Skills versus knowledge – which one is more important for lawyers?

Desi is a senior lecturer of the Graduate Diploma of Legal Practice at the Australian College of Applied Professions in partnership with the Law Institute of Victoria. She is an Australian Legal Practitioner and experienced practical legal training mentor for emerging practitioners. She is also the CEO and Founder of Wellceum, a workplace consultancy supporting legal and professional services integrate strategy to manage psychosocial risk, improve employee resilience, and create visible social impact. Admitted in 2005, Desi has practiced in mid-tier, suburban and private firms. In 2013, Desi completed a Graduate Diploma of Education with a focus on legal studies and literature. As a certified mental health first aid trainer, Desi is a strong advocate for mental health, the wellbeing of new lawyers and the profession as a whole. In 2019 she contributed to a book chapter on time perspective in relation to wellbeing and productivity in Lexis Nexis’ ‘Wellness for Law: Making Wellness Core Business.’ Desi is a director of the Minds Count Foundation in Australia and a Commissioner on the IBA Professional Wellbeing Commission at an international level. She holds the seat of APAC liaison for the IBA Academic and Professional Development Committee. Most notably, Desi was named Australia’s Lawyer’s Weekly Women in Law Wellness Advocate of the Year for 2021 and again in 2022.

Sajai is the Co-Chair of the Firm’s Corporate Practice. His practice focuses primarily on Mergers, Acquisitions, Joint Ventures, strategic alliances, restructurings and financings (whether debt or equity), with particular emphasis on cross-border transactions. He is an acclaimed transactional lawyer with more than 29 years of experience representing a wide variety of industries, businesses and sectors funnel investments into India. This wealth of experience means that he understands the issues that arise in major transactions and can provide solutions to resolve these issues, providing advice that goes well beyond legal and contractual matters, and into the technical and commercial heart of the success of the transaction.

Aaron Muhly is a founder of Evelaw, a training provider for European law firms. He helps junior lawyers with legal writing skills and senior lawyers with business development challenges. He also organizes the Training Roundup, a networking group for law firm L&D professionals. Aaron started his career as an associate at Jenner & Block in Chicago and subsequently worked for Baker McKenzie in Budapest as a professional development officer.