With a judging panel including academics, business executives, entrepreneurs and innovators, the Women in Law Awards is peer-reviewed recognition of your capabilities in law and passion for driving the industry forward.
Linda Baxter is the Director, Continuing Professional Development and part of the senior management team at Leo Cussen Centre for Law. Having previously been in private practice followed by a regulatory investigative role, Linda also writes materials and trains legal practitioners in Ethics & Professional Conduct.
Claire is a senior lawyer and professional coach, based in Sydney, 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 life coach (PCC) and in 2018 she founded a global professional coaching practice in which she coaches private and corporate clients, specialising in lawyers and executives, to empower them to move their career and leadership dreams into active, actionable, pursuits. As a member of both the International Coaching Federation and The Institute of Coaching McLean/Harvard Medical School, Claire is passionate about helping lawyers and executives rewrite the rules, whether they be craving clarity on what a dream career by design looks like, want to finally move that great business idea off the back burner and into reality, or how to get that next promotion or a new job.
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. In addition, Claire is an honorary member of the New South Wales executive of the Australian Association of Corporate Counsel.
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.
Part and parcel with her passion for coaching, Claire is an active public speaker on issues of innovation, diversity and inclusion, psychological wellness, developing high performing teams and women’s leadership. Claire is also a mentor for 7 x World Surfing Champion Layne Beachley AO's "Aim for the Stars" Foundation.
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.
Katrina Bullock (she/her) is an award-winning general counsel and finance broadcaster. She began her career as a commercial lawyer at a top tier Australian law firm, before moving in house within the tech and environment industries.
Katrina was appointed General Counsel of Greenpeace Australia Pacific in 2018 and is responsible for the legal, governance and integrity functions of the charity. Greenpeace uses peaceful protest and creative confrontation to expose global environmental problems and promote solutions that are essential to a green and peaceful future.
Katrina has worked on high-profile litigations, regulatory investigations and corporate advisory matters for ASX 100 and Fortune 500 companies. She is passionate about strategic climate litigation and movement lawyering.
In her role as a finance journalist she analyses political, economic and business developments which impact global markets and provides market commentary on equity and commodity movements. She also interviews CEOs, economists, fund managers and politicians to empower investors to make better informed investment decisions.
Katrina holds a Bachelor of Laws (Honours first class, division one), Bachelor of International Business (Distinction) and a Diploma of Legal Practice. She has undertaken broadcast training with TV Pro Global and is currently undertaking a PhD in Law focused on climate change disclosures and director’s duties for companies operating within the finance sector.
Outside of work Katrina enjoys scuba diving, board game nights and adventures. You are invited to join Katrina’s online communities on Instagram @the_corporate_greenie and Linkedin.
Barry is Head Counsel, Australia, New Zealand and Papua New Guinea for Baker Hughes, a NYSE listed energy technology company. Baker Hughes designs, manufactures and services transformative technologies to facilitate the global energy transition.
Barry is a recent addition to the legal profession in Australia, having first qualified in Scotland more than 25 years ago. He has spent almost his entire legal career in industry, working on oil and gas projects internationally with some of the world’s largest service companies. At one, the offshore drilling company Transocean, he led the Legal Global Operations function, working closely with the business in harnessing opportunities and resolving challenges while developing a diverse, multi-cultural team. His career has taken him from the UK to Australia via Paris and Houston, arriving in Perth in 2018. Having qualified in WA in 2018, he is now proud to be a fully-fledged member of the profession in Australia. Barry is passionate about lawyers becoming leaders, given their breadth of business knowledge and ability to identify and assess risk, and keenly promotes innovation in the provision of legal services. Outside of work, Barry enjoys golf (sometimes) and watching most sports as well as spending time with the four women in his life, his wife and three daughters.
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.
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.
Tony Dormer is a senior adviser of a multi-discipline professional services firm that he established over 40 years ago and that merged in September 2017 to form Tricor Services (Australia) Pty Ltd www.tricorglobal.com The firm provides in-bound and out-bound business advisory, management consulting, tax and compliance, outsourced payroll and CFO services, bookkeeping, corporate secretarial services and financial investment services.
Tony’s personal specialist skills and extensive experience are around taxation services, mergers and acquisitions, business valuations, corporate restructuring, as well as business planning and business development issues generally. His entrepreneurial style and ability to 'think outside the square', has enabled Tricor to provide clients with a level and style of service that is unique among business advisory and accountancy practices.
