Council and Executive members

 The Council is the governing body of the Law Society. It comprises 15 elected members and the Immediate Past President. Councillors are elected by the membership of the Society, and Council convenes once a month. The Constitution of the Society vests the Council with the responsibility for the management of the Society’s affairs, including income and property.

The Executive Committee consists of five elected members, the Immediate Past President and a member appointed by the Council. The Council has delegated to the Executive Committee the responsibility of overseeing the administration of the Society’s activities and the implementation of Council policies. The committee also considers applications for practising certificates and membership.

ACT Law Society Executive and Council members

Lawyer - ACT Legal Aid Office

Year admitted and practising: 1986 - Continuous practice for 38 years

Current practice area or specialisation: Employment and Confiscation of Criminal Assets

Rob has been in legal practice for 38 years. You know Rob as the former Professional Standards Manager. After 18 years of faithful service to you, Rob now practices in employment law and Confiscation of Criminal Assets at Legal Aid, fulfilling a passion to promote the greatest possible access to competent legal representation. Rob did articles of clerkship locally working as an employed solicitor for 5 years before going into sole practice for 15 years and then the PSM role in 2006 until this year. Rob hopes you remember him as dedicated, accessible, and always appropriately advancing your interests. Rob knows most of you as his former students, through his Practice Management Courses, and numerous ethics sessions he hosted and presented. The local profession is diverse and Rob strived as PSM to build real and enduring links between you and the Law Society based upon trust, mutual respect, and competence.

Partner, HWL Ebsworth Lawyers

Year admitted and practising: 2005

Current practice area or specialisation: Dispute Resolution

Andrew is a partner at HWL Ebsworth Lawyers and was admitted to practice in June 2005 after studying law at the Australian National University. He has been a Council member since September 2022. Andrew is an expert dispute resolution lawyer and mainly defends workers compensation, public liability, medical negligence and property damage claims. He was recognised as Lawyer of the Year for Alternative Dispute Resolution in Canberra in Best Lawyers Australia 2022, and as Lawyer of the Year for Insurance work in Canberra in 2021. He has also been recognised in the same publication for Government Practice (2017-24), insurance (2019-24) and Dispute Resolution (2020-24). Andrew is also a migration law expert and assists businesses and individuals to obtain Australian visas.

Managing Director, Clear Law

Year admitted and practising: 14 years practising

Current practice area or specialisation: Tax, commercial and estate planning

Vik Sundar is the managing director of Clear Law, a boutique commercial, tax and estate planning firm operating in Canberra, Sydney and Melbourne. With 14 years experience as a solicitor and experience spanning a 10 year period in various roles on the Society, Vik brings a wealth of experience to the Society. These roles include as a Councillor, Treasurer and most recently as a Vice President of the Society. Vik also currently serves on the Society’s Governance Review Committee. He has been a passionate advocate of giving back to the legal community, having previously served on council and authored 3 text books on estate planning and trusts. Vik was admitted to the ACT Supreme Court in 2010 and has held roles in the public service, in-house and private practice. Vik’s broad experience will allow him to understand the needs and represent the interests of a broad range of members.

Co-Founder and Director, Bedfords Legal

Year admitted and practising: 1984 and 40 years practising

Current practice area or specialisation: Commercial and small business, specialised estate planning, property & general client advising

Mark has practised in Canberra since 1984, and has worked in sole practice, and as a special counsel, partner and director in several local firms. Mark practises principally in small-medium business and commercial matters, specialised estate planning and business succession, as well as general client advisory work. Mark was a member of Council between 2010 and 2014, before stepping down for a few years. He was re-elected to Council in 2018 and was elected Treasurer in 2020 and has served in that posiiton to date. Mark has been a member of the Society’s Professional Standards Committee since 2007.

Director, Robinson + McGuinness Family Law

Year admitted and practising: 2007

Current practice area or specialisation: Family Law, Care & Protection

Kevin is a director of Robinson + McGuinness Family Law and practices in family law, care and protection, and wills and estates. He has been in practice in Canberra since 2008, working with and representing the interests of people across the ACT and surrounding areas. Kevin has served on Council, including as Secretary for three years and has been member of the Family Law Committee (Chair 2020-24) since 2016. Kevin is often appointed to represent the interests of children as Independent Children’s Lawyer in contested family law matters. He is also an accredited mediator and arbitrator.

