Keynote Speakers

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Wednesday, 3 September

Michael McQueen

Michael McQueen understands what it takes to thrive in a rapidly evolving world.

Recently ranked #12 among the world’s top futurists, Michael is widely recognized for having his finger on the pulse of change, helping clients ranging from Google to Toyota and Mastercard navigate uncertainty and stay ahead of the curve.

A bestselling author of 10 books, Michael’s latest release was named by Malcolm Gladwell and Adam Grant as one of the top five must-read new leadership books. He is a sought-after media commentator, with his insights regularly featured in Forbes, The Guardian, and CNN.

Having presented to over 500,000 people across five continents since 2004, Michael is a familiar face on the international conference circuit, sharing the stage with Bill Gates, Mel Robbins, and Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak. 

Formerly named Australia’s Keynote Speaker of the Year, Michael has also been inducted into the Professional Speakers Hall of Fame.

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Thursday, 4 September

Dr. Fiona Kerr

Dr. Fiona Kerr is the Founder of The NeuroTech Institute, and Director of Strategic Research for the MindChamps Group, Singapore. 

Globally recognised for her work on the neurophysiology of interaction and proximity (between humans and with technology), Dr Kerr combines qualifications in cognitive science, systems engineering, psychology and anthropology with over 40 years in industry to consult on contemporary issues such as how virtual vs proximal interaction impacts trust and decision making, leading hybrid organisations and creating human-tech partnerships that maximise the unique capabilities of both. 

Fiona advises a broad international list of clients across government and corporate sectors from healthcare, law and robotics to Defence and Cirque du Soleil. She holds academic roles here and overseas, speaks globally, and is a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering.

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Friday, 5 September

Dr. Chadden Hunter

Dr. Chadden Hunter is an award-winning filmmaker and wildlife biologist. For most of the last two decades he has worked alongside Sir David Attenborough on the world’s most seminal nature documentaries.

While escaping armed bandits and brain parasites he completed a ‘Gorillas in the Mist’ style PhD on baboons in the mountains of Ethiopia. Chadden then worked as an on-screen host for National Geographic, PBS and Discovery Channel, filming everything from tribal ceremonies in Africa to snow leopards in Pakistan.

On the BBC series Planet Earth he became known as 'the guy covered in bat poop', and whilst filming arctic wolves for Frozen Planet learnt that minus 40C was cold enough to freeze his eyes shut. As a Divemaster he has worked alongside underwater crews around the world, exploring the issue of plastics in the ocean and how the ‘Blue Planet 2 Effect' encouraged changes in corporate behaviour and global politics.

His television series, including Wild Arabia, Seven Worlds One Planet and most recently The Platypus Guardian have scooped over twenty Emmy and Bafta awards.

His anecdotes are as inspirational as they are entertaining. Sometimes heart-breaking, often humorous, always riveting. Using a stunning multi-media presentation, including never-before seen footage from wildlife blockbusters, Chadden shares stories about achieving goals through resilience, communicating with wider audiences, the importance of team building, and creative leadership. Not to mention what to do if you find yourself face to face with a grizzly bear.

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Exclusive Jordan Furlong Content for Summit Delegates

Jordan Furlong

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Summit + ALTACON Speakers

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Patrick Aouad

Pat is an internationally published consultant neurologist and the founder and CEO of CU Health, Australia’s leading health and wellbeing platform for employees. CU Health was developed to support the increasing demand on leaders and employees from the negative impact poor mental and physical health can have on culture, performance and engagement. He is passionate about improving health outcomes for people through human centred technology and a leading voice on workplace wellbeing and its economic impacts.

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David Atherton-Cooper

Better known to most as “DAC”, David has 25 years’ experience in delivering technology-based solutions across the legal and insurance sectors, using Legal Software Solutions to enable change in law firms, and enhance business process and productivity.
He moved to Australia in 2006 and has spent the last nineteen years launching and managing productivity and workflow tools for the Pacific legal profession, working closely with teams in Australia, UK, Canada and US.
David describes his role at Dye & Durham as trying to understand the challenges facing firms across the region and helping them adapt in the face of changing client expectations, compliance obligations, technology improvements and changing working practices.

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Lee Bailie

As Head of Property Australia, Lee’s key goals are to ensure the company provides clients with the most innovative and market leading technology solutions for all stakeholders in property transactions.

Lee Bailie’s career boasts 15+ years working for Australia’s Legal and Technology sectors following an early career with the London Stock Exchange in the UK. As Head of Property Australia, Lee’s primary focus is to ensure that InfoTrack provides our clients and stakeholders with the most innovative and market-leading technology solutions across all property transactions.

Lee joined InfoTrack seven years ago as Head of Products and Innovation, after spending over ten years with some of Australia’s largest and most advanced legal firms. In his previous role as CEO of Conveyancing Works, Lee spearheaded the growth of the business to become the largest conveyancing operator in Australia, acquiring extensive industry experience, knowledge of the property market, client expectations, and workflow efficiencies.

He is an experienced leader with a demonstrated history of working in information technology and the professional services industry. With a strong emphasis on people and building dynamic teams across the Australian property landscape, Lee has cultivated a particular passion for business growth and transformation within this sector. It is this determination and drive that fuels the work he champions within InfoTrack.

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Belinda Balmer

Belinda Balmer leads the People & Culture team at Moores, where she has been shaping the firm’s people strategy since 2018. With over 25 years of experience across London, Sydney, and Melbourne, Belinda brings expertise in HR generalist roles and Learning & Development across professional services, financial services, and government sectors.Known for her curiosity, sense of humour, and practical approach, Belinda is passionate about partnering with leaders to drive meaningful change. She thrives on improving both strategic and operational outcomes, with a strong focus on collaboration, engagement, and building a culture where people can do their best work.

