Sushma Ananda

Commercial Barrister at 7 King’s Bench Walk

Sushma practices as a commercial barrister at 7 King’s Bench Walk in London. She is ranked in Chambers & Partners in Insurance & Reinsurance and the Legal 500 in Insurance & Reinsurance, International Arbitration, Professional Negligence, Shipping and Commodities. She is a specialist in the insurance sector and her recent highlighted cases include the 2020 COVID-19 business interruption test case (at first instance and in the Supreme Court) brought by the FCA against eight insurers; the Stonegate Pub Company v MS Amlin and others (2022) litigation which is expected to go to the Court of Appeal in November this year and decides a number of the most important COVID-19 business interruption issues left undecided by the test case; and the ‘at the premises’ COVID-19 business interruption litigation (where Sushma acts for insurers in the Pizza Express Group Limited and others v Liberty Mutual Insurance Europe SE and another case).

Keith Bethlehem

Keith Bethlehem leads the complex coverage team at Australian Global Access firm, Colin Biggers & Paisley. His focus is in the areas of financial institutions and D&O insurance.

Keith has a reputation for pragmatic and industry-aware advice. He has been ranked in Chambers as a leading insurance lawyer since 2014. In the 2022 edition, a client notes that Keith "is quick to identify issues of contention and obstacles in the resolution of claims and seeks to circumvent the adversarial nature of coverage disputes."

Keith has a market leading role in relation to the series of class action against major banks and financial institutions arising from the Financial Services Royal Commission, and relevantly for his presentation acts as coverage and monitoring counsel in relation to numerous Securities Class Actions. He acted for the primary insurers that supported the successful defence in the Iluka proceedings.

Rhys Bollen

Rhys leads ASIC's Credit, Banking and General Insurance team, which is within ASIC's Regulation and Supervision group. Rhys's team has primary responsibility for the supervision of general insurance providers, retail banking, credit intermediaries (including mortgage brokers), consumer and small business credit, and electronic payments. He also oversees ASIC's Indigenous Outreach Program.

Rhys was previously the Senior Executive Leader of ASIC's Insurers team and, before that, the Investment Managers team. He has also held senior leadership roles in ASIC's international strategy, consumer, and strategic policy teams.

Rhys has more than 20 years' experience as a regulator, academic and public policy practitioner. Before joining ASIC, Rhys was an Executive Director at the NSW State Insurance Regulatory Authority, and Assistant Commissioner for Policy and Strategy at NSW Fair Trading. He has also worked in private legal practice. Rhys has a PhD in financial services regulation and Masters degrees in both law and business.

Dallas Booth

Dallas Booth has had a long career in and around the general insurance industry in Australia. He retired from full time work in October 2021, when he was Chief Executive Officer of the National Insurance Brokers Association of Australia – a position he held for over 10 years. Dallas continues to hold a number of roles at the Australian Financial Complaints Authority, Insurance Council of Australia and the Australian Finance Industry Association.

Prior to working at NIBA, Dallas was Chief Executive at Asbestos Injuries Compensation Fund, and also worked at the Insurance Council of Australia for 8 years, where he held a number of roles including Deputy Chief Executive.

Dallas' early career was in the NSW public service, where he served a number of Attorneys General providing policy advice on a wide range of issues and legislation.

Dallas is admitted as a Barrister at Law in NSW, and is a Fellow of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.

Geoff Boughton

Geoff has a PhD in Structural Engineering for work on wind loads on housing at the Cyclone Testing Station, James Cook University, and has worked in both academia and industry in Australia on structural design. He has also worked in Asia and the Pacific on low-cost disaster-resistant housing solutions and some World Bank Projects on improving the resilience of housing in Tonga and Fiji.

Geoff has been involved in Cyclone Testing Station teams that have investigated damage to housing following extreme wind events throughout Australia and on other projects to evaluate and improve resilience in buildings. He is a member of a number of Australian Standards Committees including the committee on structural timber, and the committees for the wind loadings standards, AS/NZS 1170.2 and AS 4055. He has also participated in ISO technical committees.

Julie Bowker

Julie is a partner at Carter Newell Lawyers, based in Sydney. She qualified as a lawyer in England & Wales in 1992. She practiced in England until her move to Australia in 2012. Julie was admitted as a lawyer in Australia (New South Wales) in 2014.

With an emphasis on defending professional indemnity claims, Julie’s experience extends to advising Australian and international insurers across a number of insurance classes, including professional indemnity, contract works and construction risks, property and industrial special risks, management liability, public and product liability, directors’ and officers’, and public offering of securities.

Julie provides policy coverage advice and defends complex professional liability claims, including acting as defence and coverage counsel in class actions. She has acted for and against professionals including, construction professionals and surveyors, solicitors, accountants, and auditors, and regularly acts for insurers involved in complex coverage disputes.

Julie advocates the use of alternative dispute resolution methods and has acted in numerous mediations in Australia and the UK. Julie is a committee member of the Australasian Professional Indemnity Group.

Robin Bowley

Robin Bowley's principal fields of teaching and research are in Corporate Law and Insurance Law. Robin's current research projects focus on corporate and financial services regulation, the responsibilities of financial services intermediaries, and insurance responses to maritime security and terrorism risks.

From 2005 to 2011 he was a Lawyer with ASIC – where he was involved in numerous investigations into possible contraventions of the Corporations Act (2001) and related legislation – including continuous disclosure, insider trading, market manipulation, breaches of directors duties and insolvent trading.

Robin's obtained his PhD in Law from the University of Wollongong in 2014. His thesis, which evaluated international legal responses to the risk of maritime terrorism, was ranked second out of 14 dissertations internationally in the 2014 “Best PhD Thesis in the Field of Terrorism and Counter-Terrorism Studies”, conducted annually by the Terrorism Research Initiative.

He is actively involved in professional bodies including the Australian Insurance Law Association (as a member of the NSW Council) and the Governance Institute of Australia (as a member of the Corporate and Legal Issues Committee). He is a contributing author to a number of legal publications – including the Butterworths Corporations Law Bulletin, Australian Corporations Law Principles and Practice and Australian Consumer Credit Law published by LexisNexis, and Robsons Annotated Corporations Legislation published by Thomson Reuters.

Oliver Brand

Born 1974 in Bielefeld (Germany); studies in Law and Political Science at the Universities of Münster (Germany), Oxford, and Cambridge (UK); PhD and Post-Doc at the University of Münster (Germany); Holder of the Chair for Private Law, Insurance law, Commercial Law, and Comparative Law at the University of Mannheim (Germany) since 2009, Director of the Institute for Insurance Sciences there, executive since 2017; Director of the Institute for German, European and International Medical Law, Health Law, and Bioethics at the Universities of Heidelberg and Mannheim since 2019. Board member of the German Association for Insurance Sciences (German section of AIDA) since 2022.

Academic interest in the field of insurance law: General principles of insurance contract law, digitalization of the insurance industry, life & health insurance, climate change & sustainability, principles of insurance supervision.

Scott Breihl

Senior Associate, Turks

Scott joined Turks in 2018 and is a Senior Associate in the General Insurance team. Scott has experience dealing with all aspects of general insurance claims and specialises in advising insurers on policy drafting, regulatory and compliance issues as well as investigation management. Prior to joining Turks, Scott worked as a graduate in QBE's major loss and investigation teams and has completed multiple 'in house' secondments with insurers. Scott is the recent winner of the 2022 AILA Gill Award for his essay on AFCA's approach to the fairness in dispute resolution.

Caitlin Carson

VIC State Practice Leader FINPRO

Caitlin has worked in the insurance industry for 18 years, all of those years working as a Financial Lines servicing broker for Marsh (previously JLT) including placement and claims advocacy. Caitlin has worked in Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne markets during her tenure.

Caitlin currently leads the Victorian FINPRO team, which comprises of specialist financial lines brokers with industry specialties in Financial Institutions and Professional Services firms. She has managed a number of global and ASX-listed companies, private and government bodies, financial institutions and professional service firms.
In 2019, Caitlin was recognised as the National Insurance Brokers Associations’ National Young Professional Broker of the Year. This award recognises insurance brokers demonstrating outstanding professionalism and integrity in the industry.

In 2020, Caitlin attend the Yale School of Management to participate in their Women’s Leadership Program. This supported Caitlin’s ability to support leaders within Marsh’s clients with the unique challenges that are experienced at an executive level and drive better outcomes for their benefit.

In 2021, Caitlin commenced her Masters of Business Administration with Melbourne Business School. Caitlin utilises her studies to deepen her understanding of executive risks to provide more valuable advice and support to her clients.
Qualifications:

• Qualified Practising Insurance Broker
• Diploma of Financial Services (Insurance Broking)
• Bachelor of Business (Management) with Distinction
• Masters of Business Administration (MBA) (currently studying)

Laina Chan

Laina is the 2021 Lawyers Weekly Women in Law Barrister of the Year. Recognised as the leading expert in Australia on the interplay between construction and insurance law, Laina is a learned and fearless advocate. She specialises in professional indemnity claims, property law and complex commercial dispute resolution.

Laina is tenacious and tireless. When necessary, Laina advocates for the systematic development of the law both at trial and at appeal. She has achieved excellent outcomes for her clients in this way.

As your counsel, Laina always strives to achieve the optimal resolution for your dispute utilising her legal, commercial and strategic skills. If Laina is briefed at the outset of a dispute, she will work with the entire team to resolve the disputes early so that costs are contained and client margins preserved. Her understanding of commercial realities ensures that the most efficient strategy for resolution is identified and implemented.

