Meet Our Practical Guidance Authors

  1. Jodi Walkom

    Jodi Walkom

    Partner, Thomson Geer Lawyers, General Advisor for Practical Guidance Dispute Resolution

    Jodi Walkom

    Jodi Walkom

    Partner, Thomson Geer Lawyers, General Advisor for Practical Guidance Dispute Resolution

    Biography:

    For over 16 years, Jodi has been a practising litigator, highly experienced in all aspects of commercial disputes, including alternative dispute resolution processes and running complex litigation involving multiple stakeholders.

    Jodi has acted for publicly listed companies, private companies, public sector agencies and individuals. She has expertise in commercial disputes across diverse fields of industry including resources, manufacturing, medical, financial services, media and technology sectors. Jodi considers a thorough understanding of the commercial context to be imperative to assisting her clients to achieve resolution of disputes.

    Jodi is a key author for the LexisNexis Practical Guidance dispute resolution product, covering civil procedure in the New South Wales Supreme Court and the Federal Court of Australia. Jodi regularly presents to clients, recently delivering a seminar on warranty insurance claims in the context of M&A transactions.

    Demonstrating her commitment to open justice, Jodi is a significant contributor to Thomson Geer's pro bono program, recognising the corporate responsibility to assist those who would not otherwise have the capacity to obtain legal representation. Jodi has advocated for those with disabilities, victims of predatory lending schemes and migration matters.

  2. Thomas Abraham

    Thomas Abraham

    Contributor to Practical Guidance Property; Special Counsel, Commercial and Tax with Macpherson Kelley

    Thomas Abraham

    Thomas Abraham

    Contributor to Practical Guidance Property; Special Counsel, Commercial and Tax with Macpherson Kelley

    Biography:

    Thomas Abraham is a Special Counsel, Commercial and Tax with Macpherson Kelley. Thomas has extensive public and private sector experience and deep expertise in state taxation advice and litigation. During his time as a solicitor in the Legal Services Branch of the State Revenue Office of Victoria, Thomas conducted litigation on behalf of the Commissioner in various state taxation matters. Thomas practices in all state taxation matters across Australia, including land tax, duties, payroll tax, congestion levy and taxation administration matters (eg, assessments, re-assessments, refunds, private rulings, objections, reviews and appeals).

    Professional Contact

    Thomas Abraham - Macpherson Kelley

    Memberships

    Thomas is a member of the Law Institute of Victoria’s State Taxes Committee.

  3. Linda Martin

    Linda Martin

    Legal Management Consultant, Module Advisors

    Linda Martin

    Linda Martin

    Legal Management Consultant, Module Advisors

    Biography:

    Linda was a Senior Associate in the Commercial Property & Tourism Group at Minter Ellison (with secondments at Qantas Airways Limited and CSR Limited) before embarking on an in-house legal career in 1999. Linda was also Senior Corporate Lawyer/Acting Deputy Legal Counsel at Sydney Airports Corporation and a  Senior Corporate Lawyer with Australand Holdings Limited.

    Most recently, during 2010 and 2011, Linda consulted with NRMA Motoring & Services. This role involved recruiting a Head of Legal, restructuring and streamlining NRMA's external legal panel and implementing business improvement initiatives for the legal team.

  4. Maria Dwyer

    Maria Dwyer

    Former contributor to Practical Guidance Succession. Former Senior Associate, Ogilvie Jennings

    Maria Dwyer

    Maria Dwyer

    Former contributor to Practical Guidance Succession. Former Senior Associate, Ogilvie Jennings

    Modules:

    Biography:

    Maria Dwyer was admitted to practice in the Supreme Court of Tasmania in 1981. Maria has practiced continually since that time in private practice. For eighteen years she was a sole practitioner in New Town. Maria is the secretary of the Legal Profession Disciplinary Tribunal and has held that position for the last twenty years.