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Joel Barolsky

Joel Barolsky is a specialist adviser to managing partners, executive teams and practice group leaders on issues of strategy, culture, governance, partner remuneration, succession, pricing and capability development. He has advised over 100 leading law, accounting and advisory firms. Around 70% of his clients are repeat clients or come directly from referrals from existing relationships. Joel is a Principal of Edge International, Managing Director of Barolsky Advisors, a Senior Fellow of the University of Melbourne Law School and Chair of the Managing Partners Forum.  He writes for the Australian Financial Review Legal Affairs section and the LCA’s Law Management Hub. Previously, Joel was head of the strategy practice of Beaton Research & Consulting.

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Glin Bayley

Glin Bayley is a negotiation specialist, personal transformation strategist, a non-exec board director and accomplished author of The Negotiation Playbook and Unstoppable Woman. With a mission to help mission-led changemakers accelerate and elevate their impact through inner transformation, Glin seamlessly integrates her deep expertise in negotiation with a heartfelt focus on personal growth and resilience.
To Glin, being The Value Negotiator isn’t just about what you do. It is about who you become.

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Bion Behdin

Bion Behdin is the Co-Founder and Chief Revenue Officer of First AML, a global RegTech company transforming the way businesses manage anti–money laundering compliance. With a background in corporate and commercial banking, Bion co-founded First AML to simplify complex KYC and onboarding processes for enterprises worldwide. He leads revenue growth and client success, helping law firms, financial institutions, and corporates streamline compliance while delivering an exceptional customer experience. A recognised thought leader in RegTech, Bion is a frequent speaker on compliance innovation and building scalable, values-driven organizations.

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Felicity Bell

Felicity Bell is the Deputy Director of the Centre for the Future of the Legal Profession and a Senior Lecturer at UNSW Law + Justice at the University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia. The Centre is dedicated to investigating the most pressing concerns about the legal profession’s future. It engages in research, thought leadership and educational and professional development partnerships with professional regulators and associations, law practices and departments from a range of sectors, and the courts. The Centre is engaged in active projects across five key areas of research: AI and LegalTech; Access to Justice; Leadership and Professional Skills; Culture, Diversity, and Wellbeing; and Ethics and Regulation. A fundamental part of the Centre’s remit is to collaborate with the legal community and give back in the form of disseminating research findings and engaging in thought leadership.Felicity is a former lawyer whose current research endeavours are forward-looking and contemporary, dealing with innovation and technology (especially artificial intelligence) and its multivariate impacts on lawyers’ identity, professionalism, and capacity to improve access to justice; as well as empirical research. Felicity has published extensively and her work has been widely cited, including in court judgments. She is a co-author of Artificial Intelligence and the Legal Profession (Hart, 2020) (with Prof Michael Legg) and Family Law in Australia (LexisNexis, forthcoming 2025).

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Courtney Blackman

Courtney Blackman is the Head of Partnerships at Lander & Rogers and sits within the firm's innovation function, its award-winning iHub, which is made up of a dynamic team of problem solvers and innovators creating smart solutions for everyday and complex business challenges.
Courtney oversees the LawTech Hub, a first-of-its-kind global-reaching accelerator program that enables startups to develop, test, and scale new legal tech products. 2025's intake is once again focused on AI.
She is a core member of the firm's AI Lab, where she designs and runs AI Clinics with leading academic institutions. 
Before joining Lander & Rogers, Courtney worked with hundreds of industry-agnostic startups and scaleups at one of Australia's largest tech and innovation hubs where she launched and directed the Lift Off Awards (celebrating women and culturally diverse founders in fintech) and the Online Startup & Innovation Awards.
Prior to her time in Australia, Courtney was a founder and entrepreneur in her own right, having launched, grown, and successfully exited startups in the digital media space in the UK and Canada. 
Courtney is a tri-citizen (American, British and Australian) and thrives on innovation. Her career has been dedicated to driving positive change through entrepreneurialism, technology and creativity. 

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Kath Bowler

Kath Bowler works at Holley Nethercote – a financial services regulatory firm that has been providing legal and compliance services, including AML advice for over 20 years.
Kath is the General Manager at Holley Nethercote. She is responsible for strategy development and implementation, overseeing operations and managing the HN Hub, their online compliance subscription service.  Kath's diverse role reflects her background as a regulator, financial adviser, accountant, policy adviser, licensee head, consultant and mother of three.
Kath finds herself in an interesting position, being responsible for developing and delivering AML services to an expanded range of clients, while also being responsible for implementing AML for their firm.

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David Bowles

David has been a solicitor for 30 years, for the last 14 with the Ethics Centre at the Queensland Law Society. (“QLS”)
He is a regular conference speaker at both QLS functions and for third party organizations such as the Society for Trust & Estate Practitioners (STEP), assorted District Law Associations, LEAP, Thompson Reuters, Cybersecurity conferences and policy forums. He doesn't maintain a show-reel but there are some materials on the QLS website that demonstrate my speaking style: Innovation Insights - Queensland Law Society 
In addition to relevant legal qualifications, he has a Graduate Certificate in Cybersecurity from the Harvard University Extension school and in AI from the Said Business School at Oxford University. David is also a director of the Australasian Computer Law Institute.

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Renee Branson

Renee Branson and Tim Corcoran bring a powerful combination of expertise in resilience, well-being, and law firm leadership.  
Renee Branson is a Certified Resilience Coach (CReC) and Compassion Fatigue Therapist with a master’s degree in counseling psychology. As the founder of RB Consulting, she equips law firms and businesses with immediately usable tools to enhance resilience, well-being, and optimism in the workplace. She works with legal professionals, business leaders, and non-profits to integrate well-being as a core strategic priority. A global speaker and author, Renee helps firms foster sustainable, high-performing cultures. 
Tim Corcoran is a former CEO who now advises law firm and law department leaders on modernizing business models for profitability and growth. He is a Trustee and Fellow of the College of Law Practice Management, a former President and Hall of Fame member of the Legal Marketing Association, an American Lawyer Research Fellow, and a Teaching Fellow in the Master in Legal Business program at the Australian College of Law. A sought-after speaker and writer, Tim’s insights regularly appear in leading legal industry publications.  
Together, they provide law firms with actionable strategies to create thriving workplaces where professionals feel valued, engaged, and motivated to stay.