Prof J W Carter and Laina co-authored the 2019 seminal work on Contract and the Australian Consumer Law which examines how the ACL has amended the law of contract. Their 2020 work on the new method for quantum meruit claims is widely referenced as well. She is also the LexisNexis author for the annotated Insurance Contracts Act 1984 (Cth) for the Australian Insurance Law Practice and on the Editorial Panel for the LexisNexis Australian Insurance Law Bulletin.

Laina has a Certificate of Management Excellence from Harvard Business School having completed programs in negotiation, strategy and leadership. Since completing the negotiation and dealmaking program in 2018, during mediations, Laina sets aside the common adversarial approach to negotiations, embracing the more open and relationship building methodology to secure the best outcomes for her clients. The fact that Laina settled 13 matters in the six months following completion of her Harvard Business School Negotiation course is testament to this alternative approach.

She has also been identified as a game changer in the TOP 100 women in construction initiative and has been featured as a woman to watch by the University of Sydney. She is a finalist in the 2019 to 2022 Lawyers Weekly Australian Barrister of the Year Award.

Tim Chan

Senior Associate & InsurTech Lead (Australia) Norton Rose Fulbright

Tim is Senior Associate & InsurTech Lead (Australia) at Norton Rose Fulbright. He is also the Founder of The InsurTech Lawyer blog and a Faculty Member of The Digital Insurer Academy where he lectures on insurance regulation.

Tim regularly advises insurers, start-ups and scale-ups on regulatory issues, the development of novel products, new distribution models and emerging risks. He is known for his commercial acumen and is a recommended lawyer in The Legal 500 Asia Pacific.

Tim is a Certified Insurance Professional (ANZIIF CIP), a member of the Australian Insurance Law Association (NSW TechHub Committee member) and the NSW Reinsurance Discussion Group.

Prof. Johnny Chang

Prof. Dr. Johnny Kuan-Chun Chang is currently engaging in career of both insurance law academia and practice. In addition to his professorship at CTBC Business School, a school founded and sponsored by China-Trust Financial Holding Co. in Taiwan, he is also the Senior Consultant at Lockton Co. and Off-Counsel at Luda Attorney at Law. Before joining the CTBC faculty, Dr. Chang served as the President of the Taiwanese Financial Ombudsman Institution in which he chaired the Ombudsman Committee and adjudicated more than 10,000 cases involved insurance sale and claim dispute cases.

Dr. Chang's educational background includes multidisciplinary studies. He received his LL.B. and M.B.A degree in Taiwan and LLM. In Banking and Financial Law at Boston University and Doctor of Juridical Science at Georgetown University Law Center in the U.S.

Belinda Cohen

Belinda is an experienced people specialist who improves business performance by optimising individual and team performance. An award-winning HR professional and accredited Master Coach, Belinda has 25 years of experience in the private and public sectors as a lawyer, operational leader, HR professional and consultant. Belinda is valued for her specialist expertise by senior leaders operating in high pressure/high output workplaces with complex stakeholder landscapes including politically sensitive and high security environments.

Belinda leads the People team at Gilchrist Connell, a leading Australian insurance sector law firm, whilst providing specialist executive coaching and behavioural consulting services in her private consultancy.

Caroline Thomas

Consultant at Hugill & Ip, Hong Kong
Caroline is a lawyer and arbitrator with a focus on cross-border matters. She qualified in England & Wales in 2008, in Hong Kong in 2010 and in New York in 2022.

Industry sectors Caroline is particularly familiar with include (re)insurance, shipping and trade, energy, telecoms, tech, pharma and construction. Her practice areas of focus are dispute resolution, regulatory law and data privacy.

Caroline has extensive experience (over 50 cases) as counsel and arbitrator in international arbitrations (including HKIAC, ICC, LCIA, LMAA and SIAC arbitrations) and has written and advised an NGO on investor state arbitration. In addition, she has handled court cases in England & Wales and in Hong Kong and helped clients supervise disputes heard before courts in many other jurisdictions. Caroline holds an LL.M focusing on arbitration from Columbia University (with honours), is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators and is on numerous arbitration panels and lists.

Having spent several years in a legal and policy role at the Insurance Authority of Hong Kong (2018-2020), Caroline is not only very familiar with Hong Kong’s insurance regulatory regime, but also with other insurance and financial services regulatory regimes both in Hong Kong and in other leading financial centres. Caroline frequently handles the regulatory aspects of M&A transactions (particularly involving insurance), licence and other applications, as well as thorny regulatory issues. A holder of a Master’s Degree in Economics from Trinity College Dublin, Caroline enjoys advising on competition law. She also advises on AML, data protection (under the GDPR and Hong Kong law), as well as on sanctions – and has advised on steps to be taken following an AML or sanctions breach.

Caroline is fluent in German and French, conversational in Spanish and Italian and is learning Mandarin.

Ryan Crompton

Managing Director, Risk Frontiers

Dr Ryan Crompton leads Risk Frontiers and has expertise in the development of catastrophe loss models and physical climate risk solutions. During his 20 years at Risk Frontiers, Ryan has undertaken a wide variety of projects for the insurance sector as well as government and non-government organisations. His research background is in natural disaster losses and climate change including the application of catastrophe loss models to climate change adaptation decision-making.

Ryan has appeared at Royal Commission and Senate Committee Inquiries as a subject matter expert and was a member of the Scientific Committee of the industry-led Climate Measurements Standards Initiative (CMSI) in Australia. He has contributed to Risk Frontiers' submissions to other Government Inquiries relating to natural disasters and is the author of various scientific and industry publications.

Edward Currie

Edward J. “Ned” Currie, Jr. is a Senior Shareholder at Currie Johnson & Myers, P.A., with offices in Jackson and Biloxi, Mississippi. He has forty-seven years of experience in the courtroom and has tried over one hundred seventy-five cases to verdict. His practice covers the range of insurance defense matters including numerous significant cases in the fields of large loss and complex insurance coverage claims and bad faith.

• Founder and Past President, American College of Coverage Counsel
• Member, American Law Institute
• Advocate, American Board of Trial Advocates
• Past member, Board of Directors of the Federation of Defense & Corporate Counsel
• Past member, Mississippi Supreme Court Advisory Committee for the Mississippi Rules of Civil Procedure.
• Past President, Mississippi Defense Lawyers Association
  • Lifetime Achievement Award
  • 2021 Defense Lawyer of the Year
• Best Lawyers, 2021 Lawyer of the Year for Insurance Law, 2016 Lawyer of the Year for Personal Injury – Defense, 2012 Lawyer of the Year for Insurance Law in Mississippi.
• Mississippi Business Journal, top ten Leaders in Law
• Super Lawyers, Top 50 Mississippi Super Lawyers
• Former Adjunct Professor, Mississippi College School of Law (evidence, trial practice)

Alan Dayeh

Sustainability Strategy and Financial Services with Point Advisory, an ERM Group Company

Alan is Partner, Sustainability Strategy and Financial Services with Point Advisory, an ERM Group company based in Sydney, NSW. He provides clients with integrated advisory solutions in the areas of corporate responsibility and sustainability, including environmental, social and governance (ESG). With over 25 years of industry and professional services experience, he takes a pragmatic approach to integrating ESG strategies and risk management into organisations. Previously Westpac’s Head of Sustainability Governance, he was the Westpac Group representative on Sustainability Risk Management. He also oversaw Westpac’s policies on Climate Change and Human Rights and helped maintain their Dow Jones Sustainability Index leadership position from 2015-2017.

He works with financial services organisations to strengthen their chosen ESG integration and reporting approaches. Alan chairs the Responsible Investment Association Australia’s (RIAA) First Nations Peoples’ Rights Working Group and led the authoring team of the most recent Global Sustainable Investment Alliance’s Investment Review for 2020. He also contributes to raising ESG literacy in the Risk profession through the delivery of introductory training offered by the Risk Management Institute of Australasia.

Kavita Deobhakta

Litigation Partner, Morgan Coakle Lawyers
Areas of specialty:

Insurance litigation – advising insurers and conducting subrogated defences and recoveries relating to specialist liability and fire and general policies. Professional indemnity, fire & general and statutory liability claims.

Professional networks include:

Member of ADLSi, Australia New Zealand Institute of Insurance and Finance, member of the Professional Development committee of the ANZIIF, member of the New Zealand Insurance Law Association.

Arj Dibley

Head of Sustainable Finance Hub, Melbourne Climate Futures, University of Melbourne

Dr. Arjuna Dibley is an expert in climate change law and economics. He currently leads a research initiative on sustainable finance at the University of Melbourne's interdisciplinary center called Melbourne Climate Futures. Over the past decade, he has worked internationally as a commercial lawyer, investment adviser and researcher at leading law and consulting firms and academic institutions. He holds a doctorate in law and economics from Stanford University, is an affiliated researcher at the University of Oxford and a board member of CarbonPlan. Arjuna continues to advise financial institutions on climate change issues on the side of his academic work.

Massimo F. Dotto

Partner at CMS Rome (Italy)

Massimo F. Dotto is Partner to CMS Rome (Italy), a law firms' network with over 70 offices in more than 40 countries, and senior member of the Insurance and Dispute Resolution Department.