  5. Sally Nicholes

    Sally Nicholes

    Partner, Nicholes Family Lawyers

    Sally Nicholes

    Sally Nicholes

    Partner, Nicholes Family Lawyers

    Biography:

    Sally has practiced exclusively in family law for over 14 years during that time has developed a strong practice with substantive experience in all aspects of family law, acting for a range of corporate, institutional, and private clients.

  6. Matthew Swinn

    Matthew Swinn

    Managing Partner, Dispute Resolution & Tax

    Matthew Swinn

    Matthew Swinn

    Managing Partner, Dispute Resolution & Tax

    Biography:

    Matthew Swinn is a partner of King & Wood Mallesons and a recognised IP litigation specialist with a wealth of experience in the manufacturing, life sciences and consumer sectors, among others. Matthew is also the Managing Partner for KWM's Dispute Resolution & Tax teams.

    Matthew is well known for his patent litigation expertise, having acted in patent disputes for some of the world's largest companies. His expertise also spans the entire range of intellectual property issues including contentious trade mark, copyright, trade secrets and consumer protection/passing-off matters.

    He is a member and former Chair of the Law Council of Australia’s IP Committee, a member of the Federal Court of Australia’s IP User Group and President of the Australian chapter of the International Association for the Protection of Intellectual Property (AIPPI).

    Professional Organisations & Memberships

    Awards & Recognition

    • Intellectual Property: Patents in Australia, Band 1 –Chambers Global 2019, 2020 and 2021
    • Intellectual Property, Band 1 – Chambers and Partners 2021 (Asia Pacific)
    • 2022 Lawyer of the Year – Intellectual Property Law in Melbourne, Best Lawyers
    • Patent Litigation Star and Trade Mark Litigation Star, Managing Intellectual Property IP Stars 2020/21
    • Gold Band - Litigation and Global Thought Leader, IAM Patent 1000: The World’s Leading Patent Professionals 2021
    • Benchmark Litigation Asia-Pacific – Dispute Resolution Star (Intellectual Property) 2020

    Professional Contact

    Email: matthew.swinn@au.kwm.com

  7. Mark Gordon

    Mark Gordon

    Former contributor to Practical Guidance Corporations. Partner, Piper Alderman

    Mark Gordon

    Mark Gordon

    Former contributor to Practical Guidance Corporations. Partner, Piper Alderman

    Biography:

    Mark is a specialist banking and finance lawyer with over 20 years experience. He advises and acts primarily in corporate and commercial matters involving corporate lending, loan syndication, consumer finance, Corporations Act compliance and commercial contracts. Mark also advises on privacy issues relating to the Privacy Amendment (Privacy Sector) Act 2000.

    Mark has extensive experience in public listed company transactions and has provided advice on a wide range of matters to a number of high profile companies and government agencies.

  8. Justin Dowd

    Justin Dowd

    Partner, Watts McCray

    Justin Dowd

    Justin Dowd

    Partner, Watts McCray

    Modules:

    Biography:

    Justin has specialised in family law since 1987 and has an excellent understanding of the family law system having been employed as the Senior Registrar of the Parramatta Registry of the Family Court, then as Regional Registrar of the Court with responsibility for NSW and the ACT. His past and current legal experience includes very complex family law cases, including matters that comprise offshore assets and children's issues.

  9. Craig Allsopp

    Craig Allsopp

    Joint Head of Class Actions, Shine Lawyers

    Craig Allsopp

    Craig Allsopp

    Joint Head of Class Actions, Shine Lawyers

    Biography:

    Craig has over 20 years of experience in commercial litigation and class actions. His impressive track record includes landmark judgments like the Worley shareholder class action and settlements in several class actions including the OZ Minerals and Macmahon shareholder class actions and toxic foam contamination class actions against the federal government.

    Craig now leads a team pursuing claims against major corporations, financial institutions, and governments, including A2 Milk, AMP Insurance, Nuix, and the NSW and WA governments in relation to First Nations child removals. His previous leadership roles at ASIC and prominent law firms like ACA Lawyers and Allygroup Legal Consultants further solidify his expertise in securing compensation for those impacted by corporate misconduct.