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Tim Corcoran

Tim Corcoran is a former CEO who now advises law firm and law department leaders on modernizing business models for profitability and growth. He is a Fellow and past Trustee of the College of Law Practice Management, a Hall of Fame member and past President of the Legal Marketing Association, an American Lawyer Research Fellow, and a past Teaching Fellow in the Master in Legal Business program at the Australian College of Law. A sought-after speaker and writer, Tim’s insights regularly appear in leading legal industry publications.

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David Diamond

David helps teams get practical with AI. At DataChef AI, he works with organisations to scope and build meaningful use cases, assess feasibility, and design Copilot and agent solutions that deliver real outcomes. 

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Adair Donaldson

After 25 years as a partner or director of law firms, Adair is now focusing his expertise on assisting people to move from the challenges of the past to the opportunities of the future.  Specifically, helping individuals and organisations to engage, listen, communicate and discover solutions themselves, to resolve conflict, address social issues and drive cultural change.
In 2023 he was appointed by the Honourable Annastacia Palaszczuk MP, to the Domestic and Family Violence Prevention Council. Also in 2023, he was named Queensland Solicitor of the Year (Small Firm) at the Queensland Law Society's Excellence in Law Awards.
Since 2007 Adair has developed educational programs and consulted on legal issues affecting organisations. He has created the acclaimed preventative law resources that address the legal consequences of alcohol abuse, sexual assaults, gendered violence, discrimination, illicit drugs, violence, social media, and the illegal use of technology. 
Adair has presented to many thousands of employees, students, parents and athletes over the past 16 years and continues to work closely with the NRL to develop and implement educational resources for their players and clubs.

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Jenn Donovan

I’m Jenn Donovan, a marketing strategist, best-selling author, and speaker passionate about helping businesses simplify their marketing and build communities that drive results. I’m the founder of Social Media and Marketing Australia, creator of the viral Buy From a Bush Business Facebook group, and co-founder of the Spend With Us marketplace, supporting rural and regional businesses across Australia. 
With over 20 years of entrepreneurial experience and a background in law, I bring a unique perspective to marketing for the legal sector. I understand the importance of building trust, delivering value, and creating meaningful connections in a world where competition and complexity can be overwhelming. My sessions are designed to cut through the noise and give you practical, actionable strategies that align with your goals and values.
From interactive workshops to engaging keynote presentations, my aim is always the same: to leave attendees inspired, informed, and ready to take action. Whether you’re looking to enhance client engagement, future-proof your practice, or simplify your marketing efforts, I’ll help you turn ideas into momentum.
As someone with deep roots in rural Australia, I also understand the unique challenges of regional businesses and how to address them strategically. I’d be thrilled to share my expertise with ALPMA’s members and support your mission to deliver impactful learning and development opportunities. Let’s work together to help your organisation thrive in this ever-changing business landscape.

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Talya Faigenbaum

Talya Faigenbaum is a family lawyer, director and all-round legal-tech enthusiast. She’s a partner at Nest Legal—a women-led, values-driven firm that’s rethinking how legal services can be delivered to busy families using smart tech and a healthy dose of empathy. Talya completed a research fellowship at the Centre for Legal Innovation, where she deepened her obsession with all things legal design and future-of-law. When she’s not nerding out over prompt writing or reality testing the latest AI tool, you’ll usually find her juggling mum life, mentoring young lawyers, or chasing sunshine and frolics with her fluffy Japanese Spitz

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Amanda Fajerman

Amanda is the Head of Digital Change, Australia for the Digital Legal Delivery practice group at HSF. With over 20 years of experience in legal, technology, and consulting roles, Amanda is passionate about helping lawyers solve business problems using data and technology. Amanda brings strategic insight, strong stakeholder relationships, and expertise in change management, stakeholder engagement, and strategic design to deliver impactful solutions for her clients.   

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Denise Farmer

Joining Clio in January 2023, Denise brings over 15 years of experience in legal technology, including leadership roles at LexisNexis, and was most recently General Manager of Practitioner Services at Sympli. She holds a bachelor’s degree in modern Languages from the University of Cambridge, an MBA from Western Sydney University, and is an alumnus of the University of Warwick Business School. Denise has a proven record of building and leading high-performance teams and a deep understanding of the unique needs and challenges faced by legal professionals.

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Andre Fisher

Specialising in midsized firms to streamline operations and improve efficiency through legal practice management technology. With extensive experience in legal workflows and cloud-based solutions, Andre identifies scalable solutions that helps firms build an advantage.

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Andrea Foot

Andrea Foot works with lawyers, law firms and legal technology vendors to turn their goals into practical actions. She coaches leaders and teams to manage the individual, team and system-level challenges that change brings for their organisations. For four decades she has worked extensively in the legal ecosystem in Europe, North America and APAC with legal technology, law firms and legal teams. 
She holds an Executive Master in Coaching & Consulting for Change with distinction from INSEAD, one of the most highly rated European business schools and holds a post graduate qualification in psychology. She regularly deepens her experience and awareness of working with groups as part of the Group Relations community locally and internationally. 
Whether she’s acting as an executive coach, a non-executive director, or a strategic advisor, she applies a blend of practical business knowledge, coaching expertise, and systems-psychodynamic lenses to help organisations work through complex challenges.  