He acts as counsel and litigator to several important Italian and foreign companies operating in different areas of business including insurance, commercial distributorship, and agency. He has also matured an extensive experience in surety bonds.

Massimo is also Lecturer of Private Law at “Università Europea di Roma” and currently co-responsible of the English language course “Elements of Italian Private Law”.

His publications include a guide on the enforcement procedures and on the compulsory insurance in Italy, both edited by Giuffrè Editore.

Chris Erfurt

Carlos Estebenet

Senior Partner at BULLÓ Abogados

• Practice areas: (a) Insurance;  (b) Reinsurance;  (c) State supervision and legislative matters; (d) Litigation and Arbitration; (e) Commercial and corporate matters.
• Chairman of Mapfre Group in Argentina.
• Counselor of the Argentine Association of Insurance Companies. (AACS)
• Full Professor at “Pontificia Universidad Católica Argentina Santa María de los Buenos Aires" (Insurance Law) and Director of the Master´s Degree course “Specialization on Insurance Law”.
• AIDA: Member of the Presidential Council: AIDA International; Chairman: Reinsurance Working Group AIDA International; President: AIDA Argentina (Argentine Association of Insurance Law. AADS)

Contact Details:  (54-11) 4-52729600 - carlosestebenet@ebullo.com.ar
Cel: + 54 9 11 4 416 3608
Buenos Aires. Argentina

Colin Fagen

Managing Director, Blue Zebra Insurance

Colin Fagen is the Managing Director and co-founder of Blue Zebra Insurance, an Insurtech Underwriting Agency that services the Australian Intermediary market. Blue Zebra has created its own market leading proprietary system, Blue Leopard, built with the team's extensive industry experience and Broker relationships. Blue Zebra provides a wide Personal and Commercial Lines product range and licences Blue Leopard to other Agencies and market participants.

Colin has over 33 years Insurance experience and has held global c-suite roles at QBE Insurance including Group Chief Operations Officer, Group Chief Strategy Officer and CEO of QBE Australia & New Zealand. He has been President of the Insurance Council of Australia and a Director of the Australian and New Zealand Institute of Insurance and Finance. Colin currently sits on the Underwriting Agencies Council in Australia.

Nigel Fellowes-Freeman

Nigel Fellowes-Freeman, a seasoned entrepreneur with a proven record of launching successful startups, is the driving force behind Kanopi, an innovative insurtech startup leading the embedded insurance revolution.

As a previous Entrepreneur-in-Residence at BCG Digital Ventures and a trusted advisor to early-stage fintech startups, Nigel's strategic insights and industry acumen further contribute to the growth and development of the startup ecosystem.

Christof Gaudig

Christof Gaudig advises investors, multinational enterprises and German medium-sized companies on domestic and cross-border M&A transactions and complex projects, including litigation in these areas. He also advises insurers and reinsurers in litigious proceedings and on regulatory matters. Christof Gaudig is heading the sector group energy and infrastructure at Oppenhoff. Christof is one of the US relationship partners of Oppenhoff.

Legal 500 and JUVE (leading German legal publication) regularly cite him as a “recommended lawyer” in the areas of Corporate and M&A. JUVE quotes him regularly as recommended lawyer for insurance law. WirtschaftsWoche Guide cites him on the list of the 600 leading figures for M&A and corporate finance in Germany.

Ray Giblett

Partner at Norton Rose Fulbright

Ray is partner at Norton Rose Fulbright and leads the Australian insurance practice. He has over 25 years' experience in financial services and insurance matters, advising across the full contentious, regulatory and transactional spectrum. Ray is also a leading practitioner in the emerging Insurtech space.

Ray is one of Australia's leading insurance lawyers and recently won the Insurance Business 5-Star Innovator Award 2022 (with Tim Chan). Together with his leading Chambers, Best Lawyers, Doyle's Guide and Legal 500 rankings, other achievements include the Legal 500 Hall of Fame, AILA Shona Wilde Award – 2019, Australasian Lawyer (5 Star insurance lawyer) award, Best Lawyers – Lawyer of the Year, Insurance Sydney 2013 and Euromoney's guide to the World's Leading Insurance and Reinsurance Lawyers.

Ray is a prolific author, having authored or co-authored over 100 journal articles and conference papers. He is the Asia-Pacific Chair of the AIDA Financial Lines Working Group and a member of AILA/AIDA (NSW Committee member). He is also a member of the Reinsurance Discussion Group and FSC (Life Regulatory Affairs Working Group).

Bill Hardie

Bill began as a professional Horticultural Agronomist in the Wide Bay region of QLD for 8 years.

He then transitioned to Agricultural Reinsurance underwriter roles located in Switzerland and Bermuda. The primary role was to manage treaty and parametric products throughout the Global and North American markets.

Bill joined Liberty in 2018 as a Senior Underwriter for Crisis Management and Weather, and now has a primary focus on parametric product development and broadacre agricultural risks.

Kate Gill-Herdman

Senior Legal Practitioner in at Corrs Chambers Westgarth's Responsible Business and ESG Practice

Kate is a senior legal practitioner in at Corrs Chambers Westgarth’s Responsible Business and ESG practice.  She specialises in advising clients on a range of responsible business and ESG issues including business responsibilities under the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, responsible procurement, supply chain investigations, greenwashing and managing ESG risk.  She has worked across a range of sectors including financial services, mining, retail, property and government.

Kate is also an investigations and public inquiries specialist, having acted in many of Australia’s significant public inquiries, including the Royal Commission into the Casino Operator and Licence, the Victorian Hotel Quarantine Board of Inquiry, the Victorian Royal Commission into the Management of Police Informants, the Financial Services Royal Commission and the Victorian Bushfires Royal Commission.

Kate regularly presents to clients on Business and Human Rights, and ESG Risk and Governance.  She is a member of the Responsible Investment Association of Australasia and its Business and Human Rights Working Group and manages Corrs’ membership of the Australian Sustainable Finance Institute.

Ozlem Gurses

Professor of Law at King's College London, UK

Özlem Gürses is a Professor of Law at King's College London, UK. She is the author of Reinsuring Clauses, Marine Insurance Law (3rd ed 2023), Insurance of Commercial Risks (6th ed forthcoming) and numerous articles on insurance and reinsurance law. Özlem sits in the Presidential Council of International Association of Insurance Law (AIDA), and the British Insurance Law Association Committee. She is vice chair of the Reinsurance Working Party of AIDA. Özlem frequently presents her research at international and national conferences. She teaches insurance, marine insurance and reinsurance law at higher education institutions at home and abroad, including Singapore, Germany, Sweden, Italy and China

Andrew Hall

Andrew joined the Insurance Council of Australia in September 2020 as CEO and Executive Director. He joined the ICA from the Commonwealth Bank, where he served as the Executive General Manager for Corporate Affairs for seven years.

He was previously Director of Corporate and Public Affairs for Woolworths Limited for six years, participating as a member of the Management Board.

Andrew's professional career started as a journalist in regional New South Wales in 1994, before moving to Canberra in 1996 where he worked in federal politics for 10 years. From 2001 to 2007 he was the Federal Director of the Nationals and served on the Federal Management Committee.

His expertise in the corporate affairs profession has been recognised with admission to the Arthur W. Page Society, recognition in the International Top 50 Corporate Affairs Professionals (Salt & Shein 2014) and in the inaugural award of Top 50 Outstanding LGBTI Leaders in Australia (Deloitte 2016) for his work in leadership roles, diversity and on the Board of Equality Australia for the marriage equality campaign. He has extensive experience in governance, both in the corporate and not-for-profit sectors. He is a member of the ASX Corporate Governance Council and the Advisory Board of the Northern Rivers Reconstruction Corporation. He serves on the Board of the charity Rural Aid.

Tim Hardy

Chair of the AIDA Climate & Catastrophic Events Working Party

A graduate in Jurisprudence from Oxford University, Tim is an English-qualified (now non-practising) solicitor and mediator with extended experience of insurance and reinsurance practice and the law.

A practitioner for 30 years in the City of London, specialising in reinsurance and international risk disputes and coverage issues, he has written and regularly presented on these topics and served on various market associations and committees.

In 2011, his interest in the role played by insurance and reinsurance in the management of, and response to, large-scale natural and man-made exposures, impacted by climate change, saw him appointed the inaugural Chair of the Climate & Catastrophic Events Working Party of AIDA (the international insurance law association), a role he continues to play.

Having also served as an officer of the AIDA World Executive Committee, Tim remains a member of the AIDA Presidential Council, is Co-Chair of AIDA Europe and a Vice President and active committee member of the British Insurance Law Association.

Neil Hartzwell

Partner at Freeman Mathis & Gary LLP

Neil Hartzell is a Partner in the United States national law firm Freeman Mathis & Gary LLP. He is a trial and appellate lawyer and has over 30 years of experience in a broad range of matters, representing both plaintiffs and defendants in complex civil litigation, including environmental, class actions, antitrust, false claims act and state whistleblower, securities litigation and investigations, civil RICO, insurance coverage, medical device litigation, class actions, aviation, workplace and employment related matters, banking litigation, professional liability, claims involving accountants, attorneys, design professionals as well as governmental investigations.

He is “AV Preeminent” rated by Martindale-Hubbell Peer Ratings System and is listed in the Best Lawyers in America.

