Modules:

• Property

Biography:

Luckbir is a MacDonnells Law Director in the state-wide Commercial Law Team. Luckbir’s approach is to understand his client’s business focus and desired outcome so as to provide a legal service, which not only provides a high degree of technical proficiency, but also reflects the practical commercial world realities.

Luckbir's experience in commercial areas of practice covers a broad range of matters including duties, corporate advisory, body corporate, trusts, entity structuring, large scale commercial transactions, mixed use property development, dealing with and advising on GST, business contracts, leasing, drafting contracts for unique and one-off arrangements, securities, farming, property, business and commercial acquisitions and disposals, corporation affairs and association dealings and many others.

Professional Organisations & Memberships

• MacDonnells Law
• Member, FNQ Law Association
• Member, Australian Institute of Management

Awards & Recognition

• Queensland Law Society’s Outstanding Achievement by a Young Lawyer Award (2008)
• Vice-Chair, Cairns Young Chamber of Commerce

Modules:

• Family

Biography:

After graduating with a Bachelor of Law and Arts (with distinction majoring in Political and International Studies) from Murdoch University in early 2007, Sarah joined O'Sullivan Davies to work in the paralegal section of the firm.

During her studies, Sarah worked for Minter Ellison Lawyers and gained international experience at the UK firm of Mustoe Shorter Solicitors. She also spent part of her legal studies at the University of Waterloo, Canada.

In 2005, Sarah was awarded a High Distinction for her paper "International Human Rights and Vedic Hinduism: Are there irreconcilable differences?" which was recommended for publication in the South Pacific Law Journal.

Modules:

• Criminal

Biography:

Stephen is a Barrister at Sir Owen Dixon Chambers in Sydney. He is an experienced public lawyer with a wide range of experience in trials and appeals. Internationally he has worked extensively in the fields of transitional justice and the rule of law. Stephen is on the list of counsel at the International Criminal Court. His international experience includes extended periods working in legal positions in Afghanistan, Solomon Islands and the Occupied Palestinian Territories. Stephen regularly presents at conferences and has lectured in the area of public international law.

Modules:

• Employment

Biography:

Aron has acted as an advisor to large national trade unions and their members along with senior executives in both the private and public sector. Aron has published previous articles on employment and industrial law issues both within Australia and internationally and is admitted to practice in both NSW and England in Wales. In 2010, Aron was invited by a non government organisation to the International Labour Organisation annual conference in Geneva to present and discuss issues related to freedom of association in Turkey.

Modules:

• Commercial

Biography:

David's principal practice area is commercial litigation. Building and construction litigation (both residential and commercial), insolvency, commercial contracts and real property (including retail and commercial lease disputes) are specialty areas of David's practice. David is an Accredited Specialist in Commercial Litigation and holds a Certificate in commercial mediation making him eligible for appointment to the NSW Law Society's Mediator's Panel.

Modules:

• Intellectual Property

Biography:

Nathan is currently an Associate with the Firm of Patent and Trade Mark Attorneys, Shelston IP.

Nathan specialises in trade mark law and practice and deals with all aspects of Australian and overseas trade mark filings and prosecutions, filing strategies and trade mark portfolio management. He also advises on the creation, adoption, use and enforcement of trade marks providing commercially relevant advice regarding trade marks. He has practical experience in design registrations and also advises on labelling requirements, domain name and business name registrations.

Nathan has acquired considerable experience in the intellectual property field, having previously worked as a trade marks examiner at IP Australia for several years before joining the firm.

Trade Mark Attorney specialising in:

• Agribusiness
• Information and Communication Technology
• Pharmaceuticals
• Retail and Brands
• Services
• Domain Names
• Trade Marks

Biography:

Val Gostencnik is a Deputy President of the Fair Work Commission, which is the national workplace relations tribunal.

Prior to this appointment in April 2013, Val was Practice Group Leader of the National Workplace Relations Practice Group at Corrs Chambers Westgarth. During this time, Val was sought equally by governments, corporations and charitable organisations and was an expert and author on workplace legislation and its impact on business and society.

Val was at the forefront of workplace reforms - leading the Corrs' National Workplace Relations Practice Group to act for major Australian and international companies on enterprise agreements and workplace practices, including Multiplex, Downer EDI, Thiess and Transfield Services, from test cases before the High Court to coronial inquiries. Val worked across all court and tribunal jurisdictions, and was Solicitor Instructing Counsel Assisting the Victorian 2009 Bushfires Royal Commission.

Val's other passion was managing Corrs' Giving Back program, which covered the firm's pro bono legal offerings, philanthropy and staff volunteering.

Val now acts as a consultant for the LexisNexis Practical Guidance - Employment law module.

Biography:

Tom has over 25 years’ experience in commercial litigation and insolvency and restructuring law, including 18 years at Minter Ellison, 2 years at a global law firm in New York, and most recently, as Head of Litigation at a boutique commercial firm.

