Executive Committee

Larissa Andelman

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 in 2015 is on advocating for cultural change in the legal profession and providing support and development opportunities for women through seminars, functions and mentoring.

Holly Lam

Immediate Past President & AWL NSW Rep./Director

Holly is a Senior Associate at HWL Ebsworth Lawyers specialising in insolvency and general commercial litigation. She regularly advises and appears in the Federal Courts of Australia and the Local, District and Supreme Courts of NSW in relation to voidable transaction claims (including unfair preferences, uncommercial transactions and insolvent trading); winding up proceedings; misleading and deceptive conduct claims; shareholder disputes; and defending against ACCC proceedings. Holly holds a Bachelor of Business and a Bachelor of Arts in International Studies from the University of Technology, Sydney in addition to a Bachelor of Law from the University of New South Wales.  She is passionate about the advancement of women in law and leadership and sees the rapidly changing work environment and technology disrupters as presenting significant opportunities for women lawyers.  Holly first joined the executive committee at the end of 2013 and remains committed to the development of junior lawyers, flexible work practices and preparing women lawyers for the business of law and leadership.

Susana Staka

Vice President

Susana is a specialist family law solicitor with over 25 years experience in private practice. She achieved Specialist Accreditation with the Law Society of New South Wales in.1999 and she represents private clients locally and internationally in all aspects of family law . In 2013 she was a finalist in the NSW Women’s Lawyer Awards (Solicitor of the Year in Private Practice) . She is a Director in a specialist family law firm in Sydney and currently serves as a member of the Family Issues Committee of the NSW Law Society and the Specialist Accreditation Family Law Advisory Committee. She is also a member of the Independent Children’s Lawyer Panel NSW and during her career has often appeared on behalf of children in the Family Court of Australia and the Federal Circuit Court of Australia. She has also been involved in a number of mentoring programmes for women and law students. Susana has a strong commitment to the practice of family law and women in the legal profession . She joined the Committee in 2014 and looks forward to working with its members during 2015 to improve and advance opportunities for women lawyers.

Lisa To

Treasurer

Lisa is a Partner at Sydney law firm, Bartier Perry and has over 15 years’ experience specialising in federal and state taxation, superannuation, trusts, estate planning and business succession. She holds a combined Bachelor Commerce Law degree and a Masters of Law from the University of Sydney. Lisa is a SMSF Specialist Advisor™ with the SMSF Association and a Chartered Taxation Advisor™ with the Taxation Institute. She is actively involved with superannuation and tax education as regular speaker and appointment on various education and events committees including as chair of the Macquarie Tax Group. Lisa currently sits on the NSW Law Society and NSW Office of State Revenue liaison committee. She is the 2015 winner of “Best Capital Gains Tax Award in Australia” and 2016 winner of “Best firm in Tax and Superannuation – Australia”.

Lisa is passionate about the promotion of leadership for women, diversity in the workplace and innovation. She was the recipient of the 2014 Women in Law scholarship which she completed a 12 month course on Advance Leadership for Women. She was involved in the WLANSW’s Events and Social Media subcommittees in 2015. Lisa is an Associate Fellow of the Australian Institute of Management (AIM) and currently undertaking a course in Advance Project Management focusing on User Experience Design, Agile and Lean Sigma. In 2014 she was a participant in the NSW Law Society’s Women Mentoring Program with Horizon Unlimited and is a current mentee in the AIM Mentoring program.

Ashley Cameron

Secretary

Ashley Cameron is a Senior Associate at HWL Ebsworth Lawyers specialising in commercial litigation. She regularly advises and appears in the Supreme and Federal Courts to represent litigants in relation to civil matters including professional indemnity; building and construction; insurance disputes; contract claims; and general commercial disputes. Prior to taking up a position at TressCox (now merged with HWL Ebsworth), Ashley was the tipstaff to McDougall J in the Supreme Court of New South Wales. Ashley studied a Bachelor of Law (Hons) and a Bachelor of Economics at the University of Western Sydney and was part of the Aspire Leadership program at UWS. Ashley is passionate about the promotion of women to leadership positions, having been involved in the Women as Global Leaders conference in 2012. Ashley has recently joined the WLANSW in the role of secretary last year and is keen to be involved in advancing leadership opportunities for women lawyers.

