The newly formed Hellenic Australian Lawyers Association (HAL) will host a dinner and lecture evening on August 28.

The lecture delivered by HAL’s president, Mr Andrew Panna QC, will focus on the topic ‘Family and friends behaving badly: terminating failed joint endeavours’.

The association started in April, and after gathering information as to what its members would like to get out of the group, it felt compelled to bring out the dinner and lecture event.

The association plans to hold more seminars and have prominent people in the legal profession give lectures. They will also look at people from non-legal backgrounds to give lectures on issues that would impact Hellenic Australian lawyers.

“Lawyers tend to focus on their work and don’t think too much to mix with members of their community and I thought it’s time to do something about that – meet and talk and mix with the community,” Mr Panna told Neos Kosmos before the launch.

The association looks to group together the legal minds of the Greek Australian community, inviting all those practising law to join.

The national patron of the organisation is Chief Justice Chris Kourakis of South Australia and the Victorian patron is Justice Emilios Kyrou.

As it stands, law students and people with law degrees who aren’t practising can also join the association, and government staff and public servants who deal with legal matters are also welcome to join.

The dinner and lecture event will be held on August 28 at the RACV Club, Level 2, 501 Bourke Street, Melbourne at 6.00 pm for a 6.15 pm start. The cost of the event will be $90 for HAL members and $100 for non-members and will include pre-dinner drinks and a two course dinner with alcoholic beverages included.

New members are asked to register their interest by contacting the secretary of HAL, Alexi Costa at Acosta@moray.com.au no later than Friday 22 August.