Specialist Accreditation Week

Emanuell Conditsis*

Director, Conditsis Lawyers

emanuell conditsis

With over 38 years’ experience, Manny Conditsis is a Senior Trial Advocate and Law Society Accredited Specialist in Criminal Law. Manny has appeared as advocate in numerous murder trials in the NSW Supreme Court; Manny also appears in the NSWCCA; NSW Court of Appeal; Federal Court; Full Court of the Federal Court and in the High Court. Manny has an enviable success rate in jury trials and is a former member of the Law Society Criminal Law Specialist Accreditation Committee and now serves on the General Criminal Law Committee. In 2012, Manny was the recipient of the prestigious NSW Law Society Presidents Award for his pro bono work.

Corrie Goodhand

Barrister, Black Chambers

Corrie goodhand

Melinda Graczol

Deputy Solicitor for Public Prosecutions(Operations), Solicitor’s Executive, Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions NSW

melinda graczol

Mel Graczol is a Deputy Solicitor for Public Prosecutions at the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions NSW. Mel joined the DPP after working in private practice and has held roles as solicitor and Managing Solicitor prior to joining the Senior Executive. Mel chairs the ODPP Workforce Diversity and Inclusion Group and also sits on the Government Solicitors and D&I Law Society Committees. Mel is passionate about creating a diverse and inclusive legal industry and criminal justice system.

Felicity Graham

Barrister, Black Chambers

Felicity Graham

Felicity Graham Barrister Black Chambers Felicity Graham is a barrister at Black Chambers based in Sydney. She is an experienced lawyer with a focus on criminal, administrative and human rights law. She has a diverse national and international practice and a particular interest in legal mechanisms for achieving police accountability. Before being called to the bar in 2015, Felicity was the Principal Legal Officer and Trial Advocate of the Aboriginal Legal Service NSW/ACT (Western Region). Her legal career commenced as Tipstaff to his Honour Justice Graham Barr at the NSW Supreme Court. Felicity is a member of the NSW Sentencing Council, an independent advisory body to the Attorney General on sentencing matters. She regularly presents at conferences and is a host of the popular legal podcast “The Wigs”.

Richard Harvey*

President, Law Society of NSW, Chair, Law Society's Specialist Accreditation Board

Richard Harvey

The Principal of Richard Harvey & Associates, a property and general practice law firm located on Sydney’s lower north shore, Richard Harvey has practiced continuously as a legal practitioner in NSW for nearly four decades.

A Councillor of The Law Society of New South Wales since 2011, Richard is a Law Society Accredited Specialist in Property Law, Chair of the Property Law Committee and The Law Society of New South Wales Specialist Accreditation Board and a committee member of The Law Society of New South Wales and REI Joint Copyright Committee.

Richard has previously served on the Law Society’s Fidelity Fund Committee, Finance Committee, Conduct Committee and Diversity Committee. He has been Secretary of The North Metropolitan Regional Law Society since 2010.

Richard graduated from the Australian Institute of Company Directors in 2016 and is also a non-Executive Director of Lawcover. He also regularly writes and speaks on Property Law.

Keisha Hopgood

Managing Solicitor, Children’s Criminal Practice, Aboriginal Legal Service

Keisha Hopgood

Keisha is currently Managing Solicitor of the Children's Criminal Practice at the ALS, where she works across practice, policy and management. Keisha has always had a strong professional interest in children's legal issues - working as a children's criminal law lawyer since her admission. She has a strong belief in the importance of combining high level policy and advocacy work with an ongoing connection to 'on the ground' practice experience. She was previously the Deputy Principal Legal Officer at the ALS and worked for the Children's Legal Service at Legal Aid NSW between 2009-2017.Keisha is regularly involved in working groups, committees and inquires centred around youth diversion and youth justice issues. In recent months her work has had a particular focus on raising the age of criminal responsibility and the issue of short-term remand of young people. She is a current member of the Children's Court Advisory Committee and Children's Legal Issues Committee of the Law Society NSW.