Justine Anderson

Committee

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.

Renée Bianchi

Committee

Renée is a barrister at 13th Floor St James Hall Chambers. As a solicitor, she specialised in public liability, product liability, and professional indemnity litigation. Since being called to the Bar in 2013, she has built up a diverse practice in common law, commercial, and equity matters, regularly appearing in a variety of jurisdictions.
Renée is currently the Immediate Past Chair of the Law Council of Australia’s Young Lawyers Committee, having been its Chair from 2016-2018. She 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 Women Lawyers Association of NSW ‘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.

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 involved in the Tristan Jepson Memorial Foundation and 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 and Vietnam.

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.

Sue Gilchrist

Committee

Sue is a senior partner at Herbert Smith Freehills and the former regional managing partner for Asia and Australia. Sue is an intellectual property disputes partner experienced in all intellectual property areas, including patents, designs, copyright, trade marks, passing off and confidential information. Sue also has extensive experience in consumer law matters, and regularly advises clients on advertising, marketing campaigns and disputes. Sue is a member of the HSF governing bodies for Diversity and Inclusion, and Pro Bono and Citizenship. Sue is also the Chair of the HSF RAP (Reconciliation Action Plan) Steering Committee.

Sue is a board member of Legal Aid NSW. Sue is a member and former Chair of the IP Committee of the Law Council of Australia. Sue is also a member of the Intellectual Property Society of Australia and New Zealand (IPSANZ) and a member of Chief Executive Women.

Alex Grayson

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.

Nea Goodman

Committee

Nea was admitted in 1984. Nea is a past president of both WLA and the City of Sydney Law Society. Nea continues to have an interest in gender equality, law reform and personal injury law.

Courtney Robertson

Committee

Courtney is a litigator at Gilbert + Tobin.  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.  Courtney has particular interests in privacy and employment law.
In her practice, Courtney has worked across various sectors including energy and resources; media; government; and health.  Courtney has represented the interests of corporate clients before regulatory bodies such as the ACCC, ASIC, the ASX 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.  She recently undertook a six month contract position as a consultant with UN Women in New York.  Courtney has significant 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 holds a Bachelor of Laws from Murdoch University and a Master of Laws from Columbia University.

Jacqueline Vincent

Committee

Jackie is a partner at Watts McCray lawyers, a specialist family law firm, and, since September 2016, the Managing Partner of the firm. Jackie practices in all areas of family law, including parenting and financial matters for defacto and married couples, pre and post nuptial financial agreements, as well as maintenance and child support matters. Jackie also has a particular interest in international family law matters. She is regularly involved in mediation and other settlement focused processes and also appears in Court, as an  advocate on behalf of her clients, when necessary.

Jackie is the convenor of the pro bono relationship between Redfern Legal Centre and Watts McCray. Jackie is a member of LAWASIA, including LAWASIA’s family law and Children’s Rights Section, and she was a member of the Family Issues Committee  of the Law Society of NSW from 2012-2016. Jackie has  also played a leading role in convening the Australian Family Lawyers Conference for the past 6 years. She has participated as a Judge in the LAWASIA International Moot.

Jackie is also a contributing editor to the family law section of Halsburys Laws of Australia. In 2015, Jackie was presented with a Highly Commended Judging Panel’s Award at the NSW Women Lawyers Achievement Awards.

Alice Yang

Committee

Alice is a lawyer practising exclusively in family law. She has a Bachelor of Medical Science, a Master of Health Law and a Juris Doctor from the University of Sydney. Alice is passionate about breaking down cultural and gender barriers in the legal profession, and believes education is the key to making the profession more diverse and inclusive. Alice has been a member of WLANSW since 2016, and a member of the Diversity and Welcome to the Law Subcommittees since 2017. As a member of the Executive Committee and the Chair of the Diversity Subcommittee, Alice looks forward to exploring and advancing opportunities for diverse women lawyers.

Kathryn McKenzie

EXECUTIVE OFFICER

Kathryn has extensive experience in administration, association and event management. She has worked with small business to large corporates, non-profit organisations and many committees. With senior management experience in a diversity of business sectors, successfully organising numerous events, sponsorships, government and media liaison, she has qualifications in business management and counselling, franchising, mediation, journalism and public relations. 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 20 years.