Nicky Davies has been appointed as Legal Aid Queensland's new chief executive officer today.
Attorney-General and Minister for Justice Shannon Fentiman said Ms Davies' extensive knowledge of the law and management expertise would ensure Legal Aid Queensland continued to deliver quality legal services to disadvantaged Queenslanders.
"Ms Davies is a highly-respected lawyer who has built a career around improving people's access to legal services," Ms Fentiman said.
"She joined the Legal Aid Queensland team as a family lawyer in 1996 and has held several senior roles with the organisation over the past 25 years including Legal Practice Senior Director, Family and Civil Justice Services Director and most recently as acting CEO.
"She played a key role in guiding Legal Aid Queensland through the COVID-19 pandemic, transitioning the workforce to remote working and ensuring key legal services could still be delivered to the community."
Ms Davies has overseen the development of significant legal service delivery programs at Legal Aid Queensland, including the organisation's implementation of the state-wide domestic and family violence duty lawyer service and response to natural disasters including the flood, cyclone and bushfire legal help programs.
She is a past president of the Family Law Practitioners Association of Queensland and a current member of the Queensland Law Society's Children's Committee and Domestic and Family Violence Committee.
Ms Davies graduated in 1983 with a Bachelor of Laws (Honours) from the University of Leicester in England and was admitted as a solicitor in the Supreme Court of England and Wales in 1986. She was admitted as a solicitor in the Supreme Court of Queensland and the High Court of Australia in 1996.
"Legal Aid Queensland plays a vital role in providing legal assistance to financially and socially disadvantaged Queenslanders and the community can have full confidence that this will continue with Ms Davies at the helm," Ms Fentiman said.
"I congratulate Ms Davies on her appointment to this important role in the Queensland justice system."
Ms Davies will officially take-up the role on March 1, 2021.