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Jonathan Gillard

Jonathan is the Managing Partner and a member of the Commercial team at Saunders Robinson Brown (SRB) based in Christchurch, NZ.

Jonathan has extensive experience in commercial property acquisitions & disposals and retail leasing, investment in New Zealand, commercial contracts, rural property and trusts. He acts for a number of leading commercial property developers, investors and corporate entities.

He joined SRB as a Partner in 2019 and became Managing Partner in mid-2021.Prior to SRB Jonathan worked at the law firm Wynn Williams where he was a Partner and board member.

Jonathan has extensive experience in law firm governance and management. He is currently Chair of Lawset, a network of NZ law firms of which SRB is a founding member and was a board member and latterly Chair of Law Link for 9 years

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Anna Glynn

Anna Glynn is a leading expert in sustainable high- performance, impactful leadership, and thriving workplace cultures. She helps ambitious leaders and teams achieve exceptional results in high-pressure environments - without burnout, overwhelm, or inconsistency - by building stronger foundations for long-term success.
Anna is the author of STRONG: How the Best Sales Leaders Engage, Achieve, and Thrive, which explores the intersection of resilience, engagement, wellbeing, and high-performance. She is also the creator of the STRONGER framework, equipping leaders and teams with the mindset, toolset, and skillset needed to navigate challenges and sustain success.
With 15 years of experience across industries including legal, Anna blends cutting-edge research, real-world business expertise, and practical, results-driven strategies to drive meaningful and lasting impact. She spent a decade in financial services, including leading national sales teams, and holds a Master’s in Applied Positive Psychology (First Class Honours) from the University of Melbourne. 
Anna’s insights have been featured in Forbes USA, Smart Company, and CEO World Magazine, among others. Known for her engaging style, frontline stories, and no-nonsense simplicity, Anna makes complex research digestible and actionable - helping leaders and teams not just learn but apply real-world strategies that drive long-term success.

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Robert Gomez

Robert Gomez is a Senior Client Relationship Manager at InfoTrack with over 10 years of experience supporting Australia’s legal and conveyancing community. Certified in conveyancing, he specialises in helping firms adopt smarter, more efficient ways of working through digital transformation. Robert is recognised for his ability to build strong client partnerships and translate technology into practical solutions that deliver real value.

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Amanda Goodfellow

Amanda will change the way you think about wellbeing at work. She is an engaging presenter, facilitator and TEDx speaker on a mission to help busy people manage stress and improve performance.

With 25 years' experience in leadership roles across professional services, associations and government, Amanda combines her corporate experience, leadership training and mindful approach with simple, evidence-based tools that make people happier, healthier and more productive at work.

Amanda is the founder of Agile Mind and facilitator of corporate programs, classes and retreats. She holds a Certificate in Meditation Teaching from the Australian Centre for Meditation and Mindfulness (ACMM) as well as post-graduate qualifications in Leadership and Management.

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Katrina Gowans

Katrina is a leading Legal Operations professional in Australia, having spent 5 years in the role at Origin Energy and a further 2 years at IFM Investors.  She describes her role as helping inhouse lawyers manage change, whether it involve introducing new technologies, tackling knowledge management or any other challenge that lands in her inbox.  Since 2020 she has been Co-Chair of CLOC Australia, a role she loves because of the opportunity it creates to bring like-minded legal ops professionals together to tackle real problems. 

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Mark Greenslade

Mark Greenslade leads the Client Success and Training teams at Verlata Consulting. With a background in practice management including overseeing the introduction of AML and SaaS technology to a small practice, he has been working with law firms on integrating technology into practice for 18 years. 

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Colin Groves

Colin Groves is an experienced company director and investor, currently serving as Investor Director at Realaml. He brings a wealth of governance and commercial expertise, having held senior leadership roles and directorships across technology, compliance, and growth-focused businesses in Australasia. Colin has also been involved with a range of high-growth ventures through Enterprise Angels, supporting companies with capital, governance, and strategic direction. At Realaml, he supports the company’s mission to provide law firms with simple, secure, and AUSTRAC-compliant AML/KYC tools as Australia prepares for Tranche 2.

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Adele Hoyle

Adele has over 15 years’ experience in the legal software industry and is very passionate about solving problems for law firms and building products that clients love. 

At Smokeball Adele and her team work seamlessly with the Engineering team to deliver the best and most innovative small law firm products to the international market. 

She holds a Bachelor of Science in Computing Information Technology and has a wide range of experience working in the UK and Australia where she developed a great understanding of the legal industry from her roles in software development, professional services and at LexisNexis where she spent several years heading up an international Product Management team.

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David Langdon

With nearly 30 years of hands-on experience in legal technology, David Langdon has worked across Europe, North America, and Asia Pacific in roles spanning implementation, support, consulting, and sales. He’s worked with firms of all shapes and sizes—witnessing the patterns, pitfalls, and progress that define legal tech adoption.

As someone who’s seen a thing or two (despite his limited eyesight), David champions a pragmatic, strategy-first approach to transformation. In this session, he explores the core themes from his book, Beyond the Features, and unpacks why software alone won’t solve your firm’s challenges. From misaligned expectations to siloed decision-making, he’ll highlight the factors that make—or break—a legal tech project.

Whether you’re selecting new tools or trying to get more value from the ones you have, this talk will help you zoom out, rethink priorities, and focus on what really drives successful change.

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Michael Legg

Michael is a UNSW Law & Justice Professor and the Director of the UNSW Centre for the Future of the Legal Profession.  

Michael’s research interests include the impact of technology and innovation on the legal profession, the courts and access to justice.  He has previously written on legal ethics and artificial intelligence and the use of artificial intelligence in litigation.  His publications include Case Management and Complex Civil Litigation (Federation Press, 2nd ed 2022), co-author of AI Decision-Making and the Courts: A Guide for Judges, Tribunal Members and Court Administrators (2023), a research project for the Australian Institute for Judicial Administration, and co-author of Artificial Intelligence and the Legal Profession (Hart, 2020).

