Speaker bios

Angus has extensive experience in a broad range of public law, with a particular focus on administrative law, regulatory prosecutions and statutory interpretation, as well as the workings of Government and the public service, having acted for and against Government entities and public servants throughout his career.

He has experience working in constitutional law, employment, discrimination, and workplace health and safety prosecutions.

Angus has appeared in a range of Courts and Tribunals, including the High Court of Australia, Queensland Supreme Court and the Queensland Civil and Administrative Tribunal.

In 2022, Angus was appointed Junior Counsel Assisting in the Commission of Inquiry relating to the Crime and Corruption Commission. In 2022 and 2023 he was one of the Senior Counsel Assisting the Royal Commission into the Robodebt Scheme.

Session: Ethical issues for government lawyers arising out of the Robodebt Royal Commission

Renee commenced at the private bar in 2019. She practises predominantly in administrative and public law, human rights, health law, inquests, and native title. She has appeared led and unled in federal and state jurisdictions, including appellate and specialist courts and tribunals. Since 2006, Renee has worked as a legal practitioner in the areas of administrative and public law in private and government practice. 

Session: Ethical issues for government lawyers arising out of the Robodebt Royal Commission

Lionel is the head of our Corporate Advisory Group in Brisbane and is a key member of our Government Services Team. He has 30 years of partner experience and a wide-ranging commercial practice, particularly in major contracts, having drafted industry-standard agreements in various sectors. 

Sessions: Vicarious Liability, Always Speaking - statutory interpretation in changing times 

Liam is a property and development specialist, who regularly advises public sector agencies on their complex property, procurement and development matters.  He has a particular focus on government led development projects and government functions with significant property aspects (such as ports, health, industry attraction, renewable / green energy, emergency services and utility infrastructure).  

In his work for State and local government agencies he has acted on all types of property transactions, funding arrangements, development agreements, infrastructure projects and dealings with State land and non-freehold tenures. He also advises private clients on development transactions, acquisitions / disposals, major leasing and debt financings for industrial, retail, office and residential projects.

Session: How can the public sector do it better?

Paul specialises in procurement, construction and infrastructure, and he has advised on a wide range of projects, from ‘Business as Usual’ works, supply and civil projects through to billion-dollar infrastructure projects and iconic mixed use developments.  Paul regularly advises on the tender, negotiation and delivery of major projects, and he has significant project administration and management experience ‘through the life cycle’ of a construction project. He advised on some of Queensland and Australia’s largest construction projects.

Paul also has over 7 years’ of in-house experience working as the Regional Legal Counsel for Queensland at Multiplex Constructions. and he was a member of the Regional Executive Group for Queensland throughout his tenure, giving him broad exposure to the commercial drivers of a significant business. 

Session: How can the public sector do it better?

Daniel’s outcome-focussed approach benefits his clients at times of crisis including in response to Commissions of Inquiry, regulatory investigations, coronial inquests, cyber breaches and natural disasters.

Daniel has also acted for both the prosecution and the defence in regulatory prosecutions.

Session: National Integrity Spotlight 

Alicia has extensive experience in commercial litigation, property and insolvency. Alicia has acted for a wide range of clients, including mercantile agents, large as well as small companies, banks, government owned statutory bodies, voluntary administrators, receivers, liquidators and trustees. In addition, Alicia has significant experience in overseeing volume debt recovery matters with a focus on energy providers and the construction industry. Alicia regularly provides advice to clients on contractual issues, tactical considerations and negotiates commercial outcomes for clients without the need for litigation. 

Session: Enforcing PPS

Angela has recent experience acting on behalf of various councillors and other clients in relation to proceedings and investigations by the Crime and Corruption Commission (CCC).

Angela has experience in matters which relate to proceeds of crime legislation and the Queensland Criminal Code.

Session: National Integrity Spotlight

Mitchell is a well-regarded litigator who specialises in commercial disputes, insolvency, and competition and consumer law. He has extensive experience conducting commercial litigation in all Australian jurisdictions. 

