Lawyers are known to be serious due to the nature of their profession. However, the Golden Gavel competition allows them to break free from the stereotype.
The Golden Gavel is a yearly competition where lawyers are given the chance to show off their funny side through their creative content meant to amuse and entertain. There may be some restrictions regarding mass gathering due to the coronavirus lockdown regulations, but the show must go on and it did– virtually!
Ten brave competitors were tasked to produce a 3-5 minute video and upload them to lsj.com.au where viewers can vote for their favourite. A winner and a People’s Choice Award will be chosen at the end of the competition.
The theme for this year is What happens during COVID stays in COVID: rewriting the rules about acceptable behaviour while working from home. Each contestant was given topics related to the theme last June 11 and had 24 hours to submit their videos. All the entries were given a chance to shine from June 15-19 as they went live on the LSJ Online website.
The NSW Young Lawyers Patron was in charge of choosing the overall winner while votes were counted for the People’s Choice award. The winners were announced last June 22, 2020.
Jahan's Entry in the Golden Gavel Awards 2020
Jahan Kalantar is a pretty amazing lawyer specialising in the areas of human rights, mental health, criminal and commercial law. He often represents people kept in mental health facilities involuntarily, refugees seeking asylum and individuals accused of heinous crimes. His soft heart for the oppressed is the reason why he’s called the “little guy” lawyer.
He is also a motivational speaker at TEDx Sydney who attributes his passion for human rights to his proud Persian heritage. Apart from that he also lectures at the Sydney City School of Law.
Jahan has always loved making people laugh and looking at the brighter side of things. So in an attempt to add levity and lightness to the world, Jahan joined the competition. His topic is about the three things he learned about his colleagues’ private loves whilst in so many meetings.
