Advisory Board

CLARS is looking forward to working closely with the Advisory Board to expand the Centre’s national and international reputation.

The Hon. Justice Lisa Nichols is a judge of the Supreme Court of Victoria and Chair of the CLARS Advisory Board. Justice Nichols is an alumna of Monash Law and the Supreme Court Prize winner of her graduating class.

On her appointment, the Supreme Court of Victoria website highlighted that Justice Nichols brings extensive experience in commercial law, regulatory matters including competition and consumer law, and professional liability to the Court. Before joining the Court, Justice Nichols led ground-breaking cases and conducted significant class actions in which foundational principles were developed at a time when class-action jurisprudence was in its early stages in Australia.

John Fast is a lawyer and economist. Currently he is the Executive Chairman of Seawick, a specialist risk advisory firm. He was formerly the Founder and Joint Managing Director of Dragoman Pty Ltd.  Before Dragoman, he was Chief Legal Counsel and Head of External Affairs at BHP where he was a member of the Office of Chief Executive, its Executive and Management Committees, the Investment Review Committee and Chair of the Global Ethics Panel. Prior to BHP, he was the Senior Commercial Partner at Arnold Bloch Leibler.  John sits on numerous Boards, including as Chair of the Norman Beischer Medical Research Foundation. John has worked on public policy and authored submissions and opinion pieces on Corporate Law reform. He is a former member of the Takeovers Panel. He also has a long history of involvement with the not-for-profit sector.

Elyse Adams is a partner at Allens in the Technology, Media and Telecommunications team. She is a technology and telecommunications specialist with extensive experience across tech projects and advisory work, data protection and cyber security, tech sector M&A and corporate and commercial transactions. Elyse has a wealth of experience in the payments and fintech space, including in relation to regulation of payment providers and processors. Elyse is also co-Head of the Allens Accelerate practice for startups, scaleups and high-growth companies. In this role she advises startups, scaleups, corporates and investors around the intersection of innovation and technology, and assists clients on their digital transformation activities.

Brian Bero is a Co-founder and Principal Solicitor of Jaramer Legal. He is one of Australia’s most senior and respected First Nations corporate and commercial lawyers. Brian has extensive work experience across Commonwealth and State Government Agencies, major corporations and community lead organisations. He has worked as a lawyer with the Victorian Government Solicitors Office, Gilbert + Tobin, and a number of large corporations such as Qantas, Telstra and Oracle.

Brian is a Meriam man who is passionate about First Nations empowerment and socially responsible economic development. He was recognised for such work when awarded Senior First Nations Lawyer of the Year, in 2024. Brian is a Graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors and a Board Director for Indigenous Business Australia, Original Power, Aboriginal Community Housing and Ilbijerri Theatre Company. He is a Panel Advisor for the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA), First Nations Trade and Investment Unit, and committee member of the First Nations Clean Energy Network.

Dr Oren Bigos KC is a barrister practising nationally in corporate and commercial law. He took silk in 2019. Oren has extensive experience in corporations, insolvency, regulatory proceedings, class actions, equity and trusts, property, banking and finance and trade practices / consumer protection. He regularly appears for a wide range of private and government clients in proceedings in superior courts, both at first instance and appellate level. Oren won the Supreme Court Prize at Monash University, and completed BCL, MPhil, and DPhil degrees at Oxford University.

Stephen Bottomley was Dean of the Australian National University College of Law from 2013 to 2017. He is a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Law, and a Life Member of the Society of Corporate Law Academics and the Australasian Law Academics Association. HIs research focuses on corporate governance, corporate theory and law and regulation.  HIs publications include The Constitutional Corporation: Rethinking Corporate Governance (2008, Ashgate Press); The Responsible Shareholder (2021, Edward Elgar);  Contemporary Australian Corporate Law (with Kath Hall, Peta Spender and Beth Nosworthy, 2nd ed, 2021, Cambridge University Press), and Law in Context (with Simon Bronitt, 2023, 5th ed, Federation Press).

Professor Lee Pey Woan is Dean and Professor of Law at Yong Pung How School of Law (YPHSL). She was previously Vice Provost (Faculty Matters) at the Office of the Provost and was closely involved in the review and development of the University’s academic governance policies. Pey Woan teaches Corporate Law but her research interests encompass company, private and commercial law. She publishes widely and co-authored multiple textbooks on her fields of research. Her works have been cited by the Singapore Court of Appeal, Singapore High Court and the Canadian Supreme Court. Pey Woan also serves the legal profession by periodically speaking at legal conferences.Pey Woan graduated from King’s College London and subsequently obtained the Bachelor of Civil Law from Oxford University. She is also an Advocate and Solicitor of the Singapore Supreme Court.