Education:
• J.D., Boston University School of Law, Topics Development Editor, International Law Journal
• B.A., Boston College, cum laude

Fred Hawke

Fred Hawke's experience encompasses all classes of Life and General insurance, alternative risk transfer, captive insurers, insurance distribution, regulatory reform, reinsurance and retrocession agreements. He has conducted insurance transactions, efficacy analysis, portfolio transfers and disputed claims litigation/arbitration on behalf of some of Australia's largest manufacturing, resource, energy, financial institution and government policyholders.

Over more than four decades, initially working in the insurance industry and then in private legal practice with Clayton Utz, he has helped to resolve insurance and reinsurance disputes involving some of Australia's largest Property, Casualty and Financial Lines losses. He also is a founding director of the Australian College of Insurance Studies and regularly teaches insurance law in university Graduate Studies programs.

Bernie Heinze

Mr. Heinze is Executive Director of the Federation of Defense & Corporate Counsel, and President and Chief Executive Officer of The Heinze Group in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and London, England. He is also called upon to offer expert witness testimony in state and federal courts across the United States on insurance related issues and has testified before Congress on several occasions on matters pertaining to the insurance industry.

He has also served as Executive Director of the American Association of Managing General Agents; Vice President & Chief National Litigation Counsel of the Reliance Insurance Company; an equity partner on insurance defense and coverage matters with the Wilson Elser law firm; litigation associate with the Marshall Dennehy law firm in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Executive Assistant & Press Secretary for Erie County (New York) Executive, Edward J. Rutkowski in Buffalo New York; and as Legislative Assistant for Congressman Jack Kemp in Washington, DC. He also worked as weekend anchor at WAVA NewsRadio in Washington, DC.

He is the founder, life member and former President and active firefighter of the Fire Department of Montgomery Township, Pennsylvania and Chair of the St. Peters Lutheran Church Global Outreach Team. He is married with 2 daughters and fluent in the German language.

Philip Hopley

Philip is an experienced corporate insurance and financial services lawyer. He leads the firm's corporate insurance practice.

Philip helps clients do business by advising them on commercial solutions to insurance issues that are effective, clear and easy to understand.

He acts for a range of clients including general and life insurers, reinsurers, insurance intermediaries and financial institutions as well as general corporate and government clients.

Prior to joining Hall & Wilcox, Philip gained experience in top tier private practice in Australia (Herbert Smith Freehills, Ashurst and Allens) and began his career in the London insurance market.

Experience

Philip's experience includes advising on:

• Advised Spirit Super, an Australian industry super fund, on its joint acquisition, with US infrastructure investor Stonepeak, of GeelongPort.
• Financial services regulation, licensing and prudential compliance matters for general and life insurance and reinsurance. This includes all of the legislative reforms affecting the insurance sector introduced in 2021.
• Distribution arrangements and distribution model management for carriers and distributors.
• Scheme transfers of life and general insurance business.
• Acquisitions and divestments of insurance and financial advice businesses.
• New and amending product design for life and general insurance on an individual and group basis.
• Liaising with the conduct and prudential regulators, ASIC and APRA, in relation to regulatory approval and relief applications, breach reporting, investigation, enforcement and remediation work.
• Reinsurance advice and policy drafting, including benchmarking and value-in-force quota share arrangements.
• Insurance benchmarking and placement advice for commercial insureds.
• Warranty and Indemnity (W&I) insurance.

Nigel Jones

Dip F.S (Brok), GIA (Cert), Manager Insurance

Nigel has in excess of 35 years’ experience in the insurance industry. Before bringing his considerable experience and knowledge to Aurizon in 2011, Nigel worked for international broking houses managing complex accounts predominantly in the rail, mining and power generation sectors.

As the Aurizon Insurance Manager, a Director of Iron Horse Insurance Company Pte Ltd, and a recognised authority on major account practices; Nigel is responsible for the design, development, placement and implementation of a group wide international insurance and risk transfer program, including loss management; that reflects an alignment to the board endorsed risk profile.

Karl Jones

Head of Analytics and Advisory, AP, Guy Carpenter

Karl leads Guy Carpenter's Global Strategic Advisory group in Asia Pacific, which includes the catastrophe, actuarial and advisory analytical teams.

He has more than 25 years' experience in reinsurance, working in both Europe and Asia, with insurers, reinsurers, regulators and governments on risk modelling, risk financing and climate risk.

Before joining Guy Carpenter, he led the international catastrophe analytics team for Willis Re, based in London, and was Managing Director at Willis Reinsurance Australia. Karl is involved with several activities linking the insurance industry and climate resilience with research and academic sectors across the Asia Pacific region, including China, Japan and Australia. He has previously been a member of the Advisory Board of the Cyclone Testing Station at James Cook University, Queensland.

He is an Associate of the Chartered Insurance Institute and a graduate of the University of Cambridge.

Angus Kench

Angus has over 30 years of commercial experience including 19 years leading claims management, adjusting and investigation businesses. Prior to joining Liberty in 2015 Angus was General Manager of a large Australian loss adjusting business overseeing all professional claims staff across multi lines. Angus is highly regarded for his drive, attention to detail and client focussed approach.

His qualifications include Bachelor of Business, Executive Certificate in Insurance, ANZIIF (Fellow), CIP, FAIM.

Dr Robert Koch

Professor at the University of Hamburg

Dr Robert Koch is Professor at the University of Hamburg. He holds the chair of Private Law and Insurance Law. He is the director of the Institute of Insurance Law, which was founded in 1916, and the director of the LLM programme on insurance law. He is the chairman of the Hamburg Association of Insurance Science and chairman of the International Insurance Law Association's Working Party on Financial Lines & Cyber. In the latter capacity he is a member of the Presidential Council of the International Insurance Law Association (AIDA). His special interests lie in liability insurance with a focus on financial lines. He is the author of numerous articles and books on insurance law, especially on liability insurance, fidelity insurance and cyber risk insurance. The second edition of his book on insurance law in Germany was published in April 2023. Since the 9th edition, he has been co-editor of the 13-volume Bruck/Moeller commentary on German insurance law, in which he comments on all classes of liability insurance and motor insurance, among others.

Quinton Kotze

Quinton is respon≈sible for Chubb's Cyber and Technology insurance underwriting strategy, portfolio management, product and services development across Australia and New Zealand.

Quinton has 20 years of insurance industry experience, having started his career in London working for both insurers and Lloyds markets. He has held various underwriting, broking and management roles in the UK, New Zealand and South Africa.

Jérôme Kullman

Prof. Dr. Jérôme Kullmann is Professor Emeritus of private Law (University of Paris-Dauphine) and President of the Institut des Assurances de Paris Dauphine.

He has been President of AIDA World (2014-2018), Member of the Executive Committee and the Presidential Council (2010-..), President of the Scientific Committee (2010-2014) and Vice-Chairman of AIDA Europe (2012-2016).

He is President of AIDA France (2000 - Present).

As member of the National Insurance Council, he has been the President of the “Commission consultative des Assurances” (Insurance Advisory Commission - Ministry of Economic and Financial Affairs), expert on Solvency 2 at this Ministry, and expert at the French Court of Auditors for life insurances topics. During 19 years, he was the French member of the Group “Restatement of European Insurance Contract Law » : Principles of European Insurance Contract Law (PEICL). Since 2010, he is a member of the scientific Committee of AMRAE, the French association of risks managers, member of FERMA (Federation of European Risk Management Association).

He is the Chief editor (Scientific Director) and author of section on general rules governing insurance policies of Lamy Assurances (annual publication since 1995, 3000 pages), Chief Editor of the Revue Générale de Droit de l'Assurance, and author, with 2 colleagues, of 3 Traités of Insurance Law (Insurance contract, Personal insurances and Property and liability insurances, LGDJ editor). He has written about one hundred articles of doctrine and more than 1000 case law comments.

He is Avocat at the Paris Bar, consultant and arbitrator in cases relating to insurance and reinsurance (member of the Board of ARIAS-France).

He has been Mediator of insurances companies for 7 years.

Paul Lacey

Paul is focussed upon understanding and meeting client needs in the ANZ region as a Senior Treaty Underwriter for Hannover Re. This includes global, regional, government, national and agency clients that are either established or at a “start up” phase. Paul delivers reinsurance capital through understanding and partnership based upon his 20yrs experience including Insurance Pricing and Portfolio Management, Corporate Strategy (including M&A) , Structured Reinsurance, Reinsurance Capital Markets / Alternate Risk Transfers and Treaty Client Management. Paul holds ESG responsibility for Hannover Re Australia Branch so as to continue to deliver sustainable value to clients in the ANZ region. Paul holds a Bachelor of Commerce (Sydney University) having attained honours in Econometrics.

Yvonne Lam

Yvonne is the Head of Corporate Insurance & Insurtech. She specialises in advising on corporate and regulatory matters for the insurance industry, with expertise across each stage of the business life cycle from establishment of operations, regulatory licensing and distribution, corporate governance and restructures, mergers and acquisitions, and regulatory investigations.

Yvonne has a depth of experience in the Australian insurance and insurtech sector as it has evolved over the past decade. She advises a range of domestic and international insurers, reinsurers and insurance intermediaries on the highly regulated Australian environment in relation to financial services licensing requirements and obligations, product development, distribution and agency agreements, compliance frameworks and portfolio transfers.

She has represented clients in a number of regulatory investigations and inquiries conducted by Australian regulators such as ASIC, APRA and the landmark Financial Services Royal Commission, assisting clients with navigating the regulations and strategic responses to regulator inquiries.