Michael is admitted to practice in the Supreme Court of NSW, Federal Court of Australia, High Court of Australia and in the State and Federal courts of New York.  He holds law degrees from UNSW (LLB), the University of California, Berkeley (LLM) and the University of Melbourne (PhD).

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Priya Lele

Priya is a transformative leader at the intersection of law and innovation, with over two decades of experience evolving from a senior M&A lawyer in London to a global legal innovator. She has driven transformative change in multiple global law firms and multinational corporations, including Fortune50/FTSE100 companies.As Co-founder and Chair of She Breaks the Law, Priya has built and leads a global network of women leaders (#lawbreakers) from diverse backgrounds and disciplines revolutionising the legal ecosystem. A thriving community of 4000 women from 50+ countries, it’s a powerful platform for women leadership, providing a safe space to connect, share, develop, mentor and grow together. Combining her legal expertise with Lean Six Sigma, Agile Project Management, and Design Thinking approaches, Priya develops human-centered solutions that transform legal service delivery. Her recent roles include Director, Legal Transform & Operate at EY (Oceania) and Head of Legal Transformation at Gilbert+Tobin (Australia).An award-winning innovator, Priya received the European Women of Legal Tech Award (2020) and was a Global Female Founder Finalist at the Australian Legal Technology Awards (2022). A frequent speaker and keynote, she inspires global audiences on legal technology, innovation, and driving diversity and equity in the legal ecosystem.

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Daniel Lord-Doyle

Daniel Lord-Doyle is a serial entrepreneur and AI engineer at the forefront of legal tech and AI in law in Australia. As the Founder and CEO of Mary Technology, he leads the development of the world’s first Fact Management System (FMS), designed to eliminate fact chaos and transform legal workflows.  

Under his leadership, the company is redefining how legal professionals interact with case facts, making AI-powered fact management an essential tool in modern legal practice.  

Beyond Mary Technology, Daniel serves as the Sydney Lead of AI Build Club, Australia’s leading AI incubator, where he mentors emerging AI startups. He is a frequent speaker at legal tech events, advocating for AI-driven solutions that enable lawyers to focus more on real legal work.

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Jamie Lynch

Jamie Lynch is Head of AML at Gilbert + Tobin, where he leads the firm’s Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorism Financing compliance programme across high-risk clients, complex legal structures and cross-border transactions. He partners with lawyers, risk teams and clients to embed AML/CTF controls into broader risk frameworks—enhancing onboarding efficiency, strengthening decision-making and safeguarding the firm’s reputation. Before relocating to Australia, Jamie headed AML/CTF operations at Trade Me, New Zealand’s largest online marketplace, delivering an enterprise-wide uplift in compliance and fostering productive engagement with regulators under the evolving New Zealand AML regime. A regular ACAMS contributor and industry speaker, Jamie writes and presents on emerging financial crime risks—from modern slavery and ESG-related offences to Tranche 2 reform readiness and onboarding red flags—championing compliance as a value-add function that builds client trust and firm-wide resilience.

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Rob Lynch

As CRO for Spinika Rob Lynch leads the client engagements across Australasia. Working closely with Verlata to ensure the best of NZ's lessons are brought to bear for Australia's benefit, he has 20 years experience in helping clients through technology.

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Melissa Lyon

Melissa is the Executive Director & Experience Designer, Hive Legal, an innovative law firm which, over the last 11 years, has inspired change in the legal ecosystem by introducing value pricing, legal design thinking and truly flexible work practices. She is an innovation specialist committed to assisting the legal ecosystem to think differently about the delivery of legal services, pricing and ways of working. She is committed to sharing her experiences and insights with the legal ecosystem and is a strong advocate for those with skills other than legal and the vital roles they play.

She is a member of the Centre for Legal Innovation’s Advisory Board, and her work has been recognised at the Australian Law Awards with her winning Business Development Professional of the Year (2017) and Innovator of the Year (2020).

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Trudy MacDonald

Trudy has worked extensively with Boards, leaders and leadership teams over the past 20 years and is a sought-after coach to leaders across industries. She is an experienced CEO, an established business leader and thought leader in the areas of strategy, people, and culture. She specialises in empowering organisations to become great by maximising the performance and productivity of their people. She is a multi-award-winning speaker having been honoured as “Speaker of the Year” by the world’s largest CEO network – The Executive Connection (TEC). Trudy is a regular speaker to Leaders and Boards and regularly presents on the topics of strategy, high performance organisations and leadership at Industry Associations, Conferences and Corporate Events. Her career is founded on an education in Organisational Psychology and spans Australia, New Zealand, the USA and parts of Asia.

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Michelle Mahoney

Michelle, in her role as KWM's Chief Innovation Officer, is at the forefront of leading innovation, digital and transformation. Her responsibilities include legal service design, digital strategy, Gen AI, digital literacy, and the future of work. Michelle's strategic thinking on how technology and legal expertise can be combined to enhance performance, impact, and outcomes is a key aspect of her career. She has spearheaded many first-to-market initiatives, received numerous awards, and holds several advisory board appointments, including those on the MIT data board and several global legal technology companies.

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Robyna May

Robyna May is the Chief Information Officer at McInnes Wilson Lawyers. With a background spanning both law and technology, she brings strategic insight into how legal organisations can adopt and implement emerging technologies such as AI. Robyna focuses on data, design, people-centred change, and embedding innovation across legal operations. She has held leadership roles in IT, knowledge management, project delivery, and digital strategy. Robyna is currently leading her firm’s AI, digital transformation, and ISO 27001 certification programs with a strong emphasis on practical implementation, cultural alignment, and long-term value creation to ensure innovation is meaningful, sustainable, and human-centred.