Kerrie Lalich

Chief Executive Officer, Lawcover

Kerrie Lalich

Kerrie joined Lawcover in February 2013 as Chief Operations Officer with primary responsibility for leading Professional Services – Claims, Insurance Services, Underwriting and Practice Support Services. Kerrie was admitted as a solicitor in NSW in 1996 and her career has spanned several Sydney law firms. She specialised in personal injury, professional indemnity and insurance litigation. In 2001, Kerrie moved from legal practice to the insurance industry, focusing on public liability, personal injury/catastrophic claims, professional indemnity and financial lines. Her insurance career has included time with AMP/GIO, QBE and MDA National. Kerrie’s broad expertise includes leading diverse teams delivering professional indemnity, advisory and risk management education services with a key focus on successful outcomes, business rigour and client value. Kerrie was appointed Chief Executive Officer effective 7 September 2020

Annmarie Lumsden*

Director, Criminal Law, Legal Aid

Annmarie lumsden

Annmarie Lumsden is the Director of Criminal Law at Legal Aid NSW, a role she has held since October 2016. Ms Lumsden has worked at Legal Aid NSW for over 20 years, during which time she has held leadership positions across the organisation including as a Solicitor Advocate in the Criminal Law Division and as a member of the Executive Team for the past 11 years, in roles including Director of the Strategic Policy and Planning, Family Law, and Grants Divisions. Annmarie has been a Law Society of NSW Accredited Specialist in Criminal Law since 1999. She is the current Chair of the Law Society’s Criminal Law Committee, on which she has served since 2001.Annmarie is a former Councillor of the Law Society of NSW and has served on several of its committees including as Chair of the Juvenile Justice Committee and Inaugural Chair of the Children’s Legal Issues Committee. She is a past member of the NSW Children’s Court Advisory Committee and the Victim’s Advisory Board, and past Director of the Public Interest Advocacy Centre. Ms Lumsden was first admitted to practice in 1989 and her earlier professional experience includes working at the Legal Aid Office ACT, as well as in private practice and government.

Robyn Richardson*

Principal Lawyer, Robyn Richardson Law

robyn richardson

Robyn Richardson has worked exclusively in criminal law since being admitted to the Supreme Court of New South Wales in 2008. Prior to establishing her own practice in 2013, Robyn worked for the New South Wales Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions and leading criminal defence firms in Sydney. Robyn also had the unique opportunity to intern at the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia in the Office of the Prosecutor.
As well as being an Accredited Specialist in Criminal Law, Robyn holds a Master’s in Law from the University of Sydney and a Master’s in Public Policy and Management from the University of Melbourne.
Prior to becoming a Criminal Lawyer Robyn spent several years working in public policy in Victoria, New South Wales and Canberra and concluded her public policy career with KPMG’s Government Advisory Services.

Jane Sanders*

Principal Solicitor, The Shopfront Youth Legal Centre

Jane Sanders

Jane Sanders is the principal solicitor of the Shopfront Youth Legal Centre, a free legal service for homeless and disadvantaged young people, based in inner-city Sydney. The Shopfront provides court representation and other legal services to young people with high and complex needs who cannot effectively access Legal Aid and other mainstream services.
Jane is an accredited specialist in criminal law and children’s law. She has over 25 years’ experience appearing for children and young adults in criminal matters in the Children’s, Local, District and Supreme Courts.
Jane also provides legal education training for young people, youth workers and lawyers. She is actively involved in law reform and policy work.In 2008 Jane was awarded the NSW Law and Justice Foundation’s Justice Medal, for “outstanding individual achievement in improving access to justice, especially for socially and economically disadvantaged people”. In 2014 she received the Terry Keaney Memorial Award for “dedication to the profession, excellence as a criminal lawyer, commitment to clients and concerns for social justice”.

Sergeant Jason Tozer*

Senior Police Prosecutor, Solicitor, Police Prosecutions Command, Wagga Wagga Local Court

Sergeant Jason tozer

Sergeant Jason Tