Maximise your final opportunity to accumulate CPD points for the year by attending a session led by a panel of experts. They will provide you with the essential knowledge and skills required to enhance your professional expertise. This program includes 11 carefully selected topics that address key aspects of the legal landscape in 2024. In just one information-packed day, you can gain all the CPD points you need and reinforce your practice. 243Q28

Presenters

Mr. Patrick Sefton, Special Counsel,
Patrick is a specialist technology and IP lawyer. Patrick has extensive experience advising on ICT contracts and programs, as well as the protection of innovation and brand. In his specialist areas, he has advised all levels of government, and multi-national and listed entities through to startups. Patrick values collaboration, pursuit of shared goals, commercial resolution of differences, and collective success. He keeps the big picture in his mind, although his role also includes attention to and responsibility for the details. Patricks clients value his responsiveness and commerciality. Patrick has particular interest staying current across novel applications of ICT including, most recently, commercial applications of machine learning and AI, and their associated legal issues. More broadly, Patrick is enthusiastic about the value that technology can unlock when it is appropriately planned and implemented.


Ms Stacy Miller, Partner,
Stacy Miller has practiced exclusively in the areas of commercial litigation, insolvency, debt recovery and dispute resolution since her commencement of practice in Queensland in 2003. She has been a partner of the Gold Coast based specialist commercial litigation and insolvency firm, Cronin Miller Litigation, since 2014. Prior to private practice, her interest in insolvency was sparked during her tenure as a legal officer at the Federal Attorney General’s department in a small team put together specifically to provide assistance to those appearing before the Royal Commission into the collapse of HIH Insurance. Subsequently she practiced in specialist commercial litigation and insolvency firms in Brisbane, before joining the team at Cronin Litigation Lawyers (as it then was) in 2011. A highly regarded litigator with notable success in factually complex high end litigation cases, her expertise includes trade practices actions, contractual disputes, shareholder and partnership disputes, estate litigation, realising and enforcing securities and general commercial disputes for direct industry clients and professional firms such as accountants and liquidators.


Ms. Leone Costigan, Executive Counsel,
Leone Costigan is an Executive Counsel in the Herbert Smith Freehills Finance, Real Estate and Property team specialising in real estate transactions. Leone works with major property development companies and property trusts in Australia advising on the acquisition, disposal, development, leasing and ongoing management of real property assets. Leone is also an alumni of HSF's digital law group which is a team of specialist lawyers that work with the firm's multi-disciplinary teams to provide advice to clients to assist with digital transformation and the creation, promotion and commercialisation of smart legal contracts. As part of the HSF's pro-bono legal programme, she enjoys providing legal advice to pro-bono clients including SVDP, Ronald McDonald House and Youngcare. Leone is an accredited specialist in property law, and Tax Institute member. She is also a member of the board of the Ronald McDonald House Charities SEQ.


Elizabeth Gore-Jones, Principal, The Franchise and Business Lawyers
Elizabeth Gore-Jones was admitted in 1994 and commenced specialising in franchising law in 2000. She started the law firm "The Franchise & Business Lawyers" in 2012 specialising in providing commercial, business and franchising advice to franchisors and franchisees alike. She is a member of the Queensland Law Society Franchising Committee and is a past member of the Franchise Council of Australia, the Queensland chapter of the Franchise Council committee and the Women in Franchising committee. Elizabeth lectures at the Bond University PLT course in franchise legal practice. Elizabeth has a particular interest in setting up new franchise systems and assisting franchisees in dispute to reach an agreement without resorting to the court system. Elizabeth advises Franchisors ranging from large Australia wide franchisors through to the smaller franchise systems. As franchising law becomes more complex, Elizabeth is called upon to assist legal practices in representing their clients.


Mr. Stephen Hughes, Special Counsel, Travis Schultz & Partners
Stephen Hughes, a QLS accredited specialist, is a workplace relations and personal injuries lawyer with over 30 years' experience. Stephen's practice to date has a substantial litigation focus in State and Federal courts and Commissions. Stephen is regularly invited to speak and chair at numerous specialist conferences on work health and safety, employment law, discrimination, bullying, harassment, social media and personal injuries law. Since 1993, Stephen has been the Honorary Solicitor and an ex officio Board Member for the Australian Society of Rehabilitation Counsellors Inc. In 2021 Stephen was awarded an ASORC Honorary Fellowship in recognition of his many decades of service.


Ms. Rose Dimitrious, Special Counsel, Holding Redlich
Rose is a Special Counsel in our Workplace Relations & Safety group specialising in employment and industrial relations. Rose’s practice covers all aspects of the employment relationship, including employee misconduct, managing underperforming employees, advising on Award coverage issues, advising on employment entitlements, drafting employment agreements and policies, drafting executive agreements, contract disputes, defamation matters, anti-discrimination, professional misconduct defence, workers’ compensation and managing discipline and dismissal. Rose has an extensive contract law background, and advises on employment contract and policy strategy. She has experience in complex front-end matters, drafting employment agreements, contractor agreements, policies and bespoke arrangements. Rose is experienced in advising a range of clients, including large, medium and small enterprises, as well as Government.


