Program
The ALPMA Program Committee is proud to present the 2019 Summit program. Please click on the dates below to view the daily program.
1200-1400 | Workshop Registration Northern Concourse, Ground Floor |
Melbourne Convention & Exhibition Centre 1 Convention Centre Place, South Wharf VIC 3006, Australia |
1200-1300 | Workshop Lunch Northern Foyer, Ground Floor |
1300-1645 | Pre-Summit Workshops | |
The Business Case for Culture Eureka Room 2, Ground Floor Chair: Devika Kumar |
Unlocking the Business Development Conundrum in Your Firm Eureka Room 3, Ground Floor Chair: Justine Fletcher |
|
Michael Henderson, Cultures at Work Every organisation with more than three people has a culture, whether it knows it or not. Organisations that know what culture actually is and how it operates deliver higher levels of performance at lower costs. In this workshop, Corporate Anthropologist Michael Henderson will guide participants through the fundamentals of understanding and working with your company culture to leverage performance. Specifically, Michael will show you how to: • Define clearly, what culture actually is and what it does in your business; |
Michael Schiffner, Collective Intelligence
Most lawyers don’t become lawyers to sell; yet at some point in their career they are required to help win work and generate fees for the firm. For many lawyers this can lead to anxiety as it often sits outside their comfort zone. It can also create frustration for the leadership when lawyers push back on the firms business development requirements of them. In this insightful workshop, business development advisor Michael Schiffner will share his experience as to how many firms have overcome the struggle to unlock the business development dilemma with his teams support. Participants will be led through a series of activities and discussions to explore ways to overcome the complexities and constraints that typically limit the success of firm wide business development initiatives. Key takeaways include drafting a business development strategy for the firm and ideas on advising beyond clients and brand. |
1500-1900 | Summit Registration Northern Concourse, Ground Floor |
1630-2000 | Exhibition Opens Exhibition Bays 23-24, Ground Floor |
1800-2000 | Welcome Cocktail Function Exhibition Bays 23-24, Ground Floor |
Partner Hackathon Launch Myles Tehan, Hack Days Australia |
0730-1700 | Registration and Exhibition Northern Concourse and Exhibition Bays 23-24, Ground Floor |
Melbourne Convention & Exhibition Centre 1 Convention Centre Place, South Wharf VIC 3006, Australia |
0730-0900 | Breakfast in the Trade Exhibition Exhibition Bays 23-24, Ground Floor |
0900-1040 | 2019 ALPMA Summit Opening Plenary 1, Ground Floor Master of Ceremonies: Warrick McLean |
0900-0920 | Welcome to Summit! Dion Cusack, ALPMA President and Corporate Services Manager, K&L Gates |
Welcome to Country |
0920-0940 | Principal Partner Address Peter Maloney, Chief Executive Officer, GlobalX |
0940-1040 | Beyond Tomorrow Chris Riddell, Global Futurist on Emerging Trends |
1040-1110 | Morning Tea in the Trade Exhibition Exhibition Bays 23-24, Ground Floor |
1110-1205 | Plenary Session Plenary 1, Ground Floor Master of Ceremonies: Warrick McLean |
Are You Brave Enough? Rabia Siddique, Humanitarian and Author |
1205-1220 | ALPMA Annual General Meeting Plenary 1, Ground Floor |
1220-1320 | Lunch in the Trade Exhibition Exhibition Bays 23-24, Ground Floor |
1320-1420 | Breakout Sessions | ||
Breakout A Plenary 1, Ground Floor Chair: Naomi Mole |
Breakout B Eureka Room 2, Ground Floor Chair: Stephanie Beard |
Breakout C Eureka Room 3, Ground Floor Chair: Begonia Silvestre |
|
A Single Step – Tips for Starting and Continuing Your Firm’s Innovation Journey Matthew Grace, Alpha Creates Law firms need innovation on their strategic agenda. The session will look at: • Why: is innovation now a requirement? Why is the market now making innovation a strategic imperative for law firms? Matthew Grace brings a wealth of insight on the macro and micro forces shaping the legal industry, and strategic and tactical responses to these changes. |
Confidence to Perform: Building Psychological Capital to Take Your Firm Forward Anna Hinder, Searl Street Consulting The session will explore the four parts of psychological capital and how they can be deployed to achieve results. Professionals need confidence, hope, optimism and resilience to continuously deliver for clients and enjoy working together. Firms who have high psychological capital experience lower turnover and higher discretionary effort combined with lower cynicism and reduced burnout. Learn the ways leaders and teams can increase psychological capital through practical steps that make a difference. |
Priceless – How Behavioural Economics Impacts Pricing of Legal Services Liz Harris, John Chisholm and David Wells, Innovim Group In an era of disruption to the legal industry, transformation of pricing is crucial to ensure a firm not only survives but thrives. Traditional law firm billing models treat clients as rational decision makers whereas, behavioural economics proves that our decision making is influenced by biases, experience and emotions. This session will look at why an understanding of how clients make purchasing decisions can be used to not only transform the purchasing behaviour of clients, but the lawyers’ perceptions of their own value. It will bust some of the classic pricing myths: • Clients always want the lowest price |
1420-1520 | Breakout A Plenary 1, Ground Floor Chair: Debra Filippin |
Breakout B Eureka Room 2, Ground Floor Chair: Stephanie Beard |
Breakout C Eureka Room 3, Ground Floor |
||
Double Down on Your Customers Attention Brad Smith, Firefly Digital Long gone are the days where businesses could rely on one marketing campaign or only “word of mouth” to positively impact their turnover. It can seem daunting entering this space, given the multitude of new platforms and technology available to us. We must be prepared to change tact quickly and focus on where the attention is for our ideal customers. We must be completely channel agnostic, leading transformation. From platforms such as Google, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, LinkedIn through to digital PR, blogging, websites and landing pages, all of these channels play a critical part and must be looked at to keep up. Reverse engineering the attention of your customer and then applying a tailored and focussed strategy will allow companies to see enormous growth potential both for the short and long term. Digital marketing is moving at an accelerated pace. If you don’t keep up, you may soon become irrelevant. |