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Fiona Mclay

Fiona McLay is a legal technology consultant, author, and speaker, who helps law firms navigate digital transformation and AI adoption. She works with firms to optimize their existing technology, implement new tools, and drive successful change management strategies.

With over 20 years of experience as a litigation lawyer, Fiona understands firsthand the challenges lawyers face in balancing efficiency, risk management, and client service. She is the author of The Tech-Enabled Lawyer and has developed The AI-Enabled Law Firm Roadmap, a structured framework for firms looking to move beyond experimentation and integrate AI into their daily workflows.

Fiona regularly presents at legal industry events, teaches at the College of Law and regularly presents for the Centre for Legal Innovation, providing practical insights on legaltech adoption, AI strategy, and digital transformation. She is passionate about ensuring that legal professionals can harness technology to improve service delivery and regain control of their worklife.

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Vicki McNamara

Vicki McNamara is Senior Research Associate with the Centre for the Future of the Legal Profession, UNSW Law & Justice. Before joining the Centre, she was a practising lawyer and knowledge management and legal technology leader, with more than 30 years of experience in global and national law firms and corporate legal operations teams, including at Herbert Smith Freehills, Woolworths Group and Maddocks. 

Vicki’s current area of academic and professional focus is the intersection of law and technology, including the impact of generative artificial intelligence on the legal profession, AI literacy for lawyers, legal knowledge management, legal technology, and innovation. 

Vicki regularly speaks at legal conferences and events, and delivers tailored professional development courses to legal professionals and legal operations teams. Her research and publications have appeared in the media, legal industry, and academic journals. Recent examples are available to view on the Centre’s Research Page, UNSW Research and SSRN. 

Vicki’s academic qualifications include Bachelor of Economics with Honours (BEc Hons) and Bachelor of Laws (LLB) from the University of Sydney, and a Master of Business and Technology (MBT) from UNSW.

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Walter Myer

Walter is an ex finance lawyer and cofounder of Amender. Amender is an AI-powered drafting assistant for transactional lawyers that reviews markups, applies edits intelligently, and tracks negotiation issues. A participant in the Lander & Rogers LawTech Hub 2025, Amender recently won the Global Legal Tech Competition, held in Madrid.

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Zakary Nash

Zakary Nash is a Co-Founder and Director of HarperLloyd Recruitment. Based in Brisbane, HarperLloyd is a specialist legal recruitment and consulting firm with national reach. Zakary is a former dispute resolution lawyer out of MinterEllison and Johnson Winter & Slattery. Zakary also is an experienced HR professional, holding a Masters in Human Resource Management from the Queensland University of Technology. Now, he consults with Australia's leading law firms on building high-performing and sustainable teams. He achieves this by partnering with organisations to develop competitive attraction and retention methods across all positions in law firms.

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Kelly Pankhurst

Kelly Pankhurst is a senior HR leader at Anderson Lloyd, where she drives the firm’s people and culture strategy. With expertise in organisational development, leadership, and employee engagement, Kelly is passionate about creating inclusive, high-performing workplaces. She brings a pragmatic, people-centred approach to shaping culture and supporting sustainable change.

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Emiliya Peneva

Emiliya Peneva serves as the Chief Executive Officer of Jackson McDonald, a leading independent law firm based in Perth. Her strategic leadership has been instrumental in aligning performance, people, and purpose across the firm. A Chartered Accountant by training, Emiliya brings a distinctive blend of financial insight, technological acumen, and ESG commitment to her role. 

Over the past 18 years Emiliya has witnessed and helped guide the firm through significant shifts in the legal profession, from the adoption of new technologies and evolving client expectations to the rising importance of ESG, diversity, and inclusion in law firm strategy. Having been promoted from within, she offers a unique perspective on how firms can successfully adapt while remaining true to their culture and values. 

She is a graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors and has further honed her leadership capabilities through Harvard Business School’s executive education program Leading Professional Services Firms. A devoted continuous learner, Emiliya is currently completing her MBA with AGSM UNSW, focusing on innovation, change, and AI strategy – subjects she particularly enjoys.

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Sumith Perera

Sumith is the Chief Operating Officer and the national Head of Corporate Services at Hall & Wilcox. He has over 20 years experience in leading and managing teams at professional services firms. 

Sumith has the overall responsibility for managing the day-to-day operations at Hall & Wilcox and coordinating the activities of the firm's Corporate Services areas including: Business Development, Marketing & Communications; Client Solutions;Knowledge; Legal Excellence & Risk; Operations; People & Culture; Technology; and Finance. 

Sumith is known for his commercial approach and ability to lead complex time critical projects. He has led the implementation of the firm’s national expansion strategy.  He is responsible for leading the firm's 'Smarter Law' strategy developing new and better ways of working with our clients to deliver real value.

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Madeline Porter

Technology and legal innovation have been core interests to Maddie throughout her legal career. With a strong focus on risk management, compliance, and guiding lawyers on how to meet their professional obligations, Maddie has carved out a diverse and impactful journey across the legal industry. Most recently, Maddie served as the Manager of Conflicts, Ethics, and Commercial Advisory at Ashurst, Australia, where she led the APAC Conflicts & Ethics team in championing compliance, safeguarding data security, and resolved high-level conflicts with precision. Maddie’s passion for AI legal solutions has shaped her vision of how technology is transforming the legal sector, keenly attune to the agility and efficiencies it offers to the profession. Maddie is particularly interested in how Gen AI can enhance legal processes, improve efficiency, draft responses, and predict counterarguments. She is excited to continue exploring how AI can drive change in legal practice. Maddie recently joined iManage as the Legal Industry Expert (APAC).

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Jack Rathie

Jack is the Co-Founder of DDLoop and a former M&A lawyer and legal innovation specalist from KWM. DDLoop is an Australian LegalTech company that helps lawyers, investors and advisors automate due diligence of public legal data, allowing them to execute faster, more reliable M&A, financing and investment deals.

