Disrupting Tradition Innovative Strategies in Family & Estate Law
Michelle Dawson
Keynote Speaker – Business and Personal Development Stream
Managing Principal, Accredited Specialist in Employment Law – Emplawyer and aLocum
Michelle Dawson is the Principal of Emplawyer, a boutique firm she founded in 2022 after more than 25 years in private practice. An Accredited Specialist in Workplace Relations, she has over two decades of experience advising and litigating across employment, industrial relations, and discrimination law.
Recognised as Lawyer’s Weekly Employment Law Partner of the Year in 2023, Michelle also contributes to the profession through the Law Institute of Victoria’s Workplace Relations Advisory Committee and the NSW Law Society’s Employment Law Committee.
She is the founder of aLocum, a platform offering flexible workforce solutions for law firms and legal teams, reflecting her commitment to innovation, sustainability, and reshaping the way the profession works.
Clear Expectations and Goal Setting
Learn how to set transparent performance standards and apply a proven goal-setting formula to ensure team members understand what success looks like.
Practical Tools for Difficult Conversations
Develop confident strategies to address underperformance, distinguish it from misconduct, and conduct effective performance discussions.
Managing Risk And Driving Success
Understand the legal risks associated with underperformance and gain practical approaches to safeguard your practice while building a high-performing, successful team.
Confident Conversations: Turning Underperformance Into Progress
Managing employee performance is one of the most challenging (and important) responsibilities for lawyers running a practice or managing a team. This session provides practical, confident strategies to navigate employee performance issues. We will explore how to set clear expectations and standards, apply the perfect goal formula, and conduct effective performance discussions. You’ll learn how to distinguish misconduct from underperformance and how to effectively manage the legal risks which can arise from underperformance situations. Gain real strategies to handle difficult conversations when it comes to employee performance and to drive the success of your practice or team through performance, with confidence.