Mrs. Dilani Alagaratnam, President and Mr. M. Illiyas, President’s Counsel and immediate Past President welcomed the freshers to the Faculty of Law on 15 February 2023 at the invitation of the Dean, Faculty ofLaw. Nearly 300 students attended the event and one of the main features was the intervention made by the motivational speaker Mr. Deepal Sooriyarachchi, at the invitation of the Alumni Association. A brief profile is attached.

Mr. Sooriyarachchi is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Marketing UK, a Fellow Life Member of Sri Lanka Institute of Marketing and holds an MBA from the University of Sri Jayewardenepura and an Accredited Master Coach and a Master Mentor. He is a renowned Management Consultant, Speaker, Trainer, and an author.

Before embarking on full time consultancy work, he was the Managing Director of AVIVANDB Insurance PLC (now known as AIA Insurance). Having started his work life as a sales clerk soon after school, he has worked in Sales, Advertising , Marketing, Human Resources Management and General Management. He counts over four decades of business management experience. Of that over 15 years at Board Level.

He had received extensive management training and exposure locally and internationally including National University of Singapore, Asian Institute of Management and Stanford Business School USA.

Deepal serves as a Non-Executive Independent Director of AIA Insurance Lanka Limited, Siyapatha Finance PLC, Pan Asian Power PLC, Kelani Cables PLC, Prime Land Residencies PLC, and the Postgraduate Institute of Management (PIM) University of Sri Jayewardenepura. He is a consulting partner of Results Based Leadership Institute USA.

He is a Past President of the Sri Lanka Institute of Marketing, and a Past Commissioner of Sri Lanka Inventors Commission. He has served as a Non Executive Independent Director of Sampath Bank, Hemas Manufacturing, a member of the councils of university of Kelaniya and Moratuwa, and a number of national level committees. He had also served the UNDP in Nepal.

Deepal has authored twenty books on a range of topics from Business to Buddhism. He pioneered dissemination of Modern Management thought in Simple Sinhala Language through his book series “ Sinhalen Business”.

He has conducted over 1000 Training, Management Development and Motivational sessions in 13 countries across the five continents and contributes regularly on print and electronic media as well.

“A very successful career guidance seminar series online was conducted from 2 January to 31 March 2022.  The seminar series is hosted on the Learning Management Platform for student present and future to draw inspiration from.”

Soft Skills Development Workshop Series

The Alumni Association, in partnership with John Keells Foundation, organiseda series of workshops on soft skills development for the undergraduates of the Faculty of Law of theUniversity of Colombo, in September 2022.

The workshops – organised under The Final Stepprogramme of John Keells Foundation – comprised one panel discussion involving senior management drawn largely from the private sector as well as interactive sessionsby professional trainers covering a wide range of aspects such as employer expectations, leadership and team building, CV writing and interview facing, developing confidence and personality, working in a corporate environment, corporate hospitality (including social etiquette) and personal grooming.

The first workshop was held on 26^thSeptember with Prof. Sampath Punchihewa, Dean of the Faculty of Lawemphasising the importance of developing the personality and capability of students beyond academics to ensure better success in theircareers. He encouraged the students to actively participate and get the maximum benefit of the programme and thanked John Keells Foundation and the Alumni Association for their contribution in organising the event.

“I am delighted to inaugurate The Final Step at the Faculty of Law, which marks the 17^th edition of this popular programme already conducted in another 12 Universities of the countryimpacting over 8,500 undergraduates”, said Ms. Carmeline Jayasuriya, Head of CSR, John Keells Holdings PLC. “It is aimed at providing practical learning and tools to prepare you for the demands of the world of work.”

“We have gone through a pandemic and an economic downturn. For you students, who have not been able to be present physically at the faculty for over two years, the challenge to prepare for the “world of work” is going to be much more difficult as the world around us has changed and Sri Lanka is not the country, we knew six months ago.” Ms. Dilani Alagaratnam, The President of the Alumni Association explained in her speech.“Merely having a degree or becoming a lawyer does not mean you would necessarily get the job you want.  In this context this programme will give you an insight into how you can prepare yourself for the world of work”.

The programme commenced with a panel discussionon “Employer Expectations and Opportunities”.  Mrs. Aruni Goonatilleke, Chairperson – Hatton National Bank PLC, Mrs. Ayomi Aluwihare, Precedent Partner – F J & G De Saram, Attorneys at Law and Ms. Carmeline Jayasuriya, Attorney-at-law – Head of CSR, John Keells Holdings PLC shared their experiences and insights.  The discussion was moderated by Mr. Dileep Mudadeniya – Global Alliances & Partnerships Leisure Group Head of Corporate Affairs John Keells Holdings PLC.

The workshop covered “Personality Development and Confidence Building”

John Keells Foundation is the CSR entity of the John Keells Group which since its establishment in 2005 has been carrying out a range of medium to long-term strategic and sustainable projects towards “Empowering the Nation for Tomorrow”.  The University Soft Skills Programme endorsed by the University Grants Commission is designed for the benefit of university undergraduates towards grooming them for employment.

A Webinar on Admission to Final Year of the Sri Lanka Law College organized by Alumni Association of Faculty of Law, University of Colombo, August 2022

The Alumni Association of the Faculty of Law of the University of Colombo in Collaboration with the Sri Lanka Law College organized an awareness programme for Final year students of the Faculty of Law on on 22.08.2022. which was conducted via Zoom. The event was spearheaded by Ms. Dilani Alagaratnam, the current President of the Alumni Association with the able support of Ms. Farzana Jameel, a PC, both of whom are celebrated Alumni of the Faculty with the everlasting support of the with the support and guidance of the Dean of the Faculty, Prof. Sampath Punchihewa. Approximately 180 students participated in the Webinar .

The session commenced with a formal welcome from Ms. Farzana Jameel, PC, a distinguished Alumni of the Faculty of Law to and Dr. Jagath Pathinayake, the current Principal of the Sri Lanka Law College, the Dean and the students.At the outset Dr. Pathinayake provided the students with a concise outline of the 150 year history of Sri Lanka Law College, the oldest educational institution in SriLanka. elaborated on the history and the eminent position of the Law College as one of the more prestigious professional bodies in the country. This was followed by a presentation made by Mr. Prabhakaran from the Unit Head, Administration of Sri Lanka Law College who gave an excellent explanation concerning the registration process at the Sri Lanka Law College. Ms. Srinika Raigamkorale, Director of Examinations, Sri Lanka Law College made the final presentation regarding the examination procedure and the rules of the Sri Lanka Law College.

            Congratulations to the MCB team !

The Annual General Meeting (AGM) of the AAFL was held at the Faculty of Law, University of Colombo on 21st May 2022.

The outgoing President, Mr. A A M Illiyas PC shared the progress of the AAFL during the year ended and thanked the committee and the faculty for their time and effort. Ms. Dilani Alagaratnam was elected as the President for the year 20022/23.

The handing over of a cheque of Rs. 200,000/- by the outgoing President Mr. Illiyas, P.C to the Trust also took place at the occasion.

The AAFLUOC Website was launched at the AGM by Retired Justice K T Chitrasiri, with the intention of providing timely updates of the AAFL activities and strengthening the interactions within the membership.