CLARS Law and Business Seminar: Specialist Directors
L-R: Janette Kendall, Professor Roy Shapira, CLARS Director Professor Jennifer Hill.
There has been an increasing focus on the skill sets of boards of directors to address new and emerging global risks. This has led to a trend toward the appointment of specialist directors eg the cyber/DEI/climate director. This development is also playing out in Australia eg the Australian Institute of Company Directors, publishing a piece earlier this year on "What to Look Out for When Recruiting Specialist Directors”.
On Tuesday 14 October, Monash Law's Centre for Commercial Law and Regulatory Studies (CLARS) took a deep dive into this issue with a fascinating seminar presented by Roy Shapira (Reichman University, Visiting Senior Fellow, Harvard), with non-executive director, Janette Kendall as Commentator. Roy's presentation was based on a recent research project that he undertook with Yaron Nili (Duke University).
In the seminar, Roy explored the reasons for the global shift in board composition, examining some of the benefits, but also considerable pitfalls, that may accompany it. Janette, who sits on a range of boards, explained how the trend is playing out in the Australian context and the degree to which Australian board structure has changed in the last 25 years, since boards were comprised predominantly of (usually male) lawyers and accountants.
Thanks Roy and Janette for a great discussion and thanks also to Arnold Bloch Leibler for hosting this terrific event.
Event Details
CLARS Law and Business Seminar: Specialist Directors
Presented at the Melbourne office of Arnold Bloch Lieber by Monash University.
Date: Tuesday 14 October 2025
Time: 5pm - 6:45pm AEST
Keynote Speaker
Professor Roy Shapira
Roy Shapira is a visiting Senior Fellow at Harvard Law School's Program on Corporate Governance, a Professor of Law at Reichman University, and a Research Member at the European Corporate Governance Institute. He earned his doctoral and master degrees from Harvard Law School, and has taught at Harvard Economics Department and UC Berkeley Law. Roy's research focuses on reputational concerns, corporate governance, and corporate law litigation. He published a book with Cambridge University Press on the interactions between legal and reputational risks, and consulted corporate boards on the issue.
Commentator
Janette Kendall, Non-Executive Director
Janette Kendall is an experienced company director with over 25 years of board experience across ASX-listed, private and not-for-profit organisations spanning diverse industries including technology, media, retail, property, agriculture, gaming, sport and the arts. Currently, Janette serves as Non-Executive Director of ASX-listed companies Vicinity Centres, Tabcorp and Bega, and privately owned Korda Mentha Property Funds. Her previous directorships include Costa Group, Nine Entertainment, Australian Venue Co, Visit Victoria, The Melbourne Football Club, Wellcom and Foodworks. A Fellow of the Australian Institute of Company Directors and Fellow of Monash University, Janette is also a member of Chief Executive Women. She is passionate about developing the next generation of diverse leaders, serving as a mentor with MentorWalks - a community of over 6,000 aspiring women across Australia, New Zealand, Singapore and Canada - and as an advisor to Youth Activating Youth, supporting multicultural Australian youth community engagement. She also Chairs a group of 12 CEO’s at The CEO Circle, along with mentoring individual CEO’s and Executives transitioning to Non-executive.
Chair
Professor Jennifer Hill, CLARS Director, Faculty of Law, Monash University
Professor Jennifer Hill is the Inaugural Bob Baxt AO Chair of Corporate and Commercial Law and Director of CLARS. Her scholarship on comparative corporate law and governance is widely cited in judicial decisions and academic literature in Australia, the United States, Europe and Asia. Jennifer has received several ARC Discovery grants and held visiting teaching and research positions at leading international institutions, including Cambridge University; Cornell; NYU; University of Virginia, and Vanderbilt University. She is a Research Member of the European Corporate Governance Institute (ECGI) and the Jean Monnet Centre of Excellence on Sustainable Finance and EU Law (EUSFiL), University of Genoa, Italy. She is also a Life Member of Clare Hall, Cambridge and a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Law.
