Thomson Reuters is delighted to announce the launch of two topical and timely new sections, “Class Actions” and “Technology and the Law”, as well as the addition of new Section Editors on the Australian Law Journal.

The Hon Justice Michael B Lee heads the new section for “Class Actions”. His Honour graduated from the University of Sydney and began his career at Corrs Chambers Westgarth in 1989. He rose through the ranks and later became a senior litigation partner and national practice group leader before being called to the New South Wales Bar in 2002, taking silk in 2011. Justice Lee was appointed a Judge of the Federal Court of Australia on 27 March 2017.

Justice Lee has been involved in high profile cases involving building and construction disputes, insurance cases, employment law and workplace safety, as well as a number of pro bono and public interest cases. His areas of interest include commercial law, equity, class actions, administrative law, public interest law, commissions and public inquiries, industrial prosecutions, and banking and finance.

Assoc Prof Lyria Bennett Moses, UNSW Sydney

Associate Professor Lyria Bennett Moses is one of the co-editors of the new section entitled “Technology and the Law”.

Lyria is Director of the Allens Hub for Technology, Law and Innovation and an Associate Professor in the Faculty of Law at UNSW Sydney. Her research explores issues around the relationship between technology and law, including the types of legal issues that arise as technology changes, how these issues are addressed in Australia and other jurisdictions, the application of standard legal categories such as property in new socio-technical contexts, the use of technologically-specific and sui generis legal rules, and the problems of treating “technology” as an object of regulation. Lyria is currently a Key Researcher and Project Leader on the Data to Decisions CRC, exploring legal and policy issues surrounding the use of data and data analytics for law enforcement and national security. She is also Lead of the UNSW Grand Challenge on “Living with 21st Century Technology” and a PLuS Alliance Fellow.

Anna Collyer, Allens

Working alongside Lyria as co-Editor is Anna Collyer, who has been a partner of Allens for 17 years and is currently Allens’ Head of Innovation and a member of the firm’s executive committee.

Anna’s practice has focused on the electricity sector for over 20 years and has followed the evolution of that sector from initial reforms in the early 1990s to the transformation it is currently experiencing.  She has worked on policy and reform for Government and key market institutions, as well as advising industry and major energy users on significant projects and transactions, with particular expertise in relation to renewable energy.

In her role as Head of Innovation, Anna leads a multi-disciplinary team working collaboratively to experiment, test and refine new technologies and processes to meet clients’ changing business needs.  Anna has driven initiatives in design thinking, co-creation and client collaboration across the firm, bringing technology and change into the spotlight for lawyers and leaders alike.

John Kettle is the new Section Editor of the “Competition and Consumer Law” column, previously managed by the late Professor Robert Baxt AO.

John is a graduate of Trinity College Dublin (LL.B) and Oxford University (BCL).  He is admitted to practice in Ireland, England and Wales, and now Australia. He is a former chair of the International Bar Association’s Public Law Committee, and Vice-Chair of the Irish Law Society’s EU & International Affairs Committee. John is now the head of international and competition at McCullough Robertson working out of Brisbane and Sydney, and sits on several not-for-profit boards in Australia, including the Queensland Futures Institute’s Energy Committee.

John Kettle, McCullough Robertson Lawyers

He practised in Ireland and the EU from 1993 until his relocation to Australia in 2013 with his Brisbane lawyer wife, Susan Frisby.  In Ireland, John’s practice focused on competition and regulated markets, particularly on merger control, State aid, abuse of dominance and behavioural issues in all sectors but with a particular engagement in network and regulated industries, specifically telecoms, broadcasting, towers, transport, electricity and gas, and technology.

In Australia, his work in the competition sector includes merger control, supply chains, and dealing with inquiries/investigations into various sectors including red meat, dairy, horticulture and energy.  John’s clients have included Government, regulators, multinationals, PE firms, hedge funds and financial institutions. He has more than 20 years’ experience in major transactional and project work with a nationally significant practice in competition law, merger control, energy (gas and electricity), utilities, regulated industries, resources, technology, media & telecommunications, transport, agribusiness, intellectual property, life sciences and administrative law.

Associate Professor Jason Harris, UTS

The new “Corporations and Securities” Section Editor is Associate Professor Jason Harris, carrying on the legacy of the late Professor Baxt. Jason teaches company law and insolvency law at the UTS Faculty of Law after his role at the Australian Government Solicitor. He is the leader of the Faculty’s Corporate, Commercial and Tax research network, and is also a co-editor of the “Insolvency Law and Management” section in the Journal of Banking and Finance Law and Practice.

Jason completed his BA LLB at the University of Western Sydney (now Western Sydney University) in 2000 and his LLM from the Australian National University in 2006. He entered academia in 2002 after a short period working in legal publishing and for the Australian Government Solicitors. Jason has taught law and business students at ANU, UNSW and WSU before starting at UTS in 2007. He is the program head for the ARITA Advanced Certification course, offered by the UTS Faculty of Law.

An active researcher in company law, insolvency law, debt restructuring, secured transactions and corporate law, Jason has published 13 books and over 90 articles in scholarly and professional journals. Some of the books which he has co-authored are Keay’s Insolvency: Personal and Corporate Law and Practice (10th ed) with Michael Murray and Insolvency Law: Commentary and Materials (1st ed) with Michael Gronow and Helen Anderson, published by Thomson Reuters, and Annotated Personal Property Securities Act 2009 (Cth) (3rd ed) with Nicholas Mirzai, published by Wolters Kluwer CCH.

Thomson Reuters and the ALJ extend a warm welcome to our new Section Editors and look forward to their future contributions in these rapidly evolving areas of law.