Yvonne takes a commercial and collaborative approach to working with clients to achieve their strategic objectives.

She has been recognised as a recommended lawyer in the Legal 500 Asia Pacific for Insurance and for Regulatory Investigations and Compliance. She was also a finalist in the Lawyers Weekly Women in Law Awards for Special Counsel of the Year and in the Lawyers Weekly 30 Under 30 Awards for Commercial Law. Most recently, Yvonne was awarded the inaugural Susan Gin Scholarship to attend the William Ah Ket Leadership Program at ANU's Centre for Asian-Australian Leadership in Canberra.

Sara Landini

Full Professor of Economics law at the University of Florence

Sara Landini, PHD IN civil law, is Full Professor of Economics law at the University of Florence where she teaches: private law and insurance law. She is Member of the Doctoral School. She has taught in prestigious academies and universities in particular in 2018 she was visiting Professor at the University Toyo of Tokyo and in a.a. 2019/2020 Affiliate at the NSW University of Sydney. Since 2010 she is Scientific secretary of CISA inter-accademic center for actuarial studies.

Since 2012 she is member of the PC of Aida WORLD. She is Principal investigator of European Projects. She is Member of the Directors committee Area Bank, Insurance and Financial market, of Giustizia civile.com; Member of the Directors Committee of scientific journals. She is Author of 10 books and more than 200 papers in Insurance, Banking and Contracts matters. She is a member of the Supervisory Board of Assicurazioni Generali.

Avryl Lattin

Avryl leads the Corporate Regulatory Practice Group at Clyde & Co in Australia. Avryl regularly advises financial services clients on establishment, corporate governance and regulatory issues, and helps clients manage complex internal and regulatory investigations. Avryl is considered a leading regulatory adviser to the insurance industry and has extensive experience dealing with ASIC, APRA and the ACCC. Avryl also advises clients on issues arising in international trade, including international trade disputes, anti-bribery and corruption matters and sanctions, from both a compliance and enforcement perspective.

Avryl previously worked as a legal and trade law specialist with the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and was posted as an Australian diplomat to Singapore and Mumbai in trade and investment roles.

Avryl is recognised as a leading practitioner for Insurance by Chambers & Partners and Legal 500. Avryl is recognised by Insurance Business Australia as a 5-Star Insurance Lawyer.

Aaron Le Marquer

Aaron leads the Policyholder Disputes team and specialises in representing policyholders in high-value and complex coverage disputes with insurers.

Aaron acts for clients facing insured losses in diverse sectors including financial services, hospitality and retail, manufacturing, logistics, sports and entertainment. He is experienced in all commercial lines of business, including directors and officers, business interruption, product liability, environmental risks, property and casualty. Aaron spent eight years practising in the Asia Pacific region (Singapore, Hong Kong, Bangkok), and is particularly experienced at resolving international and cross-border claims, often via arbitration.

In recent times, Aaron has established a reputation as a leading policyholder advocate in relation Covid-19 business interruption coverage and has acted in many leading cases in that sphere.

Kate Lewins

Professor of Law at Murdoch University

Kate has specialised in maritime and insurance matters for 30 years. Kate was a senior associate at a national law firm before joining Murdoch University in 1997.

She has published over 50 articles and delivered many conference presentations nationally and internationally on topics including marine insurance and general insurance. Kate is the author of the monograph International Carriage of Passengers by Sea. Kate is Academic Fellow of the Centre for Maritime Law at National University of Singapore, where she teaches into their specialist LLM. Kate is the former General Editor of the ANZ Maritime Law Journal and was the Moot Director of the International Maritime Law Arbitration Moot from 2006 - 2022.

Julie Lumbis

Working in the Insurance industry for over 30 years has given me a depth of knowledge that enables me to deliver insurance solutions tailored to a myriad of different clients and stakeholders needs.

Strong results orientated work ethic underpinned by a "lead by example" attitude.

Peter MacDonald Eggers KC

Barrister at 7 King's Bench Walk

Peter MacDonald Eggers KC is a barrister at 7 King’s Bench Walk, London specialising in all aspects of commercial law, especially insurance and reinsurance. Peter acts as an arbitrator and was a Deputy Judge of the High Court (2017-2023). Peter has appeared in leading insurance/reinsurance cases, including Greggs v Zurich, Axis v ABSA, Piraeus Bank v Antares, Quadra Commodities v XL, ABN AMRO v RSA, RSA v Textainer, Enemalta v Standard Club, Generali Italia v Pelagic Fisheries, Atlantik Confidence, Brillante Virtuoso, Cultural Foundation v Beazley, Rathbone Brothers v Novae, Princess of the Stars, The Nancy, Arash Shipping v Groupama, and Masefield v Amlin. Peter teaches at UCL and is a contributing editor of Chitty on Contracts, co-author of Good Faith and Insurance Contracts and Carver on Charterparties, and the author of Deceit: The Lie of the Law and The Vitiation of Contractual Consent.

Kylie Macfarlane

Chief Operating Officer

Kylie joined the Insurance Council in September 2020 to support the ICA deliver a strategic plan to guide the organisation and its priorities. Today, Kylie has responsibility for the ICA's Climate, Operations and Strategy Team including the ICA's role in co-ordinating the Insurance industries response to extreme weather events.

Kylie has held executive and non-executive positions in financial services over the past 25 years and is dedicated to optimising public and private sector responses to rapidly changing environmental and social contexts with a focus on strategy, governance, innovation, and value creation.

Over the past ten years she has been at the forefront of Environmental and Social Governance (ESG), setting standards in organisational reporting conventions on climate, and developing multi-stakeholder approaches to environmental and social issues that are focused on producing shared outcomes and embed social license.

Chris Mackinnon

Regional Head of Lloyd's Australia & New Zealand
Deputy Regional Director, Asia Pacific Middle East & Africa

Chris Mackinnon joined Lloyd's in February 2015 with responsibility for market development, and for liaising with market practitioners and regulatory authorities to maintain and develop Lloyd's presence in Australia, New Zealand and Vanuatu.

In April 2023, Chris was also appointed at Lloyd's Deputy Regional Director for Asia Pacific, Middle East and Africa.

Chris has 35 years' experience in the international insurance industry, principally as an Insurance Broker, with extensive knowledge of both the Australian and London markets. In addition to his role with Lloyd's, Chris is also an Associate Director of the Underwriting Agencies Councils in both Australia and New Zealand, and a Non-Executive Director of the Insurance Council of Australia.

Chris is qualified as a Senior Associate of the Australian & New Zealand Institute of Insurance and Finance and is a Member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.

Jesse McNeilly

Jesse McNeilly is a former Australian Army Paratrooper and veteran who has worked globally in many austere settings. From war like operations, peace enforcement deployments through to media security and humanitarian assistance missions.

As the co founder of Frontier Expeditionary Services LLC, Jesse has taken his military, diplomatic security and remote medical skills to help others operate in conflict and disaster zones. He holds a Masters Degree of Disaster and Emergency Response from Edith Cowan University along with many other military, security and rescue qualifications. With his 20 plus years of experience Jesse offers a unique 'on the ground' perspective of war and conflict.

Rebekkah Markey-Towler

Rebekkah Markey-Towler is a PhD candidate at the Melbourne Law School and a Research Fellow with Melbourne Climate Futures at the University of Melbourne. Her research expertise is in corporate, finance and climate law and climate change litigation.

Rebekkah manages the database on climate litigation in Australia and the Pacific. She is also one of the National Rapporteurs for BIICL's project producing a toolkit on corporate climate litigation.

Her PhD looks the law and regulation relevant to the intersection of climate change and mortgage lending.

Craig Marvinney

Bricker Graydon, Cleveland, Ohio USA

Craig Marvinney is currently President of the Federation of Defense & Corporate Counsel, the American lawyers association most closely related to AIDA. The FDCC's nearly 1,500 members are highly vetted trial counsel committed to defending corporations and insurance companies and/or their insureds via litigation or other conflicts resolution processes. As “Of Counsel” with Bricker Graydon, an Ohio based law firm of over 210 attorneys, Craig has over 40 years of jury and bench trial experience throughout the United States. His career as afforded him in depth experience in American litigation involving insurance law and coverage, products liability, pharmaceutical and medical devices, patent and other intellectual property, and many varieties of complex business disputes on matters up to US $4.25 billion. Craig has worked on behalf of clients in court or otherwise in most of the 50 US states and in Canada. Mr. Marvinney also is a mediator for a United States District Court for over 30 years, and spent over 15 years as an Adjunct Professor in negotiation and oral advocacy for Case Western Reserve University School of Law in Cleveland. He is frequent public speaker, appearing throughout the United States, Canada, as well as in Europe and Asia on a variety of legal topics including Artificial Intelligence, Cybersecurity and Privacy, Blockchain technology, Insurance Coverage and Reinsurance, Complex Litigation, and Evidentiary Use and Trial Techniques, and Cross-Border Litigation between entities in the US and Canada, among others. Craig spoke before the AIDA Southwest Pacific Regional Conference in Singapore in 2017 on American Alternative Dispute Resolution.

