Slade Howell, Class of 2001
Achievements at Elderslie High School
•I finished Year 12 in 2001, with a HSC result of 95.
•My interests were English, Geography and Legal Studies all of which I did for the HSC.
•I was the School Captain and was a member of the debating team (which was a pretty good team from memory).
•I was also really interested in sport, and represented the school in a number of sports. I played tennis competitively outside of school (and continued to do so for a few years afterwards).
Achievements post Elderslie High School
•I went to university and studied arts and law. In arts I studied history, politics and philosophy and I graduated with Honours and the University Medal in 2005. I graduated in Law with Honours a couple of years later in 2007. For the first three years I represented the university in tennis and our team came close to winning a National University Games Championship.
•I went on and completed Practical Legal Training and in 2008 I was admitted as a solicitor of the Supreme Court of NSW.
•My first job was working for a Supreme Court Judge. In 2009, I worked as a corporate lawyer at a large commercial law firm in Sydney, but I resigned later that year to become a criminal lawyer. I managed to land a job with the Aboriginal Legal Service and I worked for them for a couple of years.
•In 2014, I undertook the bar exams, and am now a barrister. I practise in criminal law and am based at Forbes Chambers, which is a dedicated criminal barristers set on Elizabeth Street.
•If I had to single out one thing about my career that I consider to be an achievement - it’s that I decided to change direction in 2009, leaving what was a potentially lucrative corporate law job, for the relative obscurity of a position with the Aboriginal Legal Service. Between 2009 – 2014, I did really satisfying work as an advocate for disadvantaged people in the criminal justice system. That decision has proved to be a life-changing one for me. I’m doing what I’m doing today because of that decision.
