Face-to-Face Advanced Decision Writing Workshop

The Council of Australasian Tribunals is offering a one-day Advanced Decision Writing workshop for experienced Tribunal members. The workshop is designed to improve decision writing skills of Tribunal members through analysis, discussion and the revision or rewriting of portions of their own decisions.

The Workshop will be conducted by Professor Virginia McRae, an internationally recognised Canadian Law academic.

The interactive face to face workshop will provide a series of legal writing principles on organisation and effective communication, focusing primarily on clarity techniques.

Date Monday 13th October 2025 9am – 5pm
Venue Level 8, 1 Oxford Street, Darlinghurst

Topics include

• A brief review of issue-driven structure and clarity
• Structure choices for clarity: context and point first writing
• How to write for clear, concise communication
• Efficient self-editing techniques based on a 5-layer editing strategy

Participants will leave with an individual checklist on writing choices.

Cost

(GST not applicable to NZ)

 $500 (COAT members), plus GST $650 (non-members), plus GST.

Members of Tribunals that are financial members of COAT, and individuals who are financial members of a chapter of COAT are eligible for the discounted COAT fee.

Enrolment

Registration is limited to 25 places.
Enrolments close 30 September 2025.

Download Flyer Here.

Facilitator

Virginia McRae
Virginia has been teaching legal writing since 1979. She graduated from the University of Windsor Faculty of Law in 1979 and joined the faculty for two years to teach Legal Research and Writing. She was in private practice in Ottawa before joining the federal Department of Justice, where she practiced administrative law, human rights law and the Charter, and family law policy before becoming Assistant Deputy Minister. She received her LL.M in 1991. Until September 2024, she was co-Director of the Legal Writing Academy at the University of Ottawa, Faculty of Law where she taught senior level legal writing, Legal Writing and Social Justice, the Writing Leadership course, and writing workshops. In 2020 she co-wrote an online course on writing reasons for the Council of Canadian Administrative Tribunals. She designs and delivers interactive workshops on effective legal writing for many organizations including law firms, government lawyers and officials, tribunals and agencies, national legal education organizations, justices of the peace, and judges in Canada and internationally.

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