    Professional Organisation

    Shine Lawyers

  10. Elizabeth Lane

    Elizabeth Lane

    Senior Legal Writer - Practical Guidance Corporations

    Elizabeth Lane

    Elizabeth Lane

    Senior Legal Writer - Practical Guidance Corporations

    Biography:

    Elizabeth has more than 15 years corporate law experience at leading firms in Australia including Minter Ellison (Sydney), Baker McKenzie (Sydney) and Norton Rose (Perth). Elizabeth has acted on numerous private equity and private M&A transactions as well as advisory matters in corporate law.

    Elizabeth acted as the Regional Professional Support Lawyer for Asia Pacific for Baker McKenzie for several years where she specialised in knowledge management for corporate and M&A including resource development and facilitation of training in corporate law both in Australia and Asia.

    Immediately prior to joining the team at LexisNexis, Elizabeth practised in-house as Senior Legal Counsel at a gold mining company with assets in West Africa where she advised on corporate and governance issues, led negotiations for key contracts and advised on commercial strategy.

    Elizabeth is fluent in French and has worked with legal and financial colleagues in France, Mali and Senegal during her career.

    Contact

    elizabeth.lane@lexisnexis.com.au

  11. Daniel Fitzpatrick

    Daniel Fitzpatrick

    Partner (projects, infrastructure and construction), Piper Alderman

    Daniel Fitzpatrick

    Daniel Fitzpatrick

    Partner (projects, infrastructure and construction), Piper Alderman

    Modules:

    Biography:

    Daniel has 18 years’ experience providing legal services for developers, builders, trade contractors and owners of retail shopping centres, aged care, industrial and residential developments in relation to construction disputes across litigation, arbitration, security of payment legislation, expert determination and mediation processes. 

    In addition to extensive experience as a security of payment preparer, Daniel is an accredited senior adjudicator with Adjudicate Today in NSW, Victoria, South Australia, the Australian Capital Territory and Western Australia. 

    Daniel also has an active front end practice, having advised on and negotiated a wide range of development, construction and consultancy agreements and tendering documents across a wide range of projects including large remediation projects, commercial and residential developments, commercial fit-outs, shopping centre refurbishments, civil works, electrical and facade works.

    Memberships
    Adjudicator’s Forum 
    Society of Construction Law Australia 
    Resolution Institute 
    Law Society of NSW 

  12. Georgina North

    Georgina North

    Former contributor to Practical Guidance Employment. Former Senior Associate, Corrs Chambers Westgarth

    Georgina North

    Georgina North

    Former contributor to Practical Guidance Employment. Former Senior Associate, Corrs Chambers Westgarth

    Modules:

    Biography:

    Georgina has represented clients in employment litigation, including dismissals, discrimination claims and workplace health and safety complaints and incidents and advised clients in respect of issues concerning: terminations, including redundancies and conduct-related terminations; employee entitlements, including remuneration and leave entitlements; workplace health and safety, including employee drug testing, remote workers, and bullying and harassment; superannuation; compliance with Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth), National Employment Standards, modern awards and enterprise agreements; and post employment restraints, including non-competition and non-solicitation.

    Georgina is experienced in drafting employment-related documents including: codes of conduct; employment terms and conditions; grievance procedures; employment and independent contractor agreements; organisational charts; HR policies; handbooks and regulations; training materials; consents; severance agreements; and releases. Georgina has conducted HR-related due diligence and other transactional activities relating to mergers, acquisitions and joint ventures, including preparing reports and drafting correspondence to workers regarding post-transaction workforce integration.