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Matt Schlyder

Matt Schlyder, "The Lawyers’ Accountant," is the Founding Director of FWO Chartered Accountants, a boutique accounting and consulting firm based in Brisbane’s CBD, specialising in financial advisory for SME law firms. With over 35 years of experience, Matt is a leading expert in profitability, cash flow management, and strategic financial planning, helping law firms optimise their financial performance.

An innovator in financial technology, Matt developed MiNumbers, a dynamic budgeting system that integrates Xero payroll data with Practice Management Software to provide real-time financial insights and dynamic fee earner budgeting. MiNumbers simplifies budgeting, forecasting, and reporting, allowing firms to monitor performance with accuracy and ease.

Through his client-focused and technology-driven approach, Matt has transformed the financial health of many law firms through Australia, making him a sought-after advisor in the industry. His insights provide firms with practical strategies to achieve sustainable profit and cash flow growth.

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Adam Simms

Adam is a passionate corporate crime legal practitioner, investigative expert, and risk professional with a rich blend of public and private sector experience. Over three decades, he has refined his skills, starting with specialist police detective work before transitioning to corporate consultancy, ultimately rising to the roles of Partner and Solicitor with leading firms. Recently, Adam has embarked on his latest venture, launching a boutique legal advisory firm, Acclivity, where he is pioneering a fresh approach to advisory services in the investigations, anti-financial crime and compliance space. Acclivity is focused on delivering high-quality, accessible expertise to empower organisations to navigate complex regulatory and investigative challenges in the post-COVID era.

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Richard Smith

Richard specialises in client acquisitions, growth strategies and advising law firms on their GTM (Go to Market) pricing strategies.

With over 30 years' experience working with law firms to help grow profitable client revenue through the deployment of strategic growth initiatives, greenfield growth and overseas expansion, Richard works with coaches and partners/principals to sustainably grow their practices and manage their key accounts.

During his 30-year career, Richard has helped establish and grow multiple practices that have later merged or been acquired by larger law firm practices.

Reach out to Richard if you wish to have a discussion about the business of law and how he can help you sustainably develop your practice.

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Hunter Steele

Hunter, whose dad ran a three-person firm, grew up around law. His experience watching his father at work in a small town taught him that legal practice is primarily about helping people, about guiding clients through the trying periods of life – from divorce to moving house to preparing wills. After receiving a Law and Computer Science degree from Bond University and going on to work in the industry, Hunter, together with Jane Oxley and Bart Vadala, decided to put the values he learned from his father to work. Smokeball was born, its primary mission to help legal practitioners spend more time serving their clients and less time worrying about administration and organisation.

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Brent Szalay

Brent Szalay is a highly regarded leader in the accounting and legal industries, specialising in advisory services for small and medium businesses. As a Strategic Advisor and FCPA, Brent empowers business owners and professionals to achieve clarity, focus, and sustainable growth through actionable strategies and practical solutions.

At Leaders in Business, Brent guides businesses in crafting strategic plans and trains accountants to become trusted advisors, equipping them with the skills to drive client success. A past President of the Victorian Divisional Council with CPA Australia and recipient of the Henry Fox Award, Brent has also led SEIVA to earn recognition as one of Australia’s Best Places to Work for small businesses. Known for his engaging style and Australian charm, Brent leaves a lasting impact on every business he works with.

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Toby Taylor

Toby Taylor is the General Manager for Australia at APLYiD, and a recognised expert in Anti-Money Laundering compliance across the legal sector. With a career spanning the UK, New Zealand, and Australia, Toby has worked with hundreds of law firms to help them navigate the evolving demands of AML legislation — bringing a rare combination of regulatory insight, practical experience, and deep industry knowledge.

Over the years, he has become a trusted voice in legal tech, known for delivering compliance solutions that not only meet regulatory requirements but also enhance client onboarding and operational efficiency. Toby is passionate about demystifying AML for law firms and driving adoption of technology that makes compliance simpler, smarter, and more scalable.

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Oliver Tod

Oliver and the Tilt team are a group of ex-lawyers, developers, experts, and world-class problem solvers who are passionate about using technology to revolutionise the legal industry. We love nothing more than tackling complex challenges and creating innovative solutions that make a real difference for our clients. We use Mobius, our AI-powered platform, to tackle valuable legal workflows and design solutions that actually work.

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Mollie Tregillis

Mollie is the founder of Mollusc, a facilitation agency that helps teams tackle complex challenges through tough yet constructive conversations. With a background in law, strategy, and coaching, she excels at guiding teams through disruption, ensuring that every voice is heard and navigating change with clarity, comfort, and trust.Mollusc works with organizations across a variety of sectors, driving transformation with a human-centered approach. Mollie’s expertise lies in building strong, lasting relationships, and she’s known for her ability to read the room and adapt strategies to create momentum, even in the toughest of environments.Passionate about the future of work, Mollie is driven to help teams embrace uncertainty and turn disruption into opportunity. She believes in the power of deep, open conversations to foster collaboration, build trust, and move teams forward.With a reputation for being relentless in surfacing hidden fears, cutting through jargon, and creating positive outcomes, Mollie’s work is grounded in her unique ability to tackle the intangible factors that shape organizational culture. She partners with teams ready to navigate change and make meaningful progress in a rapidly evolving world.

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Elena Tsalanidis

Elena Tsalanidis is the COO and Co-founder of Deeligence, an AI-powered collaboration platform halving the time Corporate lawyers spend on legal due diligence. A former lawyer, and legal process expert, helping implement tech solutions to teams across the UK, Elena has firsthand experience implementing innovative tech solutions for lawyers and understands both the opportunities and challenges AI brings. 

