Judges

Jenna Adamson is a partner with Aotearoa New Zealand law firm, Wynn Williams. A specialist property and commercial lawyer, she has an impressive international background spanning more than a decade, including leading an award-winning real estate team within top tier Australian firm, MinterEllison, and as in house counsel with global cosmetics brand L’Oréal.

Named on the NZ Lawyer Rising Stars list for 2023, Jenna advises on property leasing and development and portfolio optimisation. Her clients include global and domestic companies – including major Australian retailers entering or expanding across the New Zealand market – as well as public sector entities or land owners with large property portfolios. She also supports clients with precedent development, legal technology and internal process improvement.

Her invitation to sit on Property Council New Zealand’s Retail Committee just 12 months after returning to New Zealand is a reflection both of her passion for the sector and the regard in which her strategic, fresh and innovative thinking about its future is held.

Jenna is also highly regarded for her expertise in Consumer Markets. While in house counsel for L’Oréal, she pioneered the adoption of initiatives around e-Commerce and digital (including hybrid omnichannel and retail experiences), IT and the AI interface, data and privacy law.

Judge of LawyersWeekly Australian Law Awards 2022, the Australian Corporate Counsel Awards 2021, listed in Property Council of Australia Top 100 Women in Property 2017and herself a past Award finalist in numerous Australian industry awards - including Australian Corporate Lawyers Award In-House 2020 and LawyersWeekly Australia Top 30 under 30 Property 2017 – Jenna is pre-eminently qualified to judge Lawyers Weekly Australian Law Awards for a consecutive year.

Claire is a senior lawyer and professional coach, based on the east coast of Australia. Claire has over 30 years of experience gained through senior management appointments with some of the world’s largest companies and at top-tier law firms. As well as practising law, Claire is an internationally qualified executive coach (PCC) and in 2018 she founded a global professional coaching practice in which she coaches private and corporate clients, specialising in senior lawyers and executives, to empower them to move their career and leadership dreams into active, actionable, pursuits. Outside of her executive life, Claire is a non-executive director of multiple ASX-listed companies and is an Industry Professional Fellow with the University of Technology Sydney, School of Law.

Claire has been recognised as one of Australia’s best lawyers and female executives, including having been awarded the “Excellence Award for Women in Law”, “General Counsel of the Year”, “Female Executive of the Year in Asia, Australia & New Zealand”, “Mentor of the Year” and was featured in SmartCompany's International Women's Day Showcase.

Prior to this appointment Dr Boersig worked as an Assistant Secretary in the Federal Attorney-General’s Department, responsible for a number of areas including Indigenous law and justice and human rights. Before joining the Attorney-General’s Department John practiced law in NSW, as a lawyer for the Aboriginal Legal Service and in private practice. He established the University of Newcastle Legal Centre and was Director of the Professional program in 1994. He was a part-time Presiding member of the Guardianship Tribunal for many years.
John has a Doctor of Philosophy from the University of Sydney, and is an Adjunct Professor of Law at the University of Canberra. He was awarded the Public Service Medal in the 2008 Queen’s Birthday Honours list.

Having over 20 years of experience across a range of business-critical areas including Human Resources, Marketing, Business Development, Operations, Finance and IT, Kiri is able to provide solutions which deliver a competitive edge while meeting commercial realities.

After spending 10+ years as CEO and COO of national professional services firms, she has a unique perspective on how to manage and grow businesses in a competitive and dynamic environment.

Kiri is passionate about mentoring and developing future leaders and is always willing to share her experiences both personally and professionally to assist others in their pursuits. She currently mentors a number of females who are in different stages of their career progression.

In 2020 – Kiri was recognised as Executive of the Year – Women in Law Awards and COO of the year – 2019 Executive Awards – CEO Magazine for her achievements in leading and transforming organisations.

Professor Jürgen Bröhmer is a Professor of Law at the Law School of Murdoch
University in Perth, Western Australia. He joined Murdoch University at the beginning
of 2012 as Dean of the Law School and Professor of Law. He served in that function
until the creation of the new College of Arts, Business, Law and Social Sciences (ABLSS)
of Murdoch University in 2019. Before joining Murdoch University, he worked at the
University of New England in Armidale, NSW, Australia, having commenced there in
2006 and leading that Law School from 2007 to 2011. Professor Bröhmer received his

law degree from Mannheim University in Germany and his doctorate and post-
doctoral habilitation from Saarland University in Saarbrücken, Germany, where he

worked at the Europa-Institute of Saarland University from 1992 to 2006 and
continues to be part of the visiting faculty.
Professor Bröhmer is a fellow of the Australian Academy of Law. His areas of expertise
are Public International Law, German and comparative constitutional law, European
Union law, international trade and international human rights law.
Jürgen has authored two and co-authored one monograph in specific areas of public
international (State Immunity and the Violation of Human Rights, Kluwer Law
International, 1997), German constitutional and European Union Law (Transparency
as a Constitutional Principle – Basic Law and European Union, Mohr Siebeck, 2004),
edited many other books (most recently: 70 Years German Basic Law – The German
Constitution and its Court – Landmark Decisions of the Federal Constitutional Court of
Germany in the Area of Fundamental Rights, November 2019 and the Chinese
translation in 2023) and published numerous articles and book chapters (more info
and list of publications at https://sites.google.com/view/jb-publications).