Future Proofing Your People and the Firm Paul Lemon, Performance Leader Innovation, culture, pricing and growth are just a few of the strategic challenges facing law firms as they prepare their firms for the future. Implicit among these challenges in a ‘more-for-less’ legal landscape, is the ability to respond to change and develop new ways of working. Whilst After Action Reviews (AARs) and ‘lessons learned’ have been transforming teams and operations in high-stakes environments (and accounting firms) for years, law firms have yet to exploit a practice that can capture profit, drive innovation and create client value. Facilitated by Paul Lemon of Performance Leader, this interactive workshop will provide insight and inspiration on how to create the business case for change, plan your road map for success and navigate the roadblocks that may arise. |
Hackathon Workshop Myles Tehan, Hack Days Australia Interested in learning how to influence better collaboration outcomes within our industry? If the answer is ‘yes’, then this is the workshop for you! Join us for an interactive group session where we will employ a tailored ‘hack’ framework to rapidly develop and pitch some innovative ideas. Teams (of 4-6 participants) will be randomly formed at the start of the session; their mission will be to build out a “worked idea” that will be pitched back to the group at the end of the session. Each group will be provided with 2-3 “framing” questions drawn from feedback provided by member survey collected prior to the Summit to get the creative juices going. This session is limited to 50 participants only. Registrations are on a first-in basis. |
1520-1550 | Afternoon Tea in the Trade Exhibition Exhibition Bays 23-24, Ground Floor |
1550-1650 | Plenary Session Plenary 1, Ground Floor Master of Ceremonies: Warrick McLean |
The Road from OldLaw to Today’s Front Lines Patrick Lamb, Valorem Law Group Tim Corcoran, Corcoran Consulting Group Nicole Nehama Auerbach, Valorem Law Group This session features lessons learnt by successful change agents to help traditional law firms develop a roadmap for adaptation. Global consultant Tim Corcoran joins former BigLaw partners and Valorem Law founders Patrick Lamb and Nicole Auerbach on a guided tour of life at the front edge of innovation. Pat and Nicole will discuss their move from BigLaw to leaders in value pricing; from “stalking horse” to contenders for high value work; how they earned client service awards; and what marketplace changes convinced them to join Elevate, a global law company. Tim, Pat and Nicole will demonstrate how OldLaw is competing with its own clients, with law companies, and the Big 4, and why this poses a grave concern. Pat’s and Nicole’s successes (and missteps!) provide a roadmap for law firms struggling with adopting change. We’ll incorporate hands-on use of continuous improvement tools that help convert experience into profits and client satisfaction. |
1650-1700 | Video Presentation of the 2019 Thought Leadership Award Nominees |
1900-2300 | people2people Gala Dinner & ALPMA/LexisNexis Thought Leadership Awards 7:00pm Pre-Dinner Drinks for 7:30pm Dinner Plaza Ballroom – 191 Collins Street, Melbourne VIC 3000 |
0800-1500 | Registration and Exhibition Northern Concourse and Exhibition Bays 23-24, Ground Floor |
Melbourne Convention & Exhibition Centre 1 Convention Centre Place, South Wharf VIC 3006, Australia |
0800-0900 | Breakfast in the Trade Exhibition Exhibition Bays 23-24, Ground Floor |
0900-1000 | Plenary Session Plenary 1, Ground Floor Master of Ceremonies: Warrick McLean |
Peak Performance, Balance and Burnout. How to Show Up Everyday at Your Best, Without Burning Out. Tony Wilson, Performance Lab |
1000-1030 | Morning Tea in the Trade Exhibition Exhibition Bays 23-24, Ground Floor |
1030-1130 | Breakout Sessions | ||
Breakout A Plenary 1, Ground Floor |
Breakout B Eureka Room 2, Ground Floor Chair: Begonia Silvestre |
Breakout C Eureka Room 3, Ground Floor Chair: Devika Kumar |
|
Cybercrime in Legal John Ahern, InfoTrack Cybercrime is an increasing threat in Australia and large financial transactions are the perfect playground for online criminals. Hackers are targeting lawyers to intercept communications and redirect large financial transactions to fraudulent accounts. In order to safeguard business, we need to understand the threats and how to implement the appropriate security measures. InfoTrack CEO and Security Expert John Ahern will share practical tips and case studies on: • Security challenges in the Australian legal landscape |
Do You Value Your Bank as a Strategic Business Partner? James Freeman, Capital Architects This presentation focuses on the need to transform your banking relationship in order to set your firm up for the future. In 2019, bank products are simply a commodity – any bank can provide you with a finance facility and transactional banking accounts. However, it is possible to derive real value from your banking relationship. And not only is it possible, it is essential for any legal firm operating in an environment where margins are compressing, competition is increasing, and clients are wanting more for less. By partnering with a financial institution that really understands the legal industry, as well as the specific focus of your practice, you can access so much more than a standard finance facility and transactional account. The potential benefits of a true strategic partnership with the right financial institution can include: • access to cheaper capital; |
Psychological Resilience Shona Rowan Psychological resilience is no longer just a desirable skill. Change is everywhere, life can be unpredictable and stress is becoming an inevitable part of working life. We need to be able to cope and bounce back from challenges in order to achieve success and happiness. This highly interactive workshop is designed to boost your psychological resilience both inside and outside the workplace. It will equip you with a range of practical tools and techniques to help you deal with setbacks, cope with adversity and embrace change. We will also look at common risk factors that inhibit resilience and discuss practical steps you can take to protect yourself against stressors at work and in your personal life. |
|
How Cyber Resilient is Your Law Practice? Simone Herbert-Lowe Cybercrime and privacy breaches are now critical business risks, with serious consequences for businesses that don’t safeguard sensitive information or adequately protect information infrastructure. While many legal practices treat cyber security as solely an IT problem, in reality more than 90% of cyber events succeed by deceiving the person in front of the computer. Law firms are attractive targets because they hold clients’ funds in trust accounts and also store sensitive information, while often lacking the security processes used by other organisations holding information of similar sensitivity. This session will focus on the business and professional aspects of cyber risk, and will recommend a holistic approach incorporating people, processes and technology, risk mitigation through contingency planning and risk transfer via strategic insurance choices. |