  13. Dr. Rhonda Smith

    Dr. Rhonda Smith

    Senior Lecturer, Dept of Economics; Formerly Senior Fellow, Law Faculty, University of Melbourne

    Dr. Rhonda Smith

    Dr. Rhonda Smith

    Senior Lecturer, Dept of Economics; Formerly Senior Fellow, Law Faculty, University of Melbourne

    Modules:

    Biography:

    Rhonda is an academic economist who teaches competition law subjects to undergraduates and post graduates.

    She was formerly a commissioner with the ACCC and has acted as an expert witness in a number of competition cases.

  14. Melissa Yule

    Melissa Yule

    Former contributor to Practical Guidance Succession. Consultant, Adelta Legal

    Melissa Yule

    Melissa Yule

    Former contributor to Practical Guidance Succession. Consultant, Adelta Legal

    Modules:

    Biography:

    Since admission in 1992, Melissa has practised almost exclusively in the field of wills and estates, and has a particular interest in estate litigation. Melissa assists the practical legal training courses run by the Law Society of South Australia and Flinders University by lecturing, facilitating workshops, problem setting and marking.

    Melissa's memberships and external appointments include; The Law Society of South Australia (Probate Committee), Director of a Private Prescribed Fund, Board Member, Muscular Dystrophy Association SA, Trustee and Muscular Dystrophy Research Foundation.

  15. Matthew Morris

    Matthew Morris

    Former contributor to Practical Guidance Corporations. Partner, formerly at Jones Day Lawyers

    Matthew Morris

    Matthew Morris

    Former contributor to Practical Guidance Corporations. Partner, formerly at Jones Day Lawyers

    Modules:

  16. Steve Pemberton

    Steve Pemberton

    Lawyer and Consultant, General Advisor for Practical Guidance Banking & Finance and Practical Guidance Personal Property Securities

    Steve Pemberton

    Steve Pemberton

    Lawyer and Consultant, General Advisor for Practical Guidance Banking & Finance and Practical Guidance Personal Property Securities

    Biography:

    Steve is a commercial-focused lawyer with over three decades’ experience in banking & finance transactions, including over 20 years as a partner at Allens, where he is now a consultant. His practice has included corporate finance, debt capital markets, project finance and more recently consumer finance work. He is currently based in Melbourne, and has also spent several years practicing in each of Hong Kong and Singapore

    Outside the law, Steve also works as a researcher at the Centre for Urban Research, RMIT University, with a focus on public transport projects.

  17. Nicholas Studdert

    Nicholas Studdert

    Former contributor to Practical Guidance Personal Injury New South Wales. Partner, Hall & Wilcox

    Nicholas Studdert

    Nicholas Studdert

    Former contributor to Practical Guidance Personal Injury New South Wales. Partner, Hall & Wilcox

    Biography:

    Nicholas is a highly experienced lawyer who has concentrated on insurance law, particularly claims under the NSW statutory classes of insurance, for more than 15 years.

    Nicholas advises insurers on the management of claims and liability disputes and helps them develop and implement strategies to respond to these issues. He regularly appears in the NSW Workers Compensation Commission, District Court and Supreme Courts, including at the appellant level.

    Nicholas’ practice is comprised of statutory claims, common law claims and judicial review matters. He manages matters involving both physical and psychological injuries and both litigated matters and non-litigated advice work.

    Nicholas works with a large number of insurers and employers and is regularly involved in training and educating his clients on a range of topics.

  18. Gavin Stuart

    Gavin Stuart

    Former contributor to Practical Guidance Commercial. Partner, Bartier Perry

    Gavin Stuart

    Gavin Stuart

    Former contributor to Practical Guidance Commercial. Partner, Bartier Perry

    Modules:

    Biography:

    Gavin has wide ranging experience in all manner of commercial litigation including debt recovery, banking/finance litigation and securities enforcement, insolvency, contractual disputes, intellectual property and insurance including professional indemnity. Gavin regularly manages cases arising out of secured loans, supply, manufacturing and construction contracts, property acquisitions, sale of business, partnerships and corporate/personal insolvency.