Joseph Catanzariti AM is a Vice President of the Fair Work Commission, the national workplace relations tribunal.
Prior to his appointment to the Fair Work Commission, Joseph was a senior Partner of Clayton Utz and Practice Leader of the Workplace Relations, Employment and Safety Practice Group. Joseph was a trusted adviser to many of Australia’s leading companies and government departments. Joseph was also a highly experienced Commercial Litigator.

Joseph is a Visiting Professorial Fellow of the School of Law and the Faculty of Law at the University of New South Wales, and an Adjunct Associate Professor in Work and Organisational Studies, School of Business at Sydney University.

Joseph is the Chair of the College of Law.

Joseph is also co-author of Workplace Bullying published by LexisNexis.

He has previously held the positions of President of the Law Council of Australia, President of the NSW Law Society, Chair of the Workplace Committee of the Law Society of New South Wales (2000 - 2013), and Secretary of the Industrial Relations Society of Australia (1997-2011).

Joseph was awarded Life Time Recognition, Industrial Relations Society of Australia / Australian Labour and Employment Relations Association 2011, and the Industrial Relations Society of New South Wales in 2015.

Joseph is a fellow of the Academy of Law.

On 26 January 2016 Joseph was made a Member of the Order of Australia.

Teresa is an accomplished corporate lawyer, Board member and governance professional with extensive experience in both private practice and in-house roles across highly regulated sectors. Teresa has over 20 years of legal experience, having commenced her career working across several legal areas at one of Australia’s premier law firms. For the past 15 years, Teresa has worked in-house as Supervising Counsel / Divisional General Counsel at Telstra Corporation Limited, as Group General Counsel & Company Secretary at ASX-listed Elixinol Global Limited, and as General Counsel & Company Secretary at the Australian Institute of Company Directors (AICD). As a Fellow of the Governance Institute of Australia and a Graduate of the AICD, Teresa is recognised for her expertise as a trusted advisor, delivering practical, strategic, and results-oriented legal counsel. Teresa loves giving back to the in-house community and has been involved with the Association of Corporate Counsel (ACC) for over ten years, a role which has included sitting on the Australian Board and the organisation’s committees for Advocacy, continuing legal education and Diversity & Inclusion, as well as contributing to the organisation as an ACC Global Ambassador and speaker.

For 30 years Stephen Colbran has demonstrated an extraordinary capacity to engage, inspire and motivate undergraduate law students and teachers. He is well known across Australia for his passionate advocacy for online legal education, the scholarship of e- learning and teaching and as a specialist in Civil Procedure (litigation). He has spent his career overcoming challenges faced by online learners, transforming legal education for the 21st century and engaging with students in preparation for their contemporary legal careers.

Stephen has created the ReMarks e-grading system, conducted research and published findings, delivered conference papers, workshops, and training at most Australian Universities and transferred the system to educational institutions nationally and internationally. He has a passion for developing interactive visual methods of legal education, effective learning resources and providing better feedback and assessment as a driver for student learning.

His research interests include legal automation, online legal education, judicial performance evaluation, judicial branch efficiency, civil procedure, litigation, podcasting, postgraduate research and supervision networks, e-grading systems, MOOCs, iTunesU, branching animation, digital flashcards, e-learning.

In 2012, under his leadership the CQU Law degree became the first open access accredited law degree available via iTunesU and Google Education Suite. Stephen is recognised as an outstanding teacher achieving widespread recognition for his textbooks, electronic teaching resources and educational software.

Website: http://onlinelegaleducation.wordpress.com
Film: http://youtu.be/ohNFs60Ayh4

Stephen Colbran is also an expert in judicial performance evaluation and improving the efficiency of courts. He has worked on projects in Australia, Canada and Turkey and given numerous governments and courts advice on this issue. Stephen has considerable experience in business process mapping of superior courts and their interaction with the executive branch, court computer systems and judicial data, and achieving greater judicial efficiency.

Ann-Maree David is an Executive Director of The College of Law, the largest provider of practice-focused legal education in Australasia. She has worked in the legal profession for over 30 years, in public and corporate sector roles and in private practice as a solicitor.

Ann-Maree has held a career-long passion for developing and delivering education and training programs to enable all involved in the delivery of legal services to thrive both personally and professionally.

In addition to leading the College of Law’s Queensland campus, Ann-Maree is Immediate Past President of Australian Women Lawyers and a Director of the Australian Gender Equality Council. She also chairs the Queensland Law Society’s Equity & Diversity Committee.