More Than a Bank: Leveraging the Firms Finance Partner for Insight and Success Matthew Bolle, Macquarie Bank This session will discuss how law firms can view their banking engagement through the prism of creating value for the client, and provide practical models to implement a broadly beneficial relationship with the Bank. |
1130-1230 | Breakout A Plenary 1, Ground Floor Chair: Ann-Maree David |
Breakout B Eureka Room 2, Ground Floor Chair: Myra Quartermaine |
Breakout C Eureka Room 3, Ground Floor Chair: Debra Filippin |
||
Prepare or Panic? Business Continuity Planning Essentials Nell McKay and Dion Cusack, K&L Gates How prepared is your firm for a disaster “event”? The risks facing organisations never abate, and are ever evolving. From the sudden departure of key people, to unwanted negative media attention, fraud, weather events or terrorism, the risks are plenty. In this interactive session, participants will be provided with an overview of the key facets all good business continuity plans must have. After a general overview as to what good practice is with respect to business continuity planning, the session will then transition to covering practical tips specifically related to disaster preparedness and response. The session will be interactive, placing participants in the decision chair, as an extreme, yet realistic but hypothetical incident scenario unfolds. Participants will leave with a better understanding of what crisis preparation and disaster response protocols should look like in a real life situation. |
Data Driven Decision-Making – A New Staple of Competitiveness Matthew Schlyder, FWO Chartered Accountants This interactive, dynamic session will showcase how several law firms have gained quantifiable competitive advantage and moved their business forward by utilising data that exists in their business. Delegates will hear how these firms improved productivity, their ability to make confident decisions, and to augment their firm’s performance. Through a live demonstration, delegates will see what and how data from multiple sources across the firm is extracted, automated and visualised to present a single dashboard which is easy to access and navigate in real-time. Using different datasets and user types, the session will explore potential scenarios and decision-making opportunities to demonstrate the benefits and ease of adopting a data-driven approach to managing their firm. |
25 Critical Tools that will Transform your Business Development Performance Alistair Marshall, Professional Services BD In recent research by Pitcher Partners, attracting New Clients was recognised as one of the Major Challenges facing firms. This presentation provides very practical suggestions as to how legal practitioners can master these critical skills: • How to position your firm and differentiate yourselves from the competition. |
1230-1330 | Lunch in the Trade Exhibition Exhibition Bays 23-24, Ground Floor |
1330-1430 | Breakout Sessions | ||
Breakout A Plenary 1, Ground Floor Chair: Naomi Mole |
Breakout B Eureka Room 2, Ground Floor Chair: Ann-Maree David |
Breakout C Eureka Room 3, Ground Floor Chair: Justine Fletcher |
|
You Have a Strategy, Now What? Katherine Thomas Most of us are familiar with Edison’s quote “success is 1% inspiration, 99% perspiration” but how much time and energy do we focus on perspiration as opposed to inspiration? This session takes a practical look at the business of making strategy happen. Drawing on experiences of implementing innovative strategies and firmwide change in her varied career, Katherine will share with the audience stories, ideas, tips, tricks and specific actions that will help law firm leaders make their strategic plans a priority. No grand statements, just ideas for action. |
Where to After #Metoo? Creating Positive Work Cultures after the #Metoo Movement Olivia Wensley The #Metoo movement has a significant impact on the legal profession – particularly in New Zealand in the wake of the Russell McVeagh sexual harassment scandal. Both New Zealand and Australian Law Societies recent surveys have revealed there is a high incidence of sexual harassment in the workplace. Between 22% and 30% of women and 14% of men have experienced harassment in the Legal workplace. After the #Metoo movement highlighted this issue, it is now more important than ever for firms to reflect on their culture, and to build a positive working environment. |
Leadership for a Peak Performance Future Michelle Bihary, Workplace Resilience Australia Aligning organisational success with employee potential, productivity and wellbeing is at the forefront of every modern workplace. Savvy leaders in the professional services industry are embracing their innovative environment, learning how to engage their teams to thrive through change, rather than feel overwhelmed by it. In high-pressure, continually changing and challenging environments, all staff benefit from developing superior self-leadership and self-management skills to drive their own performance, maintain wellbeing and contribute productively to their team. Michelle will provide insights into deepening skills in self-awareness, self-leadership and self-management so managers can give staff a productivity edge. Practical examples of transformative leadership styles that maximise peak performance and utilise neuroscience illustrate the easy to implement ways to ensure employees are functioning cognitively and psychologically at their peak. |
1430-1500 | Afternoon Tea in the Trade Exhibition Exhibition Bays 23-24, Ground Floor |
1500-1600 | Summit Wrap Up Plenary 1, Ground Floor Master of Ceremonies: Warrick McLean |
Partner Hackathon Outcome Myles Tehan, Hack Days Australia Ashim Joshi, Head of Innovation, InfoTrack |
|
Prize Draws |
1600-1700 | Post Summit Drinks Main Foyer outside Plenary 1, Ground Floor |
The Summit program is also available in a print-friendly PDF. Click on the button below to download.
Please note: The Summit program is subject to change.
Keynote Speakers
Pre-Summit Workshops
Two pre-Summit workshops will be held at the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre on Wednesday, 4 September 2019.
Registration to attend the workshops must be submitted with your Summit registration. If you wish to attend either of the workshops only without attending Summit, please contact us at registration@alpmasummit.com.au.