From 2007 to 2019 he was a Board Member and/or Councilor with the NSW Business Chamber. He was elected President in February 2014 and held the position of Deputy President as well as Chairman of the Audit and Compliance Committee, Chair of the Business Environment and Economics Committee within the NSW Business Chamber. He now serves as a Past President.
He was also the former Chairman of Kreston Australia and New Zealand and was previously one of eight Directors on the international board of Kreston International, a position he held for seven years. Kreston is one of the largest networks of independent accounting business advisory firms in the world.
He also serves as a non-executive director on Profit and Not for Profit Boards.
Tony is a Fellow with Chartered Accountants (FCA), Member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors (MAICD) and Chartered Tax Adviser (CTA) with the Taxation Institute of Australia.
Prior to developing his practice, he had extensive experience at General Manager level with several leading private organizations. This commercial experience is a major ingredient in his philosophy and the range of services offered by him.
He also co-authored a book on leadership titled “Born to Lead?” with Charisse Grey
Tony is available for selective Director appointments.
Rebecca has advised developers and landowners on industrial, commercial and residential development projects, is on the board of Mackillop Rural Community Services and now works as general counsel at PAYCE Consolidated Limited.
Janya Eighani is a lawyer with decades of experience in construction and commercial Law. She has created an innovative model that combines legal advice with actual large project management and commercial experience. A firm that acts as your virtual in-house Counsel and assists you in every step of your project, providing Legal and Infrastructure Advice.
Professor Nick James is the Executive Dean of the Faculty of Law at Bond University. He is a former commercial lawyer and has been practising as an academic since 1996. He is passionate about legal education and the role of law schools in modern society. His areas of teaching expertise include law in context, legal theory, animal law, business law, and company law. He has won numerous awards for his teaching including a National Citation for Outstanding Contribution to Student Learning, and he is the author of several leading textbooks. He has written numerous journal articles, book chapters and conference papers in the areas of legal education, critical legal theory, disruption of the legal services sector and the impacts of climate change.
Professor James is Co-Director of the Bond University Centre for Professional Legal Education (CPLE), Co-Chair of the Council of Australian Law Deans (CALD), President of the Australasian Animal Law Teachers Association (AALTRA), Immediate Past Chair of the Australasian Law Academics Association (ALAA), and a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Law.
Sue Kench is the Global Chief Executive and Co-Chairman China of King & Wood Mallesons, Asia’s leading international law firm.
Sue took on the Global Chief Executive role in 2017 after leading the firm in Australia for four years as Chief Executive Partner, Australia. Sue was the first woman in Australia to lead a top tier law firm in that role and is the first Australian female to lead a global law firm and a China firm.
Sue works closely with the Global Chairman and the firm’s International Management Committee to lead the firm’s international growth strategy. Sue is based in Hong Kong and spends significant time in China and Australia.
She became a Partner of legacy Mallesons Stephen Jaques in 1996 and has held a number of board, management and leadership positions in the firm over the past two decades.
Amongst her many professional achievements, Sue has received a number of accolades and acknowledgements for her impact and influence on the legal profession in the Asia Pacific. These include:
• AFR Power List 2020 – Legal
• The Lawyers Weekly Lawyer of the 21st Century award recognising her significant professional achievements between 2000 and 2020 (2020);
• Doctor of Letters honoris causa from Macquarie University in recognition of her extraordinary contribution to the law (2019);
• The esteemed ‘Legal leader’ award, at the Financial Times Innovative Lawyer Awards, in recognition of her significant role in driving King & Wood Mallesons growth and success across APAC (2018);
• The Australian Financial Review’s Top 100 Women of Influence (2018); • The Lawyers Weekly Executive of the Year award (2017).
Sue is on the Board of Directors of AUSTCHAM Beijing and is a member of The Wall Street Journal CEO Council, Chief Executive Women and the Business Council of Australia.
Sue is married with three children.
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.
I am the Founder and Managing Principal of Legalite – a multi-award-winning new kind of law firm that is breaking new ground in simplified and forward-thinking legal services.
I started Legalite with one clear vision: to flip the traditional law firm model on its head. Through pioneering the delivery of innovative and bespoke services that give our clients maximum value, Legalite has established itself as a market leading firm with above industry average growth.