Ali joined LexisNexis in 2017 as Head of Legal for the Pacific Region. Ali and her team work with LexisNexis’ Australian and New Zealand businesses providing advice across issues from intellectual property and digital media through to privacy and competition laws.

Ali has held senior legal roles across a variety of industries internationally, including higher education, renewable energy and leisure. Ali’s focus is on working closely with the business to address both the opportunities and the challenges presented by rapid advances in technology, changing customer needs and the evolving nature of legal practice across the region and the world.

Rachael is a Professor in the Bond University Faculty of Law. She is Co-Director of the Bond Dispute Resolution Centre and Bond’s Centre for Professional Legal Education. Her areas of teaching and research expertise include dispute resolution, family law and domestic violence, lawyer and law student well-being and legal education (particularly foundations of law and transition in, through and out of law school). Rachael is an Australian Learning and Teaching Fellow, the winner of a National Teaching Citation and an Australian Teaching Excellence Award, and she is a Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy. She founded the Australian Wellness Network for Law and co-founded the ADR Research Network. Rachael has been on the Women’s Legal Service Management Committee in Brisbane since 1993 and held the role of President from 2004 to 2020. She is now an Ambassador for the Service. In 2013 Rachael was named Queensland Woman Lawyer of the Year.

Michael is General Counsel and Head of Property at Sydney Fish Market.

As a member of the Executive Group, Michael is responsible for the Legal and Property functions at the Sydney Fish Market, including executive planning and strategy, commercial and pragmatic legal advice, strategic decision making, legal and commercial operations, and leading and managing SFM’s role in the development of the new Sydney Fish Market to be located at the head of Blackwattle Bay.

Prior to his current role, Michael held senior in-house legal positions with Lendlease Corporation, Cbus Super Fund, Commonwealth Bank and Goodman Group; where he has been responsible for leadership within high performing legal functions and providing high quality legal advice to operational businesses and Boards.

Geraldine Johns-Putra is an experienced corporate lawyer and expert in enterprise governance, purpose, business & human rights and modern slavery. She runs her own practice in Melbourne focussing on enterprises seeking purpose, and actors in the impact economy. She is legal advisor to not-for-profits making an impact in this space, including B Lab Australia & NZ and Impact Investing Australia. Her purpose is to use the law to build more purposeful enterprises & ecosystems for a happier world.

She has over 20 years' experience practising law in Australia, the UK, Hong Kong and China. She has worked with large global and Australian law firms and was a partner of a top-tier Australian law firm for several years. She sits on the Council of Monash University.

Steve Lancken has been a full time mediator since 1999. During that time, Steve has conducted over 2,000 mediations. Steve has worked in Queensland mediating Native Title issues and in Liberia, Malaysia, Hong Kong, Nepal and Northern America. Steve has conducted mediations for Australia’s largest and most successful organisations such as ASIC, ACCC, QANTAS, GPT, AGSM, Mission Australia, the Salvation Army, Australian Treasury, Australian Government Solicitors and Department of Defence. Steve also works with Australia’s largest banks and insurers.
Steve enjoys the opportunity to do the most interesting and challenging work and contribute to social justice, teach, educate and contribute to his profession.

John works closely with the partnership at Mills Oakley to deliver outstanding legal expertise and client service. He has been CEO for close to 20 years, and in that time has developed a reputation as one of Australia’s most progressive law firm CEOs.

Troy Swan is the Group General Counsel and Board Member of the $1.3 billion office products company Winc, which was formed following the acquisition and merger of Staples, OfficeMax and Corporate Express in Australia and New Zealand by leading US private equity firm Platinum Equity.

He has been publicly recognised as one of Australia's leading corporate lawyers and was previously an Australian Lawyer of the Year (FMCG) and an Australian General Counsel of the Year triple finalist. He was also the Association of Corporate Counsel Global Member of the Year, selected from over 43,000 lawyers worldwide for his commitment to the legal community, with this being the first time this honour was ever awarded to a lawyer outside America.

He became only the second Australian lawyer to win the International Value Champions Award in San Francisco and was also named the Association of Corporate Counsel Winner for Excellence in Corporate Social Responsibility.

Known for his business judgement, he is highly active within the legal and business community, being named a Judge at the Australian Law Awards, New Zealand Law Awards, Corporate Counsel Awards and Partner of the Year Awards.

He is a Member of the Law Society Corporate Lawyers Committee, a regular commentator and speaker on legal and business affairs and leads an award winning legal team based in Sydney, Australia.

Adrian Tembel is an economics and honours law graduate of the University of Adelaide. He began practising corporate and technology law in 1993 at his law firm Thomson Geer. He became a Partner of that firm in 1997 and its Chief Executive Partner in 2009. He is also a part-time Commissioner of the South Australian Productivity Commission and a Director of the Hackett Foundation.