St Paul’s College aspires to be a place for scholarship and debate. The College’s 2026 Law Dinner made good that aspiration. The Guest of Honour, The Hon Justice Ed Muston (in College 1994-97) spoke to a Junior Common Room packed with judges (including the Chief Justice), barristers, solicitors, and law students. Justice Muston’s theme centred on the power of opportunity to create positive change within the legal profession. Looking around the room there were more female than male law students, which has become the norm across universities around Australia. In 2025 over 61% of law students were female. The profession does not yet reflect this level of diversity through its ranks, for example less than a third of women lead law firms in Australia.
Justice Muston’s captivating lecture stirred the room into a lively discussion, which included The Hon Chief Justice Andrew Bell AC, many ‘silks’, and of course the college’s current LLB, LLM and JD students. Discussion about diversity within the legal profession concluded that a representative profession was essential for the rule of law and that Australia was moving in the right direction.
Diversity of the student body at St Paul’s has been a consistent pillar, especially since the opening of Graduate House in 2019, where about half are international students who come from many different countries and undertaking a broad range of courses. The students attending the Law Dinner reflected the diverse nature of today’s College’s student body. The Convener was Lilly Alexiou (BA/LLB II) who discussed her Indigenous heritage while introducing the Guest of Honour at Dinner and how excited she was, as a Pauline, for the opportunity to meet with and hear from so may high-profile members of the legal profession in NSW.
In the early years of the College the second Warden Revd William Savigny (1862-65) had high hopes for the College turning out lawyers and this started a trend maintained throughout the College’s history of producing hundreds of graduates from Sydney Law School, with many heading to the most important judicial appointments or to become leaders of this nation. The Law Dinner has become a popular gathering for current and former Paulines to celebrate the remarkable achievements of Pauline lawyers and is convened annually by the student body.