Session: Leading Cases 

Robert specialises in advising on information technology projects, privacy law matters, and general corporate and commercial matters. Robert has over 20 years of privacy law, corporate and commercial advice and IT experience gained in private practice, in-house roles and directly within the IT industry. 

Session: Beyond ChatGPT - AI in government

Russell has over 29 years' experience in advising on a broad range of domestic and commercial construction projects with particular expertise in construction litigation. Russell's clients range from Government Departments and Authorities, large commercial construction companies to small domestic builders, subcontractors and owners. Whilst the majority of Russell's practice involves building and construction litigation, Russell also provides advice on building including risk management. 

Session: The power to change your mind

Aaron in an experienced banking and finance lawyer with a strong focus in the real estate and construction sector. He also has a broad range of experience in corporate finance, healthcare and general banking law.

Session: Enforcing PPS 

Anna is an experienced legal practitioner with a demonstrated history in contentious regulatory matters, particularly in the financial services sector. Anna has acted on matters in all Australian jurisdictions, and primarily assists public sector and corporate clients in navigating and resolving disputes.

Session: Leading Cases

Craig has litigation experience acting for financial institutions, receivers, liquidators, government agencies and private clients, both in prosecution and defence of claims. 

Craig also has extensive experience in providing advice to local governments on a wide range of matters. 

Session: Leading Cases

Jasmia is a Senior Associate in the corporate advisory team and works in the government services group. Jasmia provides detailed and comprehensive advice to clients in both the private and public sector and assists with the drafting and negotiation of a wide variety of commercial agreements. During her past 6 years at Gadens, Jasmia has also worked in the banking and finance team and the financial services recoveries and litigation team, assisting major financial institutions with their front end and back-end requirements. Jasmia has an LLB and Bachelor of Business, majoring in Finance from the Queensland University of Technology.

Session: Leading Cases

Peter acts for a number of private and Government clients on the Property related aspects of major commercial, industrial and infrastructure projects in Queensland. This has recently included projects involving renewable energy eco-precincts and rare-earth mineral processing facilities as part of Australia’s energy transition. Peter also has extensive experience advising institutional landlords on all aspects of retail, commercial and industrial leasing and assisting clients with the acquisition and disposal of commercial and industrial real estate.

Session: Leading Cases

Blade is an Associate in the Corporate Advisory Group at Gadens and sits within Gadens' employment team. Blade has extensive experience as an employment lawyer and industrial relations expert, as well as a workplace investigator. His expertise includes all areas of employment, industrial relations, discrimination and labour-related privacy law. He regularly advises on all aspects of the employment lifecycle and is a skilled litigator in the workplace relations space. He has a particular interest in the law of vicarious liability, having received the Dominica Whelan Prize for the Best Paper Presented by a Practitioner at the Australian Labour Law 2021 Conference for an article on vicarious liability for intentional employee wrongdoing.

Session: Vicarious liability 

Brierly is a corporate advisory lawyer with a keen interest in the intersection of law and new technologies. She is experienced in advising multi-national tech and social media companies across various practice areas, including intellectual property, defamation, competition and consumer law, privacy and data compliance. Brierly’s experience extends to advising companies on cooperation with Australian regulatory bodies and complex civil and criminal litigation.

Session: Beyond ChatGPT - AI in government

Natalie works with developers, contractors, financiers, and other stakeholders in the construction industry to deliver successful projects and mitigate risk.  Natalie also represents clients in court and tribunal proceedings in complex building disputes and provides specific project solutions to clients. 

Session: Leading Cases

Pat is a committed member of the Gadens Property and Construction team where, as a Graduate, he assists with disposals, acquisitions and leasing matters for a number of private and Government clients. Recently this work has included major commercial, industrial and infrastructure projects with a focus on renewable energy and rare-earth minerals processing projects in Queensland. Having formerly worked as a Policy Advisor in Government, Patrick understands the important role Government and private sector partnerships play in delivering large scale infrastructure projects.

Session: Leading Cases