The Business Case for Culture
Workshop Facilitator: Michael Henderson, Cultures at Work
Every organisation with more than three people has a culture, whether it knows it or not. Organisations that know what culture actually is and how it operates deliver higher levels of performance at lower costs.
In this workshop, Corporate Anthropologist Michael Henderson will guide participants through the fundamentals of understanding and working with your company culture to leverage performance. Specifically, Michael will show you how to:
- Define clearly, what culture actually is and what it does in your business;
- Realise the importance of cultures impact on business performance;
- Understand the primary mistakes most organisations make with their culture and how to avoid them;
- Explore and evaluate the six primary areas that comprise a business case for culture. Which apply to your business? At what level of cost and/or contribution?
- How to use the six primary areas of culture as a quarterly audit of your many cultures and subsequently, how to align your culture for better performance and staff experience.
Michael Henderson has a degree in Anthropology (the study of human cultures). He has 35 years experience in studying, advising and educating organisational cultures around the world supporting them to learn how to optimise their culture for improved performance. He has been the cultural expert advisor in over 300 company culture transformations around the world. His clients include The NZ Rugby Union, McDonalds, Suncrest Bank USA, BUPA Hong Kong, CitiBank Singapore, NZ High-Performance Sport, The Australian Navy, Bank of Melbourne and Kennards Hire. Michael is the author of eight books on organisational culture, values and leadership.