Rob Merkin

Rob is Professor of Commercial Law at the University of Reading in England, Honorary Professor of Law at the University of Auckland and Distinguished Professor in the School of Comparative Law at the China University of Politics and Law in Beijing. Rob also teaches the LLM Insurance Law course at the University of Sydney. Rob is past president of the British Insurance Law Association and honorary life president of AIDA. He served as consultant to the English and Scottish Law Commissions for their project on the reform of insurance law 2006-2016, prepared background papers on insurance law for the Hayne Royal Commission and is consultant to the New Zealand Ministry of Business for its proposed insurance contracts legislation. In 2010 he was awarded the annual Australian Insurance Law Association prize for his contribution to insurance law and in 2012 was appointed to the Hotung Fellowship by the University of Canterbury to deliver a series of lectures on earthquake insurance. In 2014 Rob was awarded a higher doctorate (LLD) by Cardiff University, acted as Special Adviser to the House of Lords Special Public Bills Committee on the measure that became the Insurance Act 2015 and was made a KC honoris causa by the Crown. Rob has written widely on insurance, reinsurance and arbitration, and is co-author of standard texts on insurance law in the UK (Colinvaux's Law of Insurance), Australia (Sutton's Law of Insurance) and New Zealand. He also edits the Journal of Business Law, the Lloyd's Law Reports, Lloyd's Maritime Law Newsletter, Arbitration Law Monthly and Insurance Law Monthly. Rob sits as an arbitrator and is on arbitral panels in the UK, Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, Hong Kong and China.

Vicki Mullen

Senior Consultant at Finity

Vicki has nearly 30 years' experience in government and financial services, with a strong focus on public policy and regulatory affairs.

Vicki has worked in every arm of government and she has a deep understanding of public sector processes. In 1991, she was tipstaff/associate to Justice Gerard Brennan of the High Court of Australia. From 1994 to 1999, she worked as a legal researcher and legal policy officer in the NSW Parliament, including work with Legislative Council committees. From 1999 to 2001, she worked as a Principal Policy Officer in the NSW Cabinet Office and as an adviser for a senior NSW Minister.

In 1996, she lectured Public Law to second year law students at the UNSW.

From 2001 to 2019, she worked extensively in industry advocacy, including senior roles with the Insurance Council of Australia, the Actuaries Institute and several large insurers.

From 2019 to 2022, Vicki worked as an Ombudsman with AFCA.

She has also held several positions as a not-for-profit company director, including two years with BackTrack.

Qualifications:
• Bachelor of Arts/Law (ANU)
• Master of Laws (UNSW)
• Graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors (GAICD)

Satoshi Nakaide

Professor at Waseda University, Japan

Satoshi is a Professor at Waseda University, Japan. He is also the Dean of its Research Institute of Business Administration. Satoshi obtained LLM from LSE, a graduate Diploma from Cambridge and a PhD from Waseda University. Satoshi worked for Tokio Marine Insurance Group for 28 years, including as the head of the legal department, before becoming a professor. Satoshi's primary focus is insurance law, and he authored several books with three prestigious academic prizes and many articles. Satoshi has presented his work in numerous countries and serves on various projects and governmental committees in Japan. He is the Chairman of the Marine Insurance WG of AIDA and President of the International Academy of Financial Consumers (IAFICO).

Persia Navidi

Partner in Insurance, Climate & Cyber Risk at Hicksons Lawyers.

With over 12 years' experience in insurance, Persia specialises in insurance law and litigation, specifically claims arising from directors' and officers' liability insurance. Persia works with both Australian and global insurers and acts in complex claims and disputes.

Persia's expertise extends into emerging risks, including climate and cyber risks and their impact on insurers and insureds. As boardroom accountability for both climate and cyber risks continues to evolve, Persia works with clients to effectively respond to, manage and mitigate the risks as a trusted legal adviser.

Persia regularly speaks at industry events and delivers training sessions to clients on legal issues and developments relevant to insurance, cyber and climate/ESG. Persia was named as a 'Rising Star' in the Insurance Business Australia Rising Star Award 2022 and was elected as a committee member for the Australian Professional Indemnity Group in 2023.

Myles Noble

Myles has worked hard to cement claims as being a point of difference for Crombie Lockwood and its clients. A truly hands on leader Myles is regularly at the forefront of handling major losses across the country as well as providing technical claims advice internally and externally on a daily basis.

Myles was previously the Head of Claims and EQ response for Crombie Lockwood and has been with the company since 2002.

Aside from his claims role Myles has responsibility for Crombie Lockwood's Insurer Relationships, Difficult Placements, Internal and External Complaints, Uni-Care Student Travel and Professional Indemnity matters.

Myles is a highly visible contributor to the industry's Canterbury and Kaikoura Earthquake recovery efforts and is a well known public speaker both in New Zealand and overseas on our industry's Earthquake response, Disaster Recovery Planning, the New Zealand Insurance Market and Insurance Claims in general.

Myles is the immediate past-President of the New Zealand Insurance Law Association.

He was named the IBANZ Young Broker of the Year in 2005 and the IBANZ Claims Professional of the Year in 2011. Myles also won the Wesfarmers Insurance Living Our Values award in 2012 and was a finalist in the Wesfarmers Innovation of the Year Award in 2014.

Outside of work Myles enjoys time with his three children, football, cricket and (when time permits) his involvement in the music industry.

Laura Opilio

Partner at CMS Rome (Italy)

Laura Opilio is a partner of CMS Rome (Italy) and head of the Insurance and Dispute Resolution Department.

She assists numerous insurance companies especially in the Lloyd's London market on regulatory issues, distribution, localization of policy and disputes (in particular, proceedings covering professional liability, directors and auditors, public officials, guarantees, industrial incidents and product liability).

Laura is also currently Co-Chair of the International Commerce and Distribution Committee of the IBA (International Bar Association), member of the ICC Arbitration Committee (International Chamber of Commerce Italia) and of the ArbIt (Italian Forum for Arbitration and ADR).

She has been ranked in both Chambers and in Legal 500 as a leading insurance lawyer.

Adolfo Paolini

Adolfo is a professor in Corporate and Insurance Law and Head of the Law School in the University of Buckingham UK. His area of research and interest also includes Fintech and Artificial Intelligence. He is the co-author of Directors' and Officers' Liability Insurance the winner of the British Insurance Law Association Insurance Book Prize in 2009.

Professor Paolini holds the position of Insurance Law Consultant to the International law firm Clyde & Co LLP in the London office. Professor Paolini's consultancy includes advising on directors' and officers' liability insurance, international insurance disputes and providing guidance as to the operation of the Latin American insurance market. He is also the vice chairman of the civil liability insurance working party in the International Insurance Law Association (AIDA).

Professor Paolini has been ranked twice as a notable practitioner and foreign expert in Banking and Finance by one of the world's leading guides to the legal profession. Chambers and Partners.

Michael Parker

Michael Parker began legal practice as a barrister in London and then immigrated to New Zealand.

Over the past 30 years in the course of a civil and commercial litigation practice, he has specialised in insurance liability defence work for a stable of international insurers, including the London market.

In addition, Michael has for many years been active in the planning and resource management area, as counsel in numerous resource consent (planning authority) hearings, Environment and High Court appeals and judicial review proceedings, District Plan Change and District Plan Reviews.

Michael has acted as an independent hearing commissioner under the New Zealand planning legislation for several local authorities on the South Island.

Michael is a member of Lawyers for Climate Action NZ Inc.

Michael Pennel PSM

Chief Underwriting Officer at Australian Reinsurance Pool Corporation

Mike Pennell is an experienced reinsurer with 30 years in senior roles at Swiss Re, General Re and the Australian Reinsurance Pool Corporation. Since 2003 he has fulfilled the role of Chief Underwriting Officer at Australian Reinsurance Pool Corporation responsible for building the corporation's reinsurance portfolio, shaping ARPC's retrocession strategy and developing industry leading terrorism catastrophe models. He was also instrumental in establishing the cyclone reinsurance pool from 2020.

Mike is an alumnus of The Wharton Business School, University of Pennsylvania, holds a degree in Civil Engineering from the University of Technology, Sydney, is a Fellow of the Australian and New Zealand Institute of Insurance and Finance and is a Graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.

Mike was awarded the Public Service Medal as part of the 2017 Australia Day Honours List, presented by His Excellency General the Honourable David Hurley, Governor-General of Australia.

Ricardo Peralta

ACADEMIC
1992: (Jan 31) Law degree before the Supreme Court of Justice
1987-1990: Law School (3rd, 4th, 5thº grades) Universidad Diego Portales
1985-1986: Law School (1st, 2nd grades) Universidad de Valparaíso

LABOUR
Since 2001: Director of the Casualty and Financial Lines Division at Viollier & Asociados Claims Adjusters
1994-2001: American International Underwriters Regional Manager Financial Lines Southern Cone Latin American Division
1993-1994: AIG Life
1992-1993: American Life Insurance Company, Croydon, England.

OTHER
City Council member Borough of Lo Barnechea, Santiago, elected for period 2000-2004
Board member Chilean chapter of AIDA Chile Insurance Law Association, elected for periods 2001-2003, 2003-2005, 2017-2019
Chairman of AIDA Chile 2009 -2013
Member of AIDA World Presidential Council 2014-2018, 2108-2022 periods
Member of the board ARIAS (arbitration Society) since 2015.
Joint Professor Insurance Law Universidad Católica de Chile, 2001-2002
Professor Insurance Law Universidad Alberto Hurtado 2003-2008
Lecturer post graduate courses Universidad de Los Andes since 2007
Lecturer post graduate courses Universidad Católica de Chile since 2012
Lecturer at seminars on Insurance Law and Casualty for lawyers, brokers and Insurance companies.
Professor at the College of Insurance, Chile. 2007-2020

Melisa Pimenta

Lawyer specializing in insurance, medical civil liability and health plans.

