law
Dealing with and managing conflict is a regular occurrence for practising lawyers. How we communicate with adversaries, clients or other stakeholders has a direct impact on how we manage conflict, to achieve better outcomes.
Topics in this webinar include:
Learn strategies to de-escalate conflicts with clients, opposing counsel, and colleagues. Use active listening techniques to encourage understanding and achieve resolution.
Identify and adapt to various conflict communication styles in negotiation and mediation to improve outcomes.
Recognise and utilise body language to build rapport and trust. Identify non-verbal cues in clients to uncover unspoken concerns.
Navigate cultural differences in communication during disputes. Avoid misunderstandings and create respect across diverse backgrounds.
3.45pm – 3.55pm: Stretch break
3.55pm – 5pm: Ethics and Professional Responsibility: Develop a framework for navigating common ethical dilemmas.
Speaker: Fiona Sams, Director, Campagne Law and Adjunct Lecturer, College of Law
Lawyers regularly encounter ethical dilemmas in their practice. This webinar provides a practical roadmap for addressing common ethical challenges, such as conflicts of interest and duties of confidentiality. You'll revisit foundational principles and explore real-life ethical dilemmas through group discussions. Together, you'll learn how to uphold the highest ethical standards and effectively resolve ethical issues.
5.00pm: Close
This webinar is ideal for all legal practitioners who wish to successfully complete their mandatory requirements outlined in the Legal Profession Uniform Law, substantive law excepted.
This webinar is produced in NSW and features practitioners based in NSW and WA. This webinar is available to practitioners from all Australian jurisdictions.
The time listed for this course is Australian Eastern Daylight Time (AEDT). Please take note of any time differences if you are registering from QLD, WA, SA, NT or from outside Australia.
If you intend to claim CPD units for this educational activity, please note that CPD activities are not accredited by the Law Society of NSW or any other equivalent local authority, with the exception of Western Australia. If you hold a practising certificate in a state or territory other than Western Australia and this educational activity extends your knowledge and skills in areas that are relevant to your practice needs or professional development, then you should claim one (1) "unit” for each hour of attendance, refreshment breaks not included. The annual requirement is ten (10) CPD units each year from 1 April to 31 March. Some practitioners, such as accredited specialists are required to complete more than ten (10) units each CPD year.
Practitioners holding WA practising certificates are eligible to earn CPD points for this course. For instructions to earn CPD points, please click here.
Ethics and professional responsibility – 1 point
Practice management and business skills – 1 point
Professional skills – 1 point
Sue-Ella Prodonovich
Prodonovich Advisory
Sue-Ella is an award-winning adviser and author who brings more than 25 years of senior level Business Development experience in the legal sector.
In 2011 Sue-Ella was inducted into the Hall of Fame of the Australasian Professional Services Marketing Association for services to the sector and in 2019 she was made a Fellow of The College of Law Practice Management (US) for outstanding and sustained contributions to the industry.
Sue-Ella specialises in Building the business development skills of lawyers and assisting firm with their business development plans.
Detail on Sue-Ella’s qualifications and experience and thinking can be found at www.prodonovich.com
Anne-Marie Cade
Divorce Coach & Family Mediator, DivorceRight
Anne-Marie Cade is a family lawyer who is also an experienced Family Dispute Resolution Practitioner, Nationally Accredited Mediator as well as a Parenting Coordinator and Certified Divorce Coach.
Anne-Marie is the founder and CEO of Divorce Right, a boutique mediation and divorce coaching practice. She is passionate about the work she does as an Alternative Dispute Resolution professional to help her clients reach a peaceful resolution. She provides mediation services as well as coaching and training on topics such as constructive conflict resolution, effective communication, divorce coaching, negotiation, resilience, wellbeing, and parenting coordination. In her coaching and training she provides valuable insights and strategic advice on building conflict intelligence, constructive conflict resolution, conflict management and navigating difficult conversations.
She was awarded a Churchill Fellowship to conduct research internationally in “Best Practice in Parenting Co-ordination” with a view to informing the implementation of the practice in Australia. She has been recognised for her innovative work, receiving the LexisNexis and Janders Dean Legal Innovation Award in 2016. She was also recognised as winner of the Thought Leader of the Year at the Women in Law Awards in 2017. In 2023 she won Australian Mediator of the Year at the Australasian Law Awards. More recently in 2024 she won the following awards at the Australian ADR Awards - Conflict Coach of the Year, ADR Project of the Year and ADR Innovation of the Year. In 2024 she also received the Resolution Institute Certificate Award for Service to dispute resolution
Anne-Marie has a Masters in Family Dispute Resolution and Negotiation. She is also an Adjunct Lecturer at the College of Law in Victoria for their Practical Legal Training course.
Fiona Sams
Director, Campagne Law and Adjunct Lecturer, College of Law
Fiona Sams is an experienced Legal Practitioner, admitted to practice in New South Wales in 1999. With a career spanning over two decades, she serves as a Solicitor Advocate, representing clients in criminal law matters in the NSW Local Court and District Court. Since 2011, Fiona has been the Director and Sole Practitioner of an incorporated legal practice based in Bathurst, NSW.
She has been an Adjunct Lecturer at the NSW College of Law since 2021 and previously served as a guest lecturer at Charles Sturt University in Bathurst, NSW. Fiona is also a regular guest speaker at the Traffic Offenders Intervention Program.
Fiona’s contributions to the legal profession include her previous role as Chair of the NSW Young Lawyers Criminal Law Committee in 2006. During this time, she contributed to the award-winning publication “A Practitioner’s Guide to Criminal Law”.
Please be aware that this course organised by the College of Law may be recorded for use on our websites, marketing materials and publications. By attending and participating in a College of Law Continuing Professional Development course, you consent to the College of Law photographing or recording and using your image and likeness and/or voice.
Excellent workshop, appreciated the wealth of knowledge and experience.
Past Attendee
Highly relevant material and a great training overall.
Past Attendee
Presenter was exceptional, well informed and engaging. The course was well presented. Use of case studies and scenarios helped explain the content.
Past Attendee
Content and case law were relevant and up to date, great format and well-paced delivery.
Past Attendee