Unlocking the Business Development Conundrum in Your Firm
Workshop Facilitator: Michael Schiffner, Collective Intelligence
Most lawyers don’t become lawyers to sell; yet at some point in their career they are required to help win work and generate fees for the firm. For many lawyers this can lead to anxiety as it often sits outside their comfort zone. It can also create frustration for the leadership when lawyers push back on the firms business development requirements of them.
In this insightful workshop, business development advisor Michael Schiffner will share his experience as to how many firms have overcome the struggle to unlock the business development dilemma with his teams support.
Participants will be led through a series of activities and discussions to explore ways to overcome the complexities and constraints that typically limit the success of firm wide business development initiatives. Key takeaways include drafting a business development strategy for the firm and ideas on advising beyond clients and brand.
Michael Schiffner has a proven track record of helping professional service firms build high performance business development habits that generate revenues. Michael’s Melbourne-based consultancy, Collective Intelligence has a proprietary, coaching-based approach that supports professionals to authentically improve their relationships from first coffee to trusted partner, and everything in between, ultimately embedding high performance business development habits that make it more enjoyable to grow a practice. As a former Associate Director with KPMG Australia he was instrumental in the establishment of KPMG’s BD Academy where he clocked over 600 hours of BD coaching influencing $12 million of new revenue for the firm in 2013. His clients include: PWC, KPMG, Hall & Wilcox, White & Case and Russell Kennedy.
This workshop is proudly in partnership with
Hackathon
A Partner Hackathon will run throughout this year’s Summit. Partners will be working on solutions to an industry issue identified by our delegates. Attendees are being asked to submit up to three topics/problems you would like to see featured in the Partner Hackathon. The Partner Hackathon results will be presented at the end of Summit and we are particularly excited to see what creative solutions our Partners can suggest. Proposed topics are to be submitted with your registration.
Introducing our Partner Hackathon teams:
Additionally, the Summit will also feature an opportunity for our delegates to participate in a mini Hackathon Workshop. This 1.5-hour session will be fast-paced but will be limited to 50 participants. Registration must be submitted to participate. Prizes for the best solutions will be awarded in this session!
Please note the mini Hackathon Workshop is now full.
The Hackathon is powered by
Welcome Cocktail Function
Date: Wednesday, 4 September 2019
Time: 6:00pm – 8:00pm
Dress Code: Smart Casual
Venue: Exhibition Bays 23-24, Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre
Cost: One ticket is included with full registration, additional tickets can be purchased
Do not miss out on this opportunity to build new relationships, visit with old friends and enjoy the company of your colleagues and peers in a relaxed and informal setting. The Welcome Cocktail Function will be a perfect opportunity to catch-up with other attendees, while enjoying drinks and canapés in a relaxed setting.
people2people Gala Dinner & ALPMA/LexisNexis Thought Leadership Awards
Date: Thursday, 5 September 2019
Time: 7:00pm for 7:30pm – 11:00pm
Theme: Transform through the looking glass
Dress Code: Cocktail, or come dressed to the theme!
Venue: Plaza Ballroom – 191 Collins Street, Melbourne VIC 3000
Cost: One ticket is included with full registration, additional tickets can be purchased
Come and join your colleagues at the Gala Dinner. Mingle with the speakers and fellow delegates while enjoying an evening of excellent entertainment and a delicious three-course meal at this stunning venue. Network over drinks before sitting down for award-winning food followed by dessert and coffee.
The Gala Dinner is proudly partnering with people2people
The Summit also wishes to acknowledge our Thought Leadership Awards Partner, LexisNexis

