Executive Committee

Renée Bianchi

PRESIDENT

Renée is a barrister at 13th Floor St James Hall Chambers, having been called to the Bar in 2013 after practising as a solicitor in private practice for five years.

Renée joined the Executive Committee of the Women Lawyers Association of NSW (WLANSW) in November 2018 and was the chair of its Equitable Briefing Policy subcommittee. She is looking forward to continuing this work, as well as the general advancement of women within all facets of the legal profession, and increasing the profile of WLANSW by way of advocacy and policy statements.

Renée has been the Chair and Immediate Past Chair of the Law Council of Australia’s Young Lawyers Committee from October 2016- April 2019 and was the President of NSW Young Lawyers in 2016. She is also a volunteer with Girl Guides Australia and the World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts; as well as the Board Secretary of the B Miles Women’s Foundation.
Renée was a finalist in the WLANSW ‘Barrister of the Year’ category in 2017, and Doyle’s Guide has listed her in its Wills and Estates Litigation Leading Lawyers list since 2016.
Renée graduated from the University of Newcastle with a Bachelor of Biomedical Science (Honours) and a Bachelor of Laws/Diploma of Legal Practice.

Larissa Andelman

IMMEDIATE PAST PRESIDENT

Larissa is a barrister at 153 Phillip Chambers with significant experience in litigation and alternative dispute resolution practices. She specialises in all aspects of workplace law including industrial, employment, contract and discrimination areas. She also practices in administrative and commercial law. She was admitted as a solicitor in New South Wales in 2004 and since that time has worked as in-house counsel at a trade union, in the litigation group of the Fair Work Ombudsman and has practiced at the Victorian Bar. Since 2012 she has been a member of NSW Women Barrister’s Forum and since 2014 has been Co-Chair of the Women Lawyer’s Policy and Leadership Sub Committee. Throughout her career she has worked to further the interests of women, particularly women from disadvantaged backgrounds. Her focus is on advocating for cultural change in the legal profession and providing support and development opportunities for women through seminars, functions and mentoring.

Justine Anderson

Vice President

Justine is a valued member of Carroll & O’Dea Lawyers compensation law group who works with Bill Madden in a specialised medical negligence team.

Justine has advised clients on legal services and redress available to emergency services employees, on workers compensation claims, motor-vehicle accident injuries, the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse and general personal injury matters. Prior to joining Carroll & O’Dea Lawyers Justine worked in a number of hospitals and laboratories, providing her with a unique set of problem solving skills when approaching medical and other legal matters. She has a particular interest in personal injury compensation claims arising from medical advice and treatment and in entertainment industry law. Justine holds a Bachelor of Music from the Australian Institute of Music and a Juris Doctor from the University of Technology, Sydney. Justine is passionate about the advancement and equality of women in law and in the education, support and growth of junior lawyers & law clerks.

Louise Mallon

TREASURER

Louise is a consultant at Chalk & Behrendt, a specialist legal practice focusing on serving Indigenous organisations and businesses, governments and private clients in the areas of public law, commercial and governance matters, as well as land acquisition and development.

Louise is a member of the WLANSW’s Workplace Relations sub-committee and has contributed to the Law Firm Comparison project for the last 5 years.

Danielle Verde

SECRETARY

Danielle is a Senior Associate in Bartier Perry Lawyers’ private clients team, specialising in wills and estates.  Danielle recently completed a Master of Applied Laws (Wills and Estates) through the College of Law, graduating with top marks.  Danielle is excited to be a part of the NSWWLA’s Executive Committee and playing an active role in shaping the legal profession to better empower women, influence greater collaboration amongst young female lawyers to increase their involvement in leadership and level the playing field for women in such formative times.

Sher Campbell

COMMITTEE

Sher lectures at the Law School at the University of Newcastle, the first school to integrate clinical experience and practical legal training. Sher has broad experience in legal education. She is the Deputy Programme Convenor for the Undergraduate Law Program and First Year Transition and Regional Rural and Remote Coordinator.

Sher is active in the Wellness Foundation for Law that supports law students and young lawyers in creating positive and optimistic outlooks for students entering the demanding arena of legal work.

Sher is also interested in of the internationalisation of the Australian Law Curriculum and the global processes impacting on Australian domestic law. To this end, Sher has been awarded grants with the DFAT New Colombo Plan Mobility Programme and has assisted in building relationships with the judiciary, universities and local community legal centres in Northern Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam and Myanmar.

Sher is part of a team that successfully secured a 2017 Commonwealth Government grant to support and mentor women from regional Australia so that they may realise their educational and career aspirations in law and business. Sher is also a co-investigator in a project which is designed to develop new and innovative research that addresses under-researched, under-theorised areas of equity and educational access for Indigenous people of Australia. https://www.newcastle.edu.au/profile/sher-campbell

Calla Chau

COMMITTEE

Calla holds a Bachelor in Criminology from the University of New South Wales and a Juris Doctor from the University of New England. Before joining the Law Society of NSW in her current role as a Solicitor in the Professional Standards Department, she worked in-house for an insurance company and has served as a Committee member on the Law Society Injury Compensation Committee (2015-2017). Calla has also been an active member of NSW Young Lawyers including the Civil Litigation Committee and the International Law Committee until 2017. Calla joined WLANSW in 2018 and has contributed to the Submissions made by WLANSW on the National Enquiry into Sexual Harassment in the Australian Workplace to the Australian Human Rights Commission. In her free time, Calla loves to travel and take photographs of people and places.