Partner, Mills Oakley

Year admitted and practising: 2004

Current practice area or specialisation: Insurance and civil litigation

Lisa is the current President of the ACT Law Society, and a partner at Mills Oakley, having been admitted to practice since 2004. She works predominantly in the areas of insurance litigation and dispute resolution, acting for both government and private clients in several legal areas. She is a strong advocate for gender equality and the benefits of flexible work arrangements, being a mother of three (energetic) young children. She is passionate about fostering a culture that embraces diversity, equality, flexibility and inclusion.

Director, Parker Coles Curtis

Year admitted and practising: 2010

Current practice area or specialisation: Family Law

Catherine is one of the founding Directors of the Family Law Firm Parker Coles Curtis. She is an accredited specialist in family law and trained Independent Children’s Lawyers. She has been a member of the Council since 2013 with 4 years leave when she had her two children who are now 7 and 5 years. She has significant experienced navigating and making decisions in relation to governance and regulatory matters. Catherine has also been Committee Member of the Family Violence and Children’s Committee since January 2022. She regulaly volunteers at the Women’s Legal Centre.

Sole Practitioner, Donohue & co

Year admitted and practising: 1978

Current practice area or specialisation: Commercial litigation, property, probate and wills

While Chris has already had 14 years of service on the Council, including 2 years as President, he feels the need to continue and apply his accumulated experience and knowledge of the workings of the Society to the governance changes that are currently being considered by a limited number of people within the Law Society. These changes would include a significant reduction in members representatives on Council, and some practical matters that would not require constitutional change. Chris is firmly of the view that any significant changes to membership representation should only be proposed after proper consultation with members via transparent and detailed information, including the reasons and rationale forany proposed outcomes. His view is that our current Constitution serves our membership well, and reducing membership involvement without cogent reasons would be a backward step. Chris has concerns about the child protection system’s direct and indirect effect on children.

Senior Solicitor

Year admitted and practising: 2017

Current practice area or specialisation: Government Law

Andrew began his legal career as a family lawyer at Legal Aid ACT when he was admitted to practice in 2017. In 2019, he went on to work at the office of the ACT Government Solicitor, where he is now a senior solicitor. At the office of the ACT Government Election of the ACT Law Society Council 2024-2025 Page 7 of 14 Solicitor, he has worked across the litigation and citizen’s rights and welfare practice groups. Currently, he is on a directorate out-posting to Child Youthnand Families in the ACT Government Community Services Directorate, where he works in child protection litigation. Andrew is passionate about the continuing professional development for new lawyers and has an interest in driving mentoring in the legal community.

Sole Practioner
Year admitted and practising: 1987 NSW Supreme Court
Current practice area or specialisation: International Law and Public Policy

Suzanne has an Arts Law degree from the University of Sydney (with a major in public
administration and law), a Master of Laws degree from the University of Melbourne
(with a major in the law of information and inter-government relations) and is a
mediator and graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors. Following an articled clerkship with Allen, Allen and Hemsley in Sydney, Suzanne worked for over thirty years across the public and private sectors (Commonwealth Attorney-General’s Department, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission, Commonwealth Treasury, Philips Fox Sydney, Clyde and Co London, and Clifford Chance London). In addition to litigation and dispute resolution experience in international trade law in global markets, Suzanne is a seasoned international lawyer and public policy professional having had extensive experience in advising on, developing, implementing, and reviewing regulatory and legislative measures for successive Australian Governments. 

Principal Lawyer

Year admitted and practising: 2003

Current practice area or specialisation: Immigration law

Liz Hug attended ANU where she studied Asian Studies/Law. She was admitted to practice in 2003 and has worked as a lawyer in government, in a large firm and currently as a boutique immigration law firm owner. Liz has served on Council from 2023-2024 and is standing for re-election. Liz has served a diverse range of clients including refugees, Australians seeking visas for family members and Australian employers who have a business need to sponsor skilled staff from overseas. Liz believes in the importance of lawyers maintaining a high standard of conduct but also that the lawyer is a human being. Liz understands the pressures that lawyers work under in juggling client’s needs, compliance obligations and family commitments. She is passionate about lawyer wellbeing and has presented seminars on this important topic. When she is not working, Liz enjoys bushwalking, birdwatching and making travel plans.