As an advisor to some of Australia’s most well-known brands, my expertise encompasses franchising, regulatory compliance and national and international expansion. More than just a technical advisor, I am focussed on providing future-ready, strategic and innovative advice. This extends to advisory board services.
I’m genuinely passionate about fostering meaningful relationships with clients, colleagues and industry connections. I’m proud to lead, and work alongside, a diverse, award-winning team of gun lawyers and professionals who are equally as passionate about changing the future of the legal industry.
Sue-Ella specialises in helping lawyers and law firms create more rewarding practices through purposeful business strategy and positive client engagement.
Sue-Ella established her award-winning consultancy Prodonovich Advisory in 2005.
Her In-House roles have included Director of Marketing, Arthur Anderson; Director of Marketing & Business Development, Baker McKenzie; and Partner, Crowe Horwath.
Sue-Ella is a member of the teaching faulty of The College of Law, The Law Society of NSW, The Law Institute of Victoria, and FMRC. In 2011 she was inducted into the APSMA Hall Of Fame for services to the Australasian Professional Services Industry and in 2019 she was made a Fellow of the College of Law Firm Management. Her qualifications include an MBA, Bachelor of Commerce (Hons) (Law & Marketing) – VC List, the AICD Course for Company Directors, and the Net Promoter® Client Loyalty Program™.
Rachel is an internationally-experienced financial services lawyer specialising in data, derivatives, asset management, life insurance and regulation. She has recently joined the data consulting firm, D2 Legal Technology, as their Asia Pacific Lead heading up the business in the region. Prior to this Rachel has worked as an in-house lawyer for Goldman Sachs, Westpac, Challenger Life and Allianz Retire+, and was General Counsel at fund manager Magellan Financial Group.
In 2018, Rachel founded the NSW “First Hundred Years” initiative celebrating the centenary of women in law. With an additional interest in music, Rachel has been a Board Director of Australia’s premier classical vocal ensemble, The Song Company, is currently on the Committee for Sydney Symphony Orchestra’s Vanguard group, and is Governance Director for the International Women’s Forum Australia.
Professor Tania Sourdin is the Dean of the University of Newcastle Law School and was previously the Foundation Chair and Director of the Australian Centre for Justice Innovation (ACJI) at Monash University in Australia. She is also the Co Chair of the Council of Australian Law Deans.
Professor Sourdin is the author of a number of more than 140 publications including books, articles and papers, that are focussed on justice reform issues and has published and presented widely on a range of topics including ADR, justice innovation, justice issues, mediation, conflict resolution, collaborative law, artificial intelligence, technology and organisational change. Professor Sourdin has led national research projects and produced important recommendations for ADR and justice reform within Australia and internationally. She has also retained a part time practice focus and has worked for more than 30 years as a lawyer, 25 years in various senior part time tribunal positions and as a mediator and has since 2014 been the NBN industry dispute resolution advisor within Australia.
Troy Swan is the Chief Legal Officer, Company Secretary and Board Member of the $1.4billion office products company Winc Australia & New Zealand. Winc was formed following the acquisition of Staples & OfficeMax by US based private equity firm Platinum Equity.
He has been publicly recognised as one of Australia's leading corporate lawyers and was named the 2017 Australian Lawyer of the Year (FMCG) and a General Counsel of the Year finalist in both 2016 and 2017. He became only the second Australian lawyer to win the prestigious International Value Champions Award in San Francisco and was recently named in Washington, the Association of Corporate Counsel Member of the Year, from over 43,000 lawyers worldwide for his commitment to the legal community and profession. This was the first time this honour was ever awarded to a lawyer outside America.
Known for his business judgment, he is highly active within the Sydney legal and business community. He is a regular speaker and media commentator on legal affairs, innovation and large scale legal service delivery models and leads an award winning legal team based in Sydney.
The Croesus Holdings Group comprises six companies, which provide services in Project Management; Corporate Legal Compliance; Management Training & Education; Environmental GRC; ADR (mediation, arbitration & adjudication); and Litigation Funding.
Previously, Garry was Managing Director of an international Investment Bank with offices in Sydney, Vancouver, New York, London, Dublin, Hong Kong and Singapore. Those activities involved him in international capital raising; public listings; distressed company “turn-arounds”; workplace & employment relations; drafting & management of contracts; project management; governance & risk assessment; corporate strategic planning; supply chain logistics & human rights; corporate legal compliance; environmental sustainability; and optimising management outcomes.
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.