Ms. Angela Cornford-Scott, Director, Cornford Lawyers
Angela Cornford-Scott is the director of Cornford-Scott Lawyers Pty Ltd and an accredited specialist in succession law. She has worked in the area of succession law for over 20 years and has a particular interest in estate planning, trust matters and estate administration issues. Angela is the current Chair of the QLS Succession Law Committee. Angela is a member of STEP and a previous Chair of the Queensland Branch. She has lectured for QUT, the College of Law and is a regular presenter of seminars. She also co-authors the Lexis Nexis practical guidance publications in Succession law and Elder law for Queensland. Angela has been named in the Doyles Guide as a pre eminent lawyer in the areas of both Wills and Estates and Estate Litigation in Queensland for a number of years and was the only Queensland lawyer named as pre eminent in both categories in the Doyles Guide Australia. Angela was also named the Lawyer of the Year for 2020 in Succession Planning by her peers in the 12th edition of Best Lawyers.


Mr. Rob Cumming, Barrister, 19 Inns Chamber
After 35 years as a solicitor, Rob commenced practising as a barrister at the Queensland Bar in May 2017. Rob specialises in a range of estate, trust and disability law issues. He is well versed in dealing with estate litigation, particularly family provision applications, construction, rectification and cy-prŠs applications and solemn form proceedings. Similarly, he is very experienced in guardianship and administration matters and the special requirements for persons with a legal disability. As a solicitor, Rob successfully achieved Queensland Law Society Specialist Accreditation


Ms. Elizabeth Le, Director, Ernst and Young
Elizabeth Le is a Director in EY’s People Advisory Services practice based in Brisbane. Elizabeth has over 15 years’ experience in all aspects of Australian immigration law and practice, assisting multinational corporation and individuals with their immigration needs across a range of industries, including but not limited to Mining, Financial Services, Health, Manufacturing, and Aviation. As a child of refugees who escaped the Vietnam War in 1979, Elizabeth recognises how life changing an immigration journey can be, and through her human-centric approach, Elizabeth brings value to her clients through her experience and passion for immigration law. While Elizabeth’s experience is broad, her particular area of focus is employer-sponsored migration, working with small employers to large global employers. Elizabeth’s experience spans across Australian immigration law, policy and practice and includes: • Development of strategic global immigration solutions to support employers to deploy their workforce across borders and attracting and retaining skilled foreign talent • Strategic immigration planning and compliance advice for complex mobile workforces • Advice on the design and implementation of operational efficiencies for global immigration programs • Advice on a wide range of immigration solutions involving home and host jurisdictions • Developing immigration compliance and risk management strategies • Through an EY network in over 150 locations across the world, connects companies globally and manages global immigration programs. Elizabeth is holds a Bachelor of Arts (University of Queensland), Bachelor of Laws (University of Queensland) and Master of Business Administration (Macquarie Business School) and is a Legal Practitioner, admitted to the Supreme Court of QLD and High Court of Australia. She is a member of QLD Law Society, Migration Institute of Australia and Institute of Chartered Accountants. In her down time, Elizabeth enjoys time with family and friends, especially over a delicious meal.


Ms. Hayley Tarr, Principal, Tarr Law
Hayley has a Bachelor of Science majoring in genetics, a Bachelor of laws with first class honours, and a Masters of Industrial Property Law. She is admitted as a patent and trade marks attorney, a solicitor in the state of Queensland, an attorney in the state of New York, USA, and a nationally accredited mediator. Having worked for top tier firms such as Allens and Minter Ellison, and taught at Bond University, Hayley founded Tarr Law in January 2020. Tarr Law is a boutique intellectual property law firm, able to assist clients in all intellectual property matters including: trade marks, copyright, designs, domain names, patents, and IP disputes. In addition to running Tarr Law, Hayley is on the Women’s Leadership Committee for the International Trademark Association (INTA), is the Queensland Law Society representative on the Attorney General’s Appeal Costs Board, is a mediator for the Queensland Supreme Court Pro Bono Mediation Scheme for Self-represented Litigants; and is a member of the board of the Gold Coast Gymnastics Club. Hayley is a Lawyers Weekly Australian Law Awards 2023 Finalist. Everything Hayley does is for the sake of her two beautiful daughters. When she is not in the office, you’ll find her seeking out new and adventurous experiences with her girls.


Dr. Graeme Edwards CFE, Director, CYBER
Graeme Edwards is a Detective in the Queensland Police Service Fraud and Cyber Crime Group in Brisbane, Australia. Edwards has been a member of the Queensland Police Service since 1999, having previously been a Detective in the New Zealand Police Service. He has been a specialist investigator of financial and cyber crime for approximately 12 years. He has conducted numerous investigations into financial and cyber crime; its effects on their victims and identifying new methodologies on how criminals are using the internet. Currently, he is in the final stages of completing of Doctorate of Information Technology with a thesis on investigating cybercrime in a multi- jurisdictional environment.