Special Counsel, Womens Legal ACT

Year admitted and practisingL 1993, 31 years practising

Current practice area or specialisation: Family Law

Sarah is a current Council member, having held the role for the past three years. Sarah was admitted to practise over 31 years ago and holds a LLB, Grad Dip LP and NMAS certification as a mediator. Her primary experience is in the area of Family Law. Sarah is currently Special Counsel at Womens Legal, ACT, working in the community sector for the past four years. Previously, she worked in private practise for 28 years, mostly recently as a Partner at local firm Gabbedy Milson Lee. Sarah has also worked in three jurisdictions, for small and large firms, in rural and regional areas, Sydney and Canberra. This breadth and diversity of experience assures the Council of great depth of knoweldge and understanding of the issues our members and the legal profession as a whole face. Sarah is personable, calm, caring, diligent, robust when necessary, and collaborative in her approach.

Director, Morris Legal Group
Year admitted and practising: 2009, current practising stint 8 years (since 2016)
Current practice area or specialisation: Property, property development, front end construction, project finance.

Louise is driven to continuously learn, improve the practice of law and contribute to building knowledge in her clients and the profession. Through this appointment, Louise seeks to advocate for innovation in the profession to address increased demands upon practitioners and reduce member attrition. Following graduation from ANU in 2009 with LLB(Hons)/BComm and GDLP, Louise worked in property development, and is a recipient of the Australian Property
Institute’s Young Achiever Award for service to the property industry. Since returning to practice in 2016, Louise’s focus has been to bring a commercial approach to the technical appliation of the law, supporting clients to grow and succeed. Louise is recommended by Doyle’s both as an individual practitioner and the leader of firms in the property space. Louise is a proud sponsor of Lifeline Canberra and is also a registered kickboxing and Muay Thai official in multiple jurisdictions.

Associate Director, Clear Law
Year admitted and practising: 2020
Current practice area or specialisation: Wills and Estates, Commercial, and Superannuation

Originally from Bathurst, New South Wales, Daniel moved to Canberra in 2007 to pursue
an Asian Studies focused undergraduate degree at the Australian National University.
After seeing how fulfilled his partner and many of his friends were by their legal careers
in Canberra, Daniel began his postgraduate Juris Doctor at the Australian National
University, which he completed in 2019 ahead of admission to legal practice in 2020.
Daniel is now an Associate Director at Clear Law and practices across wills and estates,
taxation, commercial, and superannuation law matters. He has years of experience and is wellregarded by his peers and clients as diligent, professional, compassionate, and personable.
Daniel also sits on the ACT Law Society’s Elder Law and Succession Law Committee, and the New Lawyers Committee, and looks forward to contributing further to the profession on the Council.

Partner, Clayton Utz

Year admitted and practising: 2003, 21 years practising

Current practice area or specialisation: Property

Adam was admitted in 2003 and initially practised in Melbourne and London before returning to Canberra in 2011, first as a special counsel at Ashurst, then as a partner at Mills Oakley, and since 2023 as a partner at Clayton Utz. He has spent all of his legal career as a property lawyer, advising public and private sector clients in relation to the acquisition, development, sale, and leasing of real property. Adam also assists clients with planning law and probity matters. He has been listed every year since 2014 in the Best Lawyers in Australia publication and every year since 2016 in Doyle’s Guide. Adam has been a member of the Society’s Property Law Committee for over a decade, including having Chaired / CoChaired that committee for the past six years. He has been a Council member since 2022.

Special Counsel, Norton Rose Fulbright Australia

Year admitted and practising: 2007

Current practice area or specialisation: Cyber security and emerging technology

Amanda is a Special Counsel at Norton Rose Fulbright Australia, practising in cyber security and emerging technology, with an interest in governance and risk. Amanda is seeking election for a fourth term on the ACT Law Society Council. Having held senior roles in private practice, in-house at global technology companies and in government, clients turn to Amanda for contextual advice for time-critical, highprofile, complex legal, commercial and risk matters. Her broad experience exemplifies the range of legal opportunities and practitioners in the ACT, and she welcomes the opportunity to continue to represent the diversity of these perspectives on the Council. She is an advocate for good governance and is enthusiastic about continuing to give back to the legal community and contributing to the administration of the practice of law in the ACT. Amanda is also an accredited Mental Health First Aid for the Australian Legal Profession First Aider.