Michelle James was state president of the ALA's Queensland arm
Maurice Blackburn director Michelle James is set to helm the Australian Lawyers Alliance (ALA) as its new national president.
James succeeds Arnold Dallas McPherson’s Shaun Marcus, who became national president in July 2023. James was previously state president of the ALA’s Queensland arm.
“It is critical the ALA retains a national perspective, and we learn from the experiences in all jurisdictions as we continue to work to protect and promote the rights of individuals. I am looking forward to working with my colleagues from all across Australia in this national position”, James said.
She currently heads up the road injury, work injury and public liability practices at Maurice Blackburn’s Queensland and NT offices from her base in Queensland. She has been a member of the profession since 1998.
“Our values and principles are relevant whether we are fighting for justice for someone injured on the road or in a workplace accident, a survivor of abuse, someone in immigration detention or a person living with disability”, James said. “The right to bring a claim under the common law is something that many people don’t know about and they don’t know about it because they don’t need to know about it, until they do. It’s a terrible outcome to tell someone that has been injured through no fault of their own that they don’t have any rights because a government thought that it was a good idea to take them away”.
She highlighted the organisation’s impact on injured people in the country as the ALA hits its 30th anniversary.
“The ALA has impacted many positive changes for the rights of injured people around Australia.
As we mark 30 years of the ALA, our commitment to protecting and promoting common law rights is still as important as ever and there continues to be work for us to do”, James explained.
