Presenters

Paul Lewis, Senior Legal Counsel, Carroll & O’Dea Lawyers
Paul Lewis is a Senior Legal Counsel and one of Sydney’s most senior and well-respected Family Law specialists. Based at our Sydney and Parramatta offices, Paul acts for clients that live locally, in the regions and overseas. After attending Sydney University and becoming a solicitor in 1990, Paul was mentored by one of Sydney’s leading family lawyers (the late John Pollard) before becoming an Accredited Specialist in Family Law in 1999. Paul has been a practising mediator since 1994. He became an Accredited Specialist in Dispute Resolution in 2018, awarded on an honorary basis for his services to that area of the NSW Law Society’s Specialist Accreditation Scheme. Guiding clients through the uncertainty and stress of their changed family circumstances and helping them arrive at a new turning point in their lives is Paul’s reason for choosing family law as his specialist area. Paul was one of the first lawyers in Australia to be trained in Collaborative Law in 2005, and he includes the use of collaborative processes among the various “process choices” that are available to clients. Paul settles the vast majority of his cases (parenting and financial matters) and is known as a firm and pragmatic negotiator. He is a determined and wise litigator for those cases that require a decision by a Judge.

Peter Dombkins, Director, PWC
Peter is an award-winning expert in legal transformation, legal technology and legal project management, and has led complex legal transformation programs for some of Australia's largest companies and law firms. Peter is also a leading national voice on legal professional competencies and education, particularly in legal operations and legal project management. Peter has 16 years' international experience in organisational transformation and capability development, with over a decade in the legal sector - including as a practicing lawyer specialising in major projects. Peter is the first Legal Project Manager to be peer-accredited by the Australian Institute of Project Management (AIPM), and is a Chartered Project Professional (ChPP) with the UK Association for Project Management. Peter is also a nationally accredited AIPM project management assessor, and is Australia's first Adjunct Associate Professor in Legal Transformation, at the University of NSW Faculty of Law. Peter is Vice President of the Australian Society for Computers and Law, and is the Managing Editor of that society's journal.