Ruwinie Delgoda

COMMITTEE

Dual qualified as a lawyer in Papua New Guinea and Australia, I graduated with a Master of Laws from King’s College University of London and recently gained accreditation as a Mediator at the Resolution Institute in Sydney.
I commenced my legal career in the area of dispute resolution in private practice, which exposed me to cross border disputes and international arbitration. I served within the public service in Queensland and Victoria and as a legal consultant more recently in Jamaica, before returning to Sydney.
Currently, I am engaged within the Commonwealth Bank as a dispute resolution manager.

Alex Grayson

COMMITTEE

Alex Grayson is a Principal of Maurice Blackburn and manages the Employment and Industrial Relations Practice of their Sydney office. She has over 20 years’ experience in industrial relations, including over a decade as a labour lawyer. Alex is particularly skilled in litigation, strategic negotiations, interpreting industrial instruments and contracts, advocacy and providing legal advice to executives. Alex provides advice and representation in several areas including workplace bullying, sexual harassment, breach of contract, redundancy situations and restraint of trade issues.

Rebecca Haynes

COMMITTEE

Rebecca is a senior in house lawyer with over 15 years’ experience in child sexual abuse/education law, health law and social justice law. She has worked in litigation and in-house roles for several large not for profit organisations, Legal Aid NSW and Women’s Legal Services NSW. During her career she has been supported and mentored by several senior female lawyers and hopes to do the same for others as Chair of the Diversity Subcommittee. She has a particular interest in discrimination, gender and intersectionality issues and is hoping to use her professional skills and knowledge to work collaboratively with others to address these issues.

Holly Lam

COMMITTEE & AWL NSW REP./DIRECTOR & VP

Holly is a Senior Legal Counsel at AMP Capital specialising in disputes and regulatory engagement. Holly was previously a Senior Associate at HWL Ebsworth Lawyers specialising in insolvency and general commercial litigation. With the unwavering support of a wonderful husband, she is currently juggling her roles on the WLANSW Executive Committee and Australian Women Lawyers Board  as VP, with full-time work (done flexibly), a baby, a toddler and further studies. Holly first joined the executive committee in 2013 and remains passionate about the advancement of women in law and leadership. She is chair of the Sharecare subcommittee that is focused on all matters relevant to working lawyer parents – including advancing parental leave equality, promoting flexible work arrangements and encouraging men to lean in at home so that there is space and opportunity for women to lean in at work.

Stephanie Lambert

COMMITTEE

Stephanie is the youngest female partner at HFW Australia and the youngest partner in HFW’s team of 16 real estate lawyers. She has received media coverage due to her considerable success after making partner at the age of 35 while on maternity leave. Stephanie’s practice focuses on major projects which cross a number of industry sectors with a particular focus on mixed use developments, title and land structuring arrangements, foreign investment and project financing.

Stephanie sees Women Lawyers Association NSW as being uniquely placed to influence and shape policy and social debate and inform decision-making and social attitudes within the legal landscape and society generally to achieve continual growth and evolution and is keen to see the Association continue to promote and give direction on key issues that affect women including gender pay gap, unconscious bias, representation and adaptable working arrangements to promote awareness and change.

Courtney Robertson

COMMITTEE

Courtney is a Barrister at 12 Wentworth Selborne Chambers.  She has a broad range of experience in all forms of dispute resolution having had conduct of both small and large matters in various courts in Western Australia, the Northern Territory, and New South Wales and in commissions of inquiry.  In her practice Courtney has worked across various sectors including media, tech, health, government and energy and resources.

Courtney has represented the interests of corporate clients before regulatory bodies such as the ACCC, ASIC and the ATO, including as defence counsel for both individuals and corporate entities in prosecutions.

Courtney is an active member of the legal community, particularly with respect to gender equality.  In 2016-17 she undertook a six month contract position as a consultant with UN Women in New York.  In addition to being a member of the Women Lawyers’ Association of NSW’s Executive Committee, Courtney is a Director of the Women’s Legal Service New South Wales.  Courtney is passionate about the empowerment of women and creating an environment in which both women and men can succeed, particularly in the workplace.

Courtney has extensive pro bono experience including with the Redfern Legal Centre, the Refugee Advice & Casework Service, the Top End Women’s Legal Service, and the Aboriginal Legal Service of Western Australia.

Courtney enjoys legal research and writing and contributes to various publications particularly in respect of tech, data and privacy issues.

Sarah Vo

COMMITTEE

Sarah is a lawyer at Gilbert + Tobin who specialises in intellectual property, particularly litigation and commercial transactions.
I strongly support equal pay for equal value. The ongoing fight to close the wage gap between men and women in the legal professional, and more broadly the workforce, should continue until it is no longer an issue. There is no reason for discrepancy in pay when a woman is equally as competent and provides the same amount of value as her male counterpart. Diversity in decision-making is a key in addressing the issue as women can be the voice for change. However, the responsibility to fight for change relies on both women and men foregoing any internalised messages about gender differences and embracing equality.

Kathryn McKenzie

EXECUTIVE OFFICER

Kathryn is also the Public Officer for WLANSW, and officially took over the responsibility as at 12 August 2003.

Kathryn McKenzie is the Director of Business Angel Services Pty. Ltd., specialising in not-for-profit association management & event management for over 25 years. Other current positions include Secretariat, Continuing Legal Education Association of Australasia; Secretariat, Australasian Professional Legal Education Council; Secretariat,  Council of Australasian Tribunals Inc. (National) and NSW Chapter.

Kathryn has extensive experience in administration, governance, association and event management including conferences. She has worked with small business to large corporates, government and not-for-profit organisations, and many committees, with senior management experience in a diversity of business sectors.