Tom has acted on a range of matters for lenders, creditors, insolvency administrators and distressed companies. This has included acting for the receivers of a large agribusiness managed investment scheme business, the administrators of public company in the mining industry, advice to all the major Australian banks on recovery of loans and enforcement of securities and advice to a distressed hospitality group.

Tom is a regular commentator for LexisNexis on insolvency and restructuring law issues. Some recent examples include:

• Masterclass: The impending insolvency crisis and the impact on the legal profession, where Tom discusses insolvency and restructuring issues arising in the COVID-19 pandemic with Professor Pamela Hanrahan, lawyer, academic and author and John Winter, Chief Executive Officer of the Australian Restructuring Insolvency and Turnaround Association.
• Podcast: The new debt restructuring process—the road from appointment to implementation, where Tom discusses Australia’s new debt restructuring process with Michelle Wibisono, Practical Guidance Legal Writer - Corporations.

Contact

tom.read@lexisnexis.com.au

Modules:

• Intellectual Property

Biography:

Michael has a background in commercial legal practice with a focus on IP commercialisation and strategy.

Michael provides commercial legal services to a range of Australian and international clients across different industries and technologies. In this context, Michael has provided commercial advice and assisted with negotiating and drafting legal documentation relating to online trading, product supply arrangements, manufacturing, technology and other licensing arrangements, compliance with consumer protection and advertising laws and regulations (including in the online space), IT infrastructure projects and implementations and compliance with privacy laws.

As a registered Trade Mark Attorney, Michael currently manages trade mark portfolios and provides related trade mark and domain name services and advice to a range of Australian and multi-national clients to ensure maximum brand value and protection.

Modules:

• Commercial

Biography:

Prior to opening the doors to The JRT Partnership, Geoff Rees was a director of a well respected Melbourne law firm for 30 years. In recent times Geoff has been the key commercial advisor on various important transactions in the higher education and medical institute sectors. He also advises many listed and privately owned midsized corporations. Geoff's hands-on work in various sectors in which he has experience have led to a number of senior appointments. He was Chairman of the company that formed and then listed Melbourne IT Limited. In the course of that process he dealt with the Auditor General, many public compliance issues, the media, the NTEU and the Minister for Education. He was also Deputy Chairman of Melbourne University Private when it successfully obtained reaccreditation as an Australian University.

Biography:

Carrie specialises in litigation and dispute resolution in: Advocacy; Mediation; Contract disputes; Judicial review; Consumer protection and Equity. Carrie has briefed and appeared with some of the most specialised Queen's Counsel and Senior Counsel in Australia. She has appeared as an advocate in most New South Wales jurisdictions and has run a matter before the Full Bench of the High Court of Australia.

Modules:

• Consumer

Biography:

Paul Gillett is a Senior Associate in the Class Actions team of Maurice Blackburn in Melbourne and is currently representing over 160,000 claimants in the bank fees class actions brought against eight of Australia's largest banks, and which resulted in a historic victory in the High Court of Australia which clarified the operation of the doctrine of penalties.

Paul has over 12 years of practice and expertise in retail banking and finance, consumer credit, consumer protection, trade practices, personal insolvency and debt recovery.

Prior to joining Maurice Blackburn, Paul was employed as Director of Legal Practice for the Consumer Action Law Centre where he managed Australia's largest specialist consumer litigation practice, and one of the country's largest public interest law practices.

He has authored consumer and credit law chapters of LexisNexis Practical Guidance online, the Fitzroy Legal Service Law Handbook, and the Lawyers Practice Manual Victoria, and is an experienced speaker and educator, having lectured or spoken at a variety of conferences, seminars and institutions, including the Leo Cussen Institute and in the University of Melbourne Master of Laws program.

Biography:

Dale Pinto is currently a Professor of Taxation Law and Head of the Taxation Department of the Curtin Law School at Curtin University. He is a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Law (FAAL), a member of the Divisional Council of CPA Australia (WA Division) and Fellow of CPA Australia (FCPA), and is also a Chartered Tax Adviser and Honorary Life Member of the Tax Institute CTA (Life).

Dale is the author/co-author of numerous books, refereed articles and national and international conference papers, and is on the editorial board of a number of peer-reviewed journals as well as being the Editor-in-Chief of several refereed journals.

Dale is the Chair of the Tax Institute’s National Education Quality Assurance Board and is a member of TEQSA’s Expert Panel in Accounting and Taxation. Dale served as an inaugural member of the National Tax Practitioners Board and is a current member of the Board of Taxation’s Advisory Panel and the ATO’s Tax Technical Panel (Superannuation) as well as CCIWA’s Government and Fiscal Policy Forum.

Biography:

Brendan advises on IT transactions of all types and sizes, including large scale, complex outsourcing and integration projects, cloud-based offerings, data analytics and software licensing and development agreements. He also assists on IP protection and commercialisation, digital marketing and content, social media, sponsorships, privacy and cyber security.