Post Summit Drinks
Date: Friday, 6 September 2019
Time: 4:00pm – 5:00pm
Dress Code: Smart Casual
Venue: Main Foyer outside Plenary 1, Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre
Cost: One ticket is included with full registration, additional tickets can be purchased
Immediately following the final session, this will be the last opportunity for you to catch-up with your peers and industry leaders, to exchange views and share tall stories from the Summit.
“The ALPMA Summit is the “go to” legal industry event to engage with inspirational industry thought leaders, suppliers and the legal management community who will inspire and equip you to create tomorrow’s legal services success.”
Program Committee

Ann-Maree David
CEO/Program Director
College of Law
Queensland
adavid@collaw.edu.au

Stephanie Beard
General Manager – People
Harwood Andrews Lawyers
Victoria
sbeard@harwoodandrews.com.au

Tanya Burns
Principal
Transform Office Management
Victoria
t.burns@alpma.com.au

Diana Dawid
HR Manager
Mills Oakley
Victoria
ddawid@millsoakley.com.au

Justine Fletcher
Practice Manager
James Conomos Lawyers
Queensland
justine@jcl.com.au

Devika Kumar
Practice Manager
Fleming Foster Solicitors
New Zealand
Devika@flemingfoster.co.nz

Naomi Mole
People & Culture Officer
Barry.Nilsson. Lawyers
Queensland
naomi.mole@bnlaw.com.au

Myra Quartermaine
Practice Manager
Valentini Lawyers
Western Australia
myra.quartermaine@valentilawyers.com.au

Begonia Silvestre
General Manager
Hunt & Hunt
Victoria
bsilvestre@huntvic.com.au

Sam Sofianos
Chief Information Officer
Colin Biggers & Paisley
Victoria
sam.sofianos@cbp.com.au