• Partner at PMR Advogados (since 2018);
• Master in Civil Law from PUCSP, with the thesis "Civil Liability Insurance" (book published by Ed. Atlas, 2010 and by Ed. Dialética, 2021);
• Specialist in Arbitration from FGV (2017);
• Specialist in Consumer Law from PUC-SP;
• Member of AIDA ("International Association of Insurance Law");
• 25 years of experience in the area of insurance law, health plan and civil liability (advisory and litigation);
• Experience in team coordination, litigation management and project implementation;
• Expertise in various branches of insurance, civil liability, warranty, transport, life, health insurance;
• Author of several articles and books in the field of insurance law.

Melanie Quixley

Insurance Law Specialist & Principal, Barry Nilsson

Melanie is a Principal in the Insurance & Health at Barry Nilsson.  Melanie has almost 20 years’ experience advising local and overseas insurers and reinsurers on, and managing claims in, policy coverage and first party claims, public liability (including personal injury, product liability and property damage), subrogated recovery claims, prosecutions and inquiries as well as professional indemnity claims.    In addition to her work as a litigator, Melanie advises clients on risk management, contractual terms and regulatory and compliance matters.

Melanie was the exclusive winner of the 2021 and 2018 Client Choice Award for Insurance in Australia, which recognises solicitors from around the world for the level of client care they provide and the quality of their service. In addition, Melanie is listed in Best Lawyers for Insurance Law, Personal Injury Litigation, and Product Liability Litigation and was recognised as Lawyer of the Year for Product Liability Litigation for Brisbane in 2023. She is also listed as a Recommended Lawyer for Public and Product Liability and Professional Indemnity in Doyle’s Guide.

Mandy Rees-Peach

Mandy joined Liberty in 2021. With over 25 years of experience working with large self-insurers across both the corporate and industrial sectors in injury management, her expertise in legal and legislative compliance and strategic direction helps self-insurers with their injury management journey.

Scott Reeves

Head of new Markets, Non-Life Munich Re Group in Australasia

Scott Reeves is the Head of New Markets, Australasia for the Non-Life division. The team is building new verticals for the reinsurance division with a clear emphasis on the implications of climate change for Financial Institutions, along with opportunities in AgTech, and GreenTech.

Scott is a Fellow of the Institute of Actuaries, Australia, and joined Munich Re in November.

2012 having previously worked for the Boston Consulting Group and several major insurers and reinsurers.

Dan Robinson

Principal of insurance specialist firm Gilchrist Connell

Dan acts for insurers and reinsurers in complex coverage matters and disputes. He is also regularly appointed by insurers to defend and protect the interests of their insured organisations and insured persons in civil proceedings, investigations and inquiries. Dan practises across a number of commercial lines of insurance, including directors' and officers' liability, financial institutions professional indemnity, management liability, warranty & indemnity, and industrial special risks. He has also acted for both cedants and reinsurers under both facultative and treaty arrangements. Dan has been recognised as a Legal 500 'Rising Star' and by Best Lawyers in Australia for Insurance Law. Dan is also a longstanding member of the Australian Insurance Law Association (AILA) and sits on its current National Board and as the Treasurer of its NSW Chapter.

Chris Rodd

Chris, a lawyer, is a past president of Australian Insurance Law Association (AILA), having been national president 2008 and 2009. Currently a nationally accredited mediator, his professional practice now focusses on mediation of insurance related disputes and his work as an insurance law specialist.

Chris was employed by CGU Insurance as a Technical Counsel, developing and delivering insurance law training to the company's various departments, having previously, headed up the company's Internal Dispute Resolution Department for many years and also having occupied the position of national claims manager.

Actively involved in the global entity AIDA, (Association Internationale de Droit des Assurances), Chris is a member of international working parties on “Climate Change and Insurance” , and “Motor Insurance” . He has presented papers at international meetings in Paris (2010) and Amsterdam (2011), Istanbul in (2012) and London (2012) and Queenstown (2013) and (2016), Rome (2014), Johannesburg (2015), and Havana (2015),and Warsaw and Rio (2018) and Marrakech (2019) on these issues .He currently the international Chair of the AIDA Dispute Resolution Working Party and is also Australia's representative on the AIDA Presidential Council following his appointment in Rome in 2014 In 2019 he was appointed as an AIDA Vice President . He is also a member of the US based organisation FDCC (Federation of Defence and Corporate Counsel).

Recipient of the prestigious Australian Insurance Law Prize in 2013, he also for some years a part time lecturer in insurance law at Monash University, Melbourne and was a Senior Fellow in the Law Faculty at Monash. He is also a faculty member of the newly formed Australian College of Insurance Studies ( ACIS) .

In 2018 he was awarded an OAM for his contribution to insurance and insurance law education.

Heather Sanderson

Principal of Sanderson Law, Calgary, Alberta. Canadian insurance coverage litigator, Director Federation of Defence & Corporate Counsel (FDCC), a vetted, invitation only professional group of international defence counsel; Vice-President of Canadian Defence Lawyers, the voice of the Canadian Defence Bar; former Canadian Regional Director of DRI (Defence Research Institute 2017-2020); American College of Coverage Counsel (Invitation only college of vetted North American coverage counsel).

Heather Sanderson has 40 years of experience providing legal advice and direction on all manner of commercial and personal lines claims. In addition to being a skilled advocate, she has extensive experience with policy drafting, providing coverage opinions on property and liability policies of every description, defending property and casualty claims of all descriptions, defending actions within the self-insured retention and bad faith actions.

Heather has appeared before the Supreme Court of Canada and all levels of Courts in Alberta, and was co-counsel on the longest civil trial in the history of the Northwest Territories. Heather has testified as an expert witness on insurance and civil litigation issues before the Alberta Court of Queen's Bench, the Ontario Superior Court of Justice and the Quebec Superior Court.

The two major works Heather has authored are standard industry reference materials and are on the required reading lists of several Canadian universities and community colleges. Both works have been cited in numerous insurance publications and by courts across Canada.

Peggy Sharon

A senior partner at Levitan,Sharon & Co. a leading law firm in Israel which is rated as Tier 1 in Insurance in Israel by the Legal 500 ( in the rating of individuals- Hall of Fame) , Elite firm in Who's Who legal , Dun and Bradstreet and BDI. Head of the Litigation department, dealing with multijurisdictional claims, Insurance Coverage disputes, Class Actions and Subrogation.

On a regular basis, writes updates on Israeli Law in ILO and Lexology. Author of the Israeli chapters in the following comparative books: "Enforcement of Foreign Judgments" ed. by J. Campbell, published by Kluwer; "International Franchising" , Comparative Law Yearbook ,published by Kluwer Law International, "Transparency in Insurance Contract Law ", AIDA Europe Research Series, Springer 2019, "World Class Action", Baker Law.

Since 2018, President of AIDA World, the international association of Insurance Law, in which 44 countries and affiliated societies are members. AIDA World promotes and develops the study and understanding of insurance law, by Working Parties and conferences, through comparative researches and projects on isurance issues.

Aaron Sherriff

I am a New Zealand lawyer specialising in insurance law and commercial litigation.

I have been a member of the Duncan Cotterill national Litigation & Disputes Resolution team since April 2012. I previously practised for five years at Singleton Urquhart LLP in Vancouver, BC, Canada.

I have assisted clients in New Zealand and Canada on a wide array of disputes, including insurance, professional liability, contract, negligence, construction, and company and governance disputes. I have acted for liability and general insurers in both New Zealand and Canada on indemnity advice and defending insured claims. I have a particular interest in assisting insurers with policy coverage issues.

I am a member of the New Zealand Insurance Law Association and the Society of Construction Law New Zealand. I am a recommended lawyer for insurance as recognised by the Legal 500 Asia Pacific 2021 legal directory. I speak regularly at industry events and conferences on insurance law, construction disputes and director duties, and I was on the organising committee for the annual ANZIIF Liability Conference from 2015 to 2022. I am a contributing author to the New Zealand chapter in the Chambers Insurance & Reinsurance Global Practice Guide.

I co-lead Duncan Cotterill's membership of Global Insurance Law Connect ("GILC"). GILC is a formal alliance of leading insurance law experts comprised of high-performing independent firms across the world that specialise in insurance law. GILC delivers a global reach and depth of service that no one firm can deliver on its own.

Outside of work, I am a member of the Oceania Football Confederation Appeal Committee and immediate past-Chair of the Plimmerton School Board of Trustees. I am also an avid off-road trail runner.

Melissa Tan

Cyber Insurance and Partner at Lander & Rogers

Melissa is Head of Cyber Insurance and Partner at Lander & Rogers. Melissa regularly provides incident response management services and advises on privacy issues arising out of cyber incidents. Melissa also advises on complex coverage issues, cyber recoveries, regulatory investigations, as well as acting in disputes arising from cyber incidents. In particular, Melissa often acts as coverage and monitoring counsel on significant and high-profile cyber incidents.

