What is a RAM?

RAM is the acronym for Recently Admitted Member, a practitioner who was admitted to the Bar within the last five years and holds a current practising certificate.

How do I become a RAM?

If you have a current practising certificate, are based within the ADLS region and have been admitted for less than five years, then you are already a Member.

What can the RAMs Committee do for me?

If you are a RAM, meeting and getting to know other RAMs can be invaluable. We all have had experiences where knowing another solicitor on the other side of a litigation matter, or conveyancing or commercial transaction can make everything go much easier. The chances are, if you are working on the file, there will be someone of a similar level of experience working for the other side. That's just common sense. Like it or not, networking in some form or another is a fact of life for lawyers and RAMs makes this as painless as possible… even fun. You might even make new mates simply by sharing and learning from other people's experiences.

Who makes up the RAMs Committee?

The RAMs Committee is a group of recently-admitted Members responsible (in the widest sense) for developing and maintaining a strong network of practitioners within the Auckland region, especially through social events.

The Committee is focussed on improving access to ADLS resources and this year will be publishing a handbook for junior practitioners which will provide helpful and practical advice to those in the early stages of their legal careers.

One of the aims of the Committee is to highlight to those less-experienced members of the profession what ADLS has to offer as a society, and the amount of assistance that is available through ADLS.

The Committee also aims to actively involve the newest entrants to the legal profession in the Auckland legal community, and will be speaking to groups of students at the Institute of Professional Legal Studies.

What sort of events does the RAMs Committee organise?

The Committee is generously supported by several large Auckland law firms and recruitment agencies. Some of these events include 'Boardroom Bashes', Trivial Pursuit® evenings, annual dinners and ‘Meet the Judiciary' evenings to give RAMs the opportunity to interact with members of the judiciary and share some of their experiences and observations.

Our events enjoy a very strong turn out so we recommend booking or registering for them very early. If you can't make one you've registered for, please let us know as soon as possible so other people who may have missed out initially can come along instead.

We are always looking for sponsors interested in supporting our events. If you know of any party who may be interested in sponsoring an event, please let us know.

The RAMs Website

The Committee is making this website our main means of communicating with our Members and, to that end, have committed a lot of effort and resources to making the website serve our Members better. The site will provide immediate, up-to-date access for RAMs to committee members, upcoming events, ADLS resources, online event registration and the handbook for junior practitioners. We are also hoping to have photos and reports on previous events and lots of other useful stuff. Keep checking back regularly. If there is anything you want to tell us about the site, email us.

Other questions?

Email us any other questions you may have which are not answered here.

RAMs - Young Practitioners Manual

For a copy of the RAMs - Young Practitioners Manual, contact Marcus Martin, Director, Member Services on phone 09 303 5280 or email marcus.martin@adls.org.nz.

Please check in regularly for updates and upcoming events which will be posted here first. Many of our events have limits on the number of attendees, so please book early.

Contact the Recently Admitted Members (RAMs) Committee with any suggestions or comments about our events, website or any other matter.