Carmel Mulhern is a non-executive director with more than 25 years' executive experience in the financial services, superannuation, telecommunications, media, technology and manufacturing industries. Most recently she was the Group General Counsel and Group Executive Legal and Governance at the Commonwealth Bank responsible for the fair and efficient resolution of legal and regulatory matters and effective Board decision making. Prior to joining the CBA, Carmel was Telstra's Group General Counsel and Group Executive Legal & Corporate Affairs responsible for legal counsel to the Telstra Board and CEO, as well as for government relations, regulatory affairs, sustainability, compliance, and internal and external communications. She holds a Bachelor of Arts and a Bachelor of Laws from the University of Queensland, and a Master of Laws from Monash University.

Carmel has previously held the positions of Senior Associate at Mallesons Stephen Jaques (now Mallesons), Associate to Justice Mary Gaudron of the High Court of Australia and Associate to Justice Philip Cummins of the Supreme Court of Victoria. She has taught at Monash University on directors’ duties, advanced corporations law, criminal law and constitutional law and is the co-author of two legal text books.

Anne-Marie Neagle is a Partner at Mallesons, where she specialises in securitisation, derivatives, and other structured capital markets and structured finance matters across the Australian and Asian regions. Anne-Marie is highly regarded as an Australian and Asian securitisation and structured finance practitioner, and as a thought leader in innovative structures and new development areas such as green, social and sustainable finance, securitisations of alternative asset classes (such as NPLs) and securitised portfolio acquisitions. Anne-Marie has been named as a leading lawyer for Capital markets - securitisation in Chambers Asia-Pacific, for Capital markets - structured finance and securitisation in IFLR1000, for Banking and Finance Law, Debt Capital Markets Law, Derivatives and Structured Finance Law in Best Lawyers in Australia, and for Best in Structured finance at the Euromoney Asian Women in Business Law Awards.

Kelvin Ng is a lawyer in Gilbert + Tobin’s Competition, Consumer and Market Regulation group. He has expertise in competition, consumer protection, infrastructure regulation, corporations and privacy law. Kelvin has advised both corporate clients and regulators in relation to transactions and disputes across a broad range of industries, including digital platforms, telecommunications, healthcare, food and beverage, transport, and financial services, including advising on greenwashing, dark patterns, unconscionable conduct and misuse of market power. Kelvin was a finalist in the 2022 Lawyers Weekly 30 Under 30 Awards in the Competition, Trade and Regulation category and is a member of the Law Institute of Victoria Competition and Consumer Law Committee. He is also the former Victorian President of the Asian Australian Lawyers Association.

James Shipton is a senior advisor to several financial services firms and a Senior Fellow at Melbourne University’s Law School and a Fellow at The Ethics Centre, Sydney. James was previously the Chair of the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC).

Prior to leading ASIC, James was the Executive Director of Harvard Law School’s Program on International Financial Systems. Before Harvard, he was a Commission Member and Executive Director at the Securities and Futures Commission (SFC), Hong Kong’s capital and financial markets regulator. Before the SFC, James held several roles in the financial sector, including nine years at GoldmanSachs in Hong Kong. James also practised corporate and financial law with Linklaters in Hong Kong and Bangkok, and Ashurst in Melbourne. James completed a BA in Asian studies at Melbourne University and a LLB (Hons) at Monash University. He undertook postgraduate studies at Hong Kong University, was a Fellow at Harvard Law School and is a qualified solicitor in Hong Kong, England and Wales, and Victoria.

Jason van Grieken is a partner of commercial law firm Arnold Bloch Leibler. He has a particular focus on mergers and acquisitions, equity capital markets, restructuring and distressed debt transactions. Jason has significant experience in large-scale commercial transactions, acting for a range of public and private clients in Australia and overseas across various industry sectors. In addition to his position as a member of the CLARS Advisory Board, Jason is a Director on the Board of the Sandro Demaio Foundation and also a member of the Corporations Committee of the Business Law Section of the Law Council of Australia. Jason graduated from Monash University with a Bachelor of Commerce and a Bachelor of Laws with first class honours.