Dr Zamprogno was profiled for our September 2016 newsletter.
Why did you join WLA?
I used to attend ACT Law Society Law Council meetings on behalf of the (then) Australian Corporate Lawyers Association, and I was always impressed by the reports given by WLA representatives, including Nithya Sambasivam when she was WLA President. Nithya is now a lawyer in my office, the ACT Government Solicitor, as is Tamara Sullivan, WLA ACT VicePresident. A couple of years ago WLA had a membership drive and at that time Tamara was WLA’s Treasurer. It was clear that it was time to support such a wonderful organisation.
What WLA event are you looking forward to, and why? Or alternatively, what WLA event have you enjoyed attending this year and why?
It’s hard to choose, but at the moment I would say I’m so pleased to see WLA ACT’s support of the Women in Law Organisation program. I really hope that many WLA members will offer themselves to mentor women law students of the ANU, and to share their experiences in the legal sector from across the public, private and tertiary education fields.
Who is a professional that inspires you and why?
Lynn Du Moulin, currently ANU Legal Workshop Senior Lecturer and Coordinator of the Master of Legal Practice completion courses, and for many years before that Special Counsel (e-Commerce) with the Health Insurance Commission until, through various machinery of government changes, she rose to Deputy General Counsel within the Department of Human Services.
Lynn has been an inspiration to me in several ways, including through her passion about inter-disciplinary approaches to legal practice, and in the post-graduate education and training she delivers. In the 25 years I’ve known her, I’ve always found Lynn deeply interested in a wide range of specialisations, with an ever enquiring mind, and well informed about how other fields can enhance the work that lawyers undertake.
Her training and mentoring law graduates and young lawyers is selfless and has been highly valued by a succession of lawyers and students. The generosity of Lynn’s time with colleagues shows a genuine care which we should value highly in whatever career or workplace we find ourselves.
If you could give one piece of advice to your first-year professional self, what would it be?
Definitely to join an organisation like WLA or the Young Lawyers Association. Having relocated across three jurisdictions over a number of years while I was studying law as an external student and working, I didn’t have a network of friends outside of my law firm when I came to Canberra in 1990. Joining an organisation whose members were in the same profession, and with whom I could have shared common experiences, would have given me an interest to balance the long hours of legal practice. That’s why I think WLA is such a vital organisation for the legal profession in the ACT.