The Law Council of Australia has appointed Michael Tidball as its new chief executive officer
The Law Council of Australia has appointed Michael Tidball as its new chief executive officer.
The leader will commence in his role on 1 July. He is currently on his 14th year as the chief executive of the Law Society of New South Wales.
The announcement comes after Jonathan Smithers, the former chief executive of the peak legal body, resigned in December. The Law Council’s acting chief executive is Margery Nicoll.
“Having undertaken an extensive global recruitment for a new CEO, I am thrilled that we have secured the most experienced, serving legal association chief executive in the Southern Hemisphere,” said Law Council President Pauline Wright.
Wright explained how Tidball’s experience makes him an exceptional executive for the role at the Law Council. Even by international standards, the Law Society of NSW is a legal professional association of considerable scale with a diverse and complex suite of regulatory and membership functions, she said.
“In Michael, we have a CEO who is highly regarded internationally with the demonstrated ability to deliver organisational strategy, high-order people management and stakeholder engagement as well as intellectual leadership and strength,” she said.
Tidball is the longest-serving CEO of the Law Society of NSW. He has also been secretary-general of LAWASIA.
“Michael has worked comprehensively within the Australian and Asian legal and political systems and is well-acquainted with the processes of legislative and parliamentary advocacy, negotiation and representation across the political spectrum,” Wright said.
“Importantly, in each of these roles, Michael has worked closely and collaboratively with every level of the Law Council, developed trusted and well-established relationships with law societies and bars across the nation and has developed broader interface networks with judicial heads in state, Commonwealth and international court systems,” she said. “During his tenure at the Law Society of NSW, Michael has demonstrated a level of tenacity, and strategic vision to work through issues within an intellectual context of change and diversity of opinion that is second to none.”
Tidball also shared what he was most excited about with the new role.
“I am looking forward to working closely and effectively with the elected leadership of the Law Council and with bar associations and law societies across the Australian Federation, and providing the Law Council with the strategic execution, stability and unity it requires to be the strongest, most effective organisation it can be, for the benefit of all Australian lawyers and the communities they serve,” he said.