From hundreds of conversations with lawyers at firms of all sizes, including in house teams, Elena shares her widsom of what is happening right now in market. Not tied to any particular law firm, Elena pulls back the curtain of what’s working well, and where there’s room for improvement.  

A frequent speaker at conferences, Elena blends her deep knowledge of operational workflows with an accessible, results-driven approach.

Elena sits on the board of the Australian Legal Technology Association and subcomittee, WALTA.  

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Gene Turner

Gene Turner leads legal automation firm LawHawk, which helps lawyers and businesses improve and automate their processes. He was a corporate & finance partner at Buddle Findlay before founding LawHawk in 2015. 

He is a Fellow of World Commerce & Contracting, is on the Advisory Board of the Centre for Legal Innovation and holds an MBA (Distinction) from Victoria University.  

With a focus on outcomes, LawHawk projects have won World Commerce & Contracting Awards for Operational Improvement in 2019 and 2021.

Much of LawHawk's work with law firms is in assisting them in the transition from thinking about traditional legal practice and hourly billing through to the broader problems and opportunities that their clients have and how law firms (and partners) can help their clients achieve greater transformations, and share in the value of that. 

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Keddie Waller

Keddie is the Head of AML/CTF Strategy at Holley Nethercote. She is highly respected in the financial planning and accounting sectors, having spent many years with CPA Australia, including most recently as the Senior Manager for Public Practice, Financial Planning & Ethics Policy.

She finds herself in an interesting position, being responsible for developing and delivering AML services to an expanded range of clients, while also working on implementing these reforms for their firm.

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Marli Watt

Introducing Dr. Marli Watt, a doctor and corporate executive leader, turned leadership coach and mentor, passionate about promoting wholistic, healthy leadership.

She is an accomplished personal transformational coach, facilitator, trainer, and mentor, who provides her clients with a deeply personal, yet highly practical pathway to live a truly phenomenal life. She understands the challenges of being a highly qualified professional struggling to manage a successful business in the context of real life, including global economic uncertainties, demanding clients and finding personal authenticity and balance.

Marli's extensive experience in medical practice, executive leadership, public health, health service management, and health policy roles positions her uniquely to help leaders find purpose and fulfillment by providing them with the tools and resources they need to thrive. 

Marli firmly believes that everyone has the potential for continuous growth and evolution, and she delivers transformation by connecting with and understanding each individual and their whole life. She simplifies complexity and offers practical tools that are easy to apply, ensuring her clients achieve fast, sustainable results

.Her mission is to assist accomplished professionals in expanding and managing their inner world, to achieve exceptional results in their personal and professional lives, and ultimately to make a meaningful impact on those they lead and love, including themselves.

Marli's broad experience spans local, regional, and global geographies, and she excels in working virtually within culturally diverse and complex teams. Her clients come from various industries including health, legal, financial, pharmaceutical, education, the United Nations, University of Melbourne, Australian government, Rotary International, and not-for-profit organisations.

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Janelle Watts

With over 15 years’ experience in the legal industry, Janelle leads the Platform team at HPX Group and oversees technology, innovation, operational, legal and compliance for its portfolio of companies: Hamilton Locke, Source, Helios Salinger and Materra. Since its inception in 2018, HPX's strategic focus on enhancing both the people experience and client outcomes has been key to its exponential growth, earning the company a place on the AFR’s Best Places to Work and Fast 100 lists, and most recently being recognised as Australia’s fastest growing firm. As the Chief Platform Officer, Janelle has played a critical role in driving this growth, including overseeing the launch of 6 office locations and the acquisition and integration of 9 businesses, while effectively scaling operations and technology to support a business of over 550 people.

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Lara Wentworth

Lara is an experienced Leadership and Performance Coach, certified by the International Coaching Federation (PCC). As a former law firm partner, she understands the high-pressure demands of professional environments and specializes in coaching leaders to navigate complexity, build resilience, and enhance performance.

As Co-Founder and Director of Coaching Advocates, a global coaching and training firm for professionals, Lara has worked extensively with lawyers, executives, and leadership teams, helping them develop the self-awareness, communication, and leadership skills needed to excel.She has been coaching professionals one-on-one, in teams, and through leadership programs since 2017. 

Lara is a certified Master Practitioner and Trainer in Neuro Linguistic Programming which is a powerful transformational tool that she incorporates into her coaching, training and facilitating to create effective and sustainable mindset development.

Lara has coached senior partners of international law firms as well as other professional and executives in the leadership space. As an international speaker, Lara frequently presents on leadership, mindset, and the future of professional development in an evolving workplace.

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Carl White

Carl White is a leading voice in transforming client experience (CX) in the legal industry, bringing deep expertise across global, national, and boutique law firms.Carl, Founder of CXinLaw and a Distinguished Fellow at the Centre for Legal Innovation, is a recognised authority in legal CX. His market-leading research has shaped industry standards, driving firms to reimagine how they engage with clients.

He bring dynamic, engaging, and practical insights to CX, making it an accessible and actionable area for law firms. The session will explore how human engagement—enhanced by technology, systems, and processes—can drive client loyalty, firm differentiation, and sustainable growth.

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Emily Whitehouse

Emily is a strategic connector with 25+ years of experience forging powerful partnerships across the education, not-for-profit and private sectors. Driven by a deep belief in the potential of collaboration to bring about lasting change, Emily joined So They Can in 2021, where she now leads global partnership strategy and engagement. Emily is passionate about cultivating meaningful, values-aligned partnerships that drive long-term social impact and benefit everyone involved.

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Parvaneh Yavari

As Product Manager for Spinika, Parvaneh Yavari leads the development and delivery of innovative solutions aligned with legislative requirements and client needs across Australasia. Collaborating closely with clients, the broader Spinika team and Verlata, she ensures that the product strategy is shaped by real-world insights and the evolving demands of legal and professional services.

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