All the new magistrates are female solicitors
The NSW Local Court has strengthened its bench with four new magistrates – all women, and all solicitors.
On Monday, NSW Law Society Brett McGrath welcomed Maryanne Higginson to the bench. Danielle Mansour, Rachael Wong and Jennifer Wong “will be sworn in during the course of this week”, he said.
“The Local Court of NSW is already a leader in striking gender parity among its magistracy. The Law Society is particularly pleased that this set of appointments comes directly from the solicitor branch of the profession”, McGrath explained. “The approval by the Governor of the appointments of four solicitors to judicial office at a single meeting of the Executive Council is rare in itself, let alone that all the appointees are women”.
Higginson was a registrar for 27 years, and most recently worked in the Sutherland Local Court. Mansour joined the police force in 2001 and went on to become a police prosecutor; she commenced with the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (ODPP) in 2011 as a solicitor advocate.
Rachael Wong worked with the Kingsford Legal Centre and held positions at the Aboriginal Legal Service. She was a senior solicitor with the ODPP and worked with the NSW Crime Commission.
For 15 years, Jennifer Wong was a solicitor advocate in the Crown Solicitors Office, where she mainly tackled complex children’s matters. She was an NSW Law Society councillor; moreover, she chaired the Children’s Legal Issues Committee, Government Solicitors Committee, and the Licensing Committee.