Brendan has particular expertise providing strategic cyber and data resilience advice, and has current experience advising clients on their journey towards GDPR compliance.

Publications and Editorial Contacts

• LexisNexis - Practical Guidance Cybersecurity, Data Protection & Privacy (Australian chapters).
• Co-authored Australian Chapter of World Online Business Law.
• The Censorship of Misogynistic Rap Music—A Consideration of Gender-Based Harms and Free Speech, 26 VICT. U. WELLINGTON L. REV. 531 (1996).

Awards & Recognition

• Legal 500 Asia Pacific, 2018, recommended for IT & Telecommunications.
• Victoria University of Wellington annual award for best legal writing.
• Selected from Australia & New Zealand to attend the "Building Global Lawyers" conference at IBM HQ in Armonk (New York State).
• Appointed global co-lead of an IBM initiative to improve customer experience.
• British Telecom Recognition Award for work on BT’s purchase of NSB Retail Systems plc’s UK operations and exclusive distribution agreement.
• British Telecom Recognition Award for work on BT Fusion (world’s first hybrid mobile and landline phone).

Speaking Engagements

• Engaged by Commvault to present at their “Connections Live” customer events in Sydney and Melbourne on cyber security and privacy developments (Australian mandatory date breach notification and the GDPR).
• Interviewed by Bloomberg BNA for ‘Companies to Face Mandatory Data Breach Notice Down Under’ article
• Interviewed by Sydney radio station regarding mandatory date breach notification.

Professional Organisations & Memberships

• Law Society of New South Wales

Professional Contact

T: +61 2 9291 6121

E: brendan.tomlinson@maddocks.com.au

Modules:

• Immigration

Biography:

Jane was an Accredited Immigration Law Specialist (1994-2013) and has practised exclusively in the area of immigration law since 1993. Prior to joining Fragomen she was a partner in an immigration law practice based in Sydney and has previously worked in community organisations providing immigration advice.

Jane has also been a member of the Conduct Panel of the Migration Agents Registration Authority and is a former member of the Social Security Appeals Tribunal. She also served on the NSW Law Society's Specialist Accreditation Committee responsible for assessing eligibility for entry into the specialisation.

Modules:

• Intellectual Property

Biography:

Michael’s undergraduate degree was in industrial chemistry. He then studied for his PhD, in which he conducted research in the field of free radical polymerization, and polymer chemistry generally.

Prior to joining Shelston IP, Michael worked for Dulux in its resin technology laboratories while simultaneously completing a Graduate Certificate in surface coatings technology. Michael has also worked at the James Hardie research and product development laboratories, where he conducted research into fibre cement composites and building products. Michael’s industrial experience also extends to polymer extrusion techniques and injection moulding.

Michael has drafted and prosecuted patent applications in diverse fields of technology. For example, in the fields of: welding, polymer composites, surface coatings, electrothermic coatings, polymerisation catalysts, systems for nucleic acid amplification, biocompatible materials, optical input devices, cementitious materials, building products, medical devices, and mining methods Michael is a Chartered Chemist of the Royal Australia Chemical Institute, and won the RACI Treloar Prize for his PhD research. He is also a named inventor on a PCT application.

Patent Attorney specialising in:

• Polymer Chemistry
• Inorganic Chemistry
• Materials Science
• Nanotechnology
• Chemical Engineering and Process Technology
• Biotechnology and Life Sciences
• Medical Devices and Diagnostic Technology
• Optics and Photonics

Biography:

Mark has been involved with criminal law since 1996. His career began as a general police officer for the Queensland Police Service before spending the remaining 8 years as a Detective. During this time, he completed his law degree and spent a further 2 years as a prosecutor. After becoming admitted as a solicitor in 2008, he completed the Bar Practice Course. He was quickly employed as a Solicitor for Potts Lawyers and progressed to become a partner and later a Director in 2014.

Mark’s background stems from his extensive experience in a variety of major criminal areas, such as summary matters, sexual offences, internet/computer offences, fraud, major drug offences, assault, murder, money laundering, ASIC, Commonwealth offences and commissions of inquiries.

Mark has completed specialist courses in criminal summary matters, Anti-Money Laundering/ Risk Compliance and appears regularly in all areas of Queensland, Crime Commission hearings, Royal Commissions and is admitted to the High Court of Australia.

Memberships

• QLS – Qld Law Society
• ACAMS – Association of Certified Anti-Money Laundering Specialists
• ALPMA – Australasian Legal Practice Management Association

Modules:

• Competition

Biography:

Bronwen is a competition and dispute resolution lawyer. She has particular experience acting in commercial disputes, regulatory investigations, enforcement action and white collar criminal proceedings. She has acted for regulators, large corporations, company directors, professionals and major insurers across a broad range of industries, including healthcare, technology, mining, construction, banking and finance.