Melissa has recently been named Cyber Security Lawyer of the Year at the inaugural Australian Cyber Security Awards 2023. Melissa has also been awarded the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (RMIT) University credential for Cybersecurity Risk and Strategy. Melissa has also been recognised for her insurance expertise, and litigation and dispute resolution expertise by Lawyerly as a Litigation Rising Star, Insurance Business Australia as a Young Gun, and Australasian Lawyer as a Litigation and Dispute Resolution Rising Star. Melissa regularly provides in-house training for clients and market participants on cyber issues.

Lucy Terracall

Lucy has significant experience providing legal advice and commercial guidance to corporate and government clients on insurance, reinsurance and risk management issues. Her disputes practice involves acting for policyholders in insurance coverage disputes. Lucy advises some of Australia's largest financial institutions, ASX listed companies, multinational corporations, Commonwealth and State Government agencies on insurance matters. In the construction space, she has advised extensively on insurance and risk issues on the largest Victorian Government Projects, clients who have been directly impacted by the cladding crisis in Victoria and also clients who have disputed professional indemnity claims with insurers.

Marcus Thomas

Marcus has been in the professional and financial lines sector of the insurance industry since 1995, gaining experience in both underwriting and broking and has been with Liberty since 2003.

Marcus has a Bachelor of Science Degree (Honors) in Economics.

Ryan Thomas

FI and D&O Manager at Berkshire Hathaway Specialty Insurance

Ryan Thomas is the Australian FI and D&O Manager for Berkshire Hathaway Specialty Insurance. He has over two decades of experience as a financial lines underwriter and portfolio manager, starting his career in New York City and subsequently moving to Australia, based initially in Sydney and more recently sunny Melbourne. A graduate of Virginia Tech with a double major in Finance and Marketing, Ryan has spent 17 wonderful years in Australia with his wife Fleur. He loves a good jam session, Mexican restaurants are his go-to and you are most likely to run into him at Latrobe Golf Club on a Saturday morning.

Trent Thomson

Managing Director, Head, Australia and New Zealand Swiss Re Asis Pte. Ltd., Australia branch

Trent Thomson assumed the role of Head, Australia & New Zealand, of Swiss Re Asia Pte. Ltd., Australia Branch on 1 November 2022. He is also the Branch Manager of Swiss Re Asia Pte. Ltd., Australia Branch, Managing Director for Swiss Re Life & Health Australia Ltd and Country President of Australia and New Zealand.

Prior to the appointment, Trent was Head of Property & Casualty at Swiss Re Australia & New Zealand and a key member of the ANZ Reinsurance leadership team. With more than 25 years' experience in the industry, Trent is an accomplished leader with extensive experience in underwriting, portfolio management, client sales and leadership roles throughout his career.

Trent joined Swiss Re in 2004 as a senior casualty treaty underwriter before moving to the US in 2013 to lead Regional & National casualty treaty. From 2016, he was Head of Casualty (Underwriting & Actuarial) for Swiss Re's largest US clients before returning to Australia as Head P&C Client Management Australia & New Zealand in 2018. He became Head of Property & Casualty Australia & New Zealand in 2020.

Trent is a member of the Australian Institute of Company
Directors and a Fellow of the Insurance Institute.

Manfred Wandt

Director, Institute for Insurance Law

Manfred Wandt studied Law at the universities of Mannheim, Paris and Strasbourg. He wrote his doctoral thesis in conflict of laws and his post-doctoral thesis on international product liability. He taught as a professor at the University of Hannover, and holds the Chair of Civil Law, Commercial and Insurance Law, Private International Law and Comparative Law at Goethe University, Frankfurt, since 1995. He is director of the “Institut für Versicherungsrecht” (Institute for Insurance Law) and member of the executive board of the International Center for Insurance Regulation and of the Institute for Law and Finance. He is editor-in-chief of the journal “Zeitschrift für Versicherungsrecht, Haftungs- und Schadensrecht VersR” (Journal of Insurance and Liability Law) and co-editor of the “Zeitschrift für die Gesamte Versicherungswissenschaft” (Journal of Insurance Sciences). After being a member of the former PEICL GROUP (Principles of European Insurance Contract Law), he is co-director of the PRICL Project (Principles of Reinsurance Contract Law). He serves as vice-president of the “Deutsche Verein für Versicherungswissenschaft” (German Association of Insurance Sciences), as a member of the Presidential Council of the Association Internationale de Droit des Assurances (AIDA) and as chairman of its German Chapter. From 2010 to 2020 he joint the Insurance Advisory Board of the German Federal Financial Supervisory Authority (BaFin). His academic work focuses on Contract Law, Tort Law and Insurance Law in the European and international context.

Prue Willsford

Prue attended the Queensland University of Technology, graduating with a Bachelor of Laws. Prior to her appointment as ANZIIF CEO, she was the General Manager, Corporate Operations at State Trustees, a role which included the oversite of Finance, Technology, Legal, Compliance, and Investments in a highly complex, medium size financial services company.

She has over 20 years' experience in the financial services sector, including management accounting at Macquarie Bank and policy development at Investment Funds and Superannuation Association.

She has also held leadership roles in financial product development, marketing, and operations at Colonial Mutual and National Australia Bank. Prue was the Deputy Chancellor of Victoria University and the Chairman of the Resources Committee.

Claudia Virgona

Claudia is a Senior Underwriter at Liberty Specialty Markets in Sydney focussing on underwriting Professional Indemnity, including Design & Construct Contractors, Construction Consultants, Infrastructure projects and other miscellaneous PI risks.

Claudia re-joined Liberty in 2021 with prior experience working as a Senior Claims Consultant, managing professional and financial risk matters. Claudia has experience in legal practice, insurance claims management and operations.

Claudia holds a Bachelor of Arts/Laws (Honours) degree, a Masters of Business (Human Resources) and a Graduate Diploma of Risk Management and Corporate Governance. She is an admitted solicitor in NSW and holds a current practising certificate.

Gabriel Vivas

With special knowledge in the field of financial lines (BBB and IRF, D&O, Public Servants, Professional Civil Liability and the so-called cyber risk insurance) and Engineering Insurance.

Professor of undergraduate, postgraduate and Diploma courses in Argentina, Chile and Colombia at Rosario, Javeriana, EAN, Norte de Barraquilla, Externado, EAFIT, University of Buenos Aires, Chilean Insurance School and, likewise, at the National Institute of Insurance. Insurance the Colombian Association of Reinsurance Technicians.

Invited speaker at various insurance companies, congresses and seminars in Colombia, Bolivia, Peru, Ecuador, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Mexico, Uruguay, Panama and Rome (within the framework of the 2014 Aida World Congress, on topics related to financial lines, Comparative legislation of insurance contract, civil liability insurance and consumer protection in the insurance activity.

Chairman of the Working Group on Civil Liability Insurance International Association of Insurance Law (AIDA)

Former President of the Working Group on Civil Liability Insurance of the Ibero-Latin American Insurance Law Committee (CILA)

Sarah Wood

Sarah is an EPL and workplace relations specialist with extensive insurance experience. She advises employers about workplace relations, safety and employment law. Sarah has acted in numerous unfair dismissals, general protections applications, sexual harassment and discrimination claims as well as complex employment contract claims. These types of claims are litigated in state and federal industrial tribunals as well as the Federal, Federal Circuit Courts and various state courts.

Sarah is committed to resolving claims quickly and cost effectively, while providing the support and guidance employers need to work through often complex and difficult circumstances.

She has extensive experience providing strategic advice to business aimed at preventing claims on issues such as workplace investigations, performance and injury management, misconduct and termination of employment.

Sarah also acts for companies and directors during Fair Work Ombudsman and safety investigations and prosecutions. She has assisted various organisations with enterprise agreement negotiations and industrial disputes.

Sarah's current industry focus is on the SME market through management liability policies, and her broader experience includes advising government agencies, mining companies and other large corporates about their obligations at employment and safety law.

Jonathan Wyatt

Jonathan Wyatt is a Partner in the Insurance team at Kennedys in Perth with more than 25 years' experience in insurance and marine matters. Jonathan is regarded as one of the leading lawyers in WA specialising in professional indemnity and D&O liability, as well as first party property, liability, marine insurance matters and subrogated recovery actions.

Jonathan primarily acts for insurers - both domestic and international on a variety of matters including in court and arbitration proceedings.

Jonathan is qualified in Australia, Hong Kong and England & Wales. He has wide international experience and has handled cases in the English and Hong Kong courts, as well as in the High Court of Australia, Federal Court of Australia and the Supreme Court of WA. He has also handled arbitrations in Australia, London, Singapore, Hong Kong and China.

Martin Zapiola Guerrico

Practice Areas
Complex litigation and negotiation in a broad range of legal issues. Specialized in insurance law, civil liability and new technologies. Insurtech and its legal implications.
Comfortable working in multidisciplinary environments.

Career
Universidad de Buenos Aires, School of Law (1982). Harvard Law School: "Theory and Tools of the Harvard Negotiation Project" by Roger Fisher and Howard Raiffa. Pepperdine University School of Law (California, USA) “Mediation: The Art of Facilitating Settlement”. Harvard Business School: Leading Professional Service Firms (2007). Artificial Intelligence and the law. UBA-IALab (2020).

Professional Memberships
Bar Association of the City of Buenos Aires. Director and Treasurer (1999-2003). AIDA (Association Internationale du Droit des Assurances)- Argentine Chapter (member of the Board of Directors 2014-). Pro Bono Work and Public Interest Commission. Founding president (2000- 08). Red Pro Bono de las Americas. Member of Executive Committee (2016- ).