Ms. Nicole Murdoch, Principal, EAGLEGATE
Nicole is the Principal of EAGLEGATE Lawyers and a recommended Lawyer in the 2022, 2021, 2020 and 2018 listing of Leading Queensland Intellectual Property Lawyers - Doyles Guide. As a qualified Lawyer, Electrical Engineer and Trade Marks Attorney, Nicole's qualifications and practical experience allow her to fully comprehend the nexus of the law, technology and business to provide advice to her clients - which is both commercially sensible and technically practical. Nicole's legal experience includes Intellectual Property litigation including, trade mark, patent, copyright and domain name disputes and associated misleading and deceptive conduct, confidential information and passing off disputes. She also acts in Information Theft cases to prepare clients for data breaches, assists upon a breach, gives advice in respect of mandatory data breach notifications and prosecutes insider threats.


Mr. Justin Marschke, Principal, Cowen Schwarz Marschke Lawyers
Justin brought his practice to Cowen Schwarz Marschke in 2013, after 5 years as a Partner at an international firm based in Brisbane/Melbourne and first tier experience and training around the world. He stays at the cutting edge, taking the lead on novel legal issues, high-risk regulatory issues and high-stakes domestic and international disputes and transactions. This is why clients including listed companies, banks, governments, multinational household names and insolvency firms around the world and locally ask for Justin. And it is why third parties continue to recognise him as a leader in his field as you can see from his recognition set out below. Justin is always on call for a number of national and multinational clients to enforce restraints and breaches of confidentiality and intellectual property rights and in case of defamation as well as to recover debts. With his vast experience of contracts, regulatory regimes and resolving issues that have led to litigation in Australia and around the world, you can see why clients also come to Justin to manage their domestic and international M&A transactions, project finance, commercial property transactions, general business deals and operational issues. Justin also lectures and speaks regularly on a broad range of dispute resolution and regulatory issues. Recognition: Best Lawyers Australia – Litigation – Best Lawyers®️ International (recognised 2013 to 2024), Best Lawyers Australia – Regulatory – Best Lawyers®️ International (recognised 2017 to 2023), Best Lawyers Australia – Dispute Resolution – Best Lawyers®️ International (recognised 2013 to 2024), Recommended Lawyer 2023 – Insolvency & Restructuring – Doyle’s Guide (recognised 2016 to 2023), Leading Lawyer 2023 – Litigation & Dispute Resolution – Doyle’s Guide (recognised 2012 to 2023), “Outstanding litigation lawyer” – Dispute Resolution – Legal 500 Asia Pacific (recognised 2013 to 2014).


Ms. Sarida Derrington, Barrister, 35 West Chambers
Sarida has a broad commercial and regulatory practice, with a particular focus on commercial disputes, competition and consumer law, corporations law, and regulated industries and professions. In the commercial space, Sarida has acted for both small and large companies and private individuals in a range of civil disputes – from discrete applications involving novel points of law to long-running professional negligence disputes. In the regulatory sphere, she regularly acts for State and Federal regulators, as well as for private companies and individuals responding to regulatory action. Sarida has particular experience in the conduct of compulsory examinations by regulators such as ASIC and the ACCC. She acted (led) for senior members of the Forensic and Scientific Services’ DNA testing laboratory in the Commission of Inquiry into Forensic DNA Testing in Queensland conducted by Walter Sofronoff KC (2022). Before being called to the bar, Sarida was a solicitor in the Civil Regulation team of the Australian Government Solicitor; a senior associate in the competition law team of an international law firm; and a civil law adviser in the ministerial office of the Commonwealth Attorney-General. Sarida holds a Master of Laws (with First Class Honours) from the University of Cambridge, where she was awarded a first class with distinction for her thesis on the economics of human gene patents. She received her Bachelor of Laws (with First Class Honours) and Bachelor of Arts from the University of Queensland.


Dr. Adrian McCullagh, Principal, ODMOB Lawyers
Adrian holds degrees in Computer Science and Law, along with a Ph.D. in IT Security from the Queensland University of Technology. With over 30 years of experience, he is a pioneer in IT law in Australia and a member of the Queensland Law Society and the American Bar Association. Adrian continues to engage in research with Griffith University and the University of Queensland, publishing in various academic journals. His research interests include telecoms security, IT governance, cryptocurrencies and the implications of autonomous vehicles and machine learning. He also serves on the Intellectual Property and Information Technology Committee for the Queensland Law Society.


Ms. Caroline Counsel, Managing Partner, Caroline Counsel Family Lawyers
Caroline Counsel is the principal of Caroline Counsel Family Lawyers: Better Families, Brighter Futures. She is an Accredited Family Law Specialist, trained as a Collaborative Lawyer and Mediator & Arbitrator and Family Dispute Resolution Practitioner of some 35+ years’ experience. Caroline is a Past President of the Law Institute of Victoria (2011) and Honorary Life Member. Caroline has been a Board member of the LIV, LCA and has been Co-Chair of the LIV’s Collaborative Practice Section and presently holds the Family Violence Portfolio for the Institute as well as Co-Chair of the Family Violence Working Group at the LIV. Caroline is a State government appointed member of the Industry Taskforce on Family Violence. She is one of the inaugural board members of the Victorian Legal Admissions Board (appointed by Victorian Attorney General June 2015) and still sits on the VLAB Board as well as the Admissions Committee.