Jacob Carswell-Doherty

Small practice. Informed questions. Technology with judgment.

I am standing for the Council of the Law Society of NSW in the 2026 election. Nominations close 21 September 2026 and voting closes 19 October 2026.

Read the full statement

Professional indemnity insurance

NSW solicitors have one approved insurer for the compulsory layer of professional indemnity cover, and that insurer is owned by the Law Society. I am a member of Solicitors for PI Choice, a group of practitioners who ask that a second insurer be approved to offer the compulsory layer on the same terms, so that solicitors can choose.

That question is now before a Legislative Council Select Committee, referred in August 2026. We make no criticism of Lawcover; the question is about choice and about who decides. I drafted our group's submission to the inquiry.

Women at the equity level

I would press the Society to collect and publish, each year, the proportion of women holding equity in NSW firms by firm size, so that progress is measured rather than asserted.

I would support a Society-backed sponsorship program for women approaching partnership, and model partnership terms under which parental leave and flexible work are compatible with holding equity.

Technology with judgment

I build the systems my own firm runs on, and that experience has made me a sceptic about the legal technology market. When an AI tool gets it wrong, the consequences fall on the solicitor who signed the work, not the vendor who sold it.

The Society should be the profession's independent voice on these tools, publishing plain assessments of what a product does and does not do, and setting a verification standard the courts will recognise.

About Jacob

Australian AI Awards 2026 finalist tile naming Jacob Carswell-Doherty in the category AI Leader of the Year, SME — Finalist, AI Leader of the Year (SME), Australian AI Awards 2026.

Principal of Jake McKinley, a boutique Sydney firm of twenty staff; admitted in 2011; chief executive of Humans United By Law; member of Solicitors for PI Choice; finalist, AI Leader of the Year (SME), Australian AI Awards 2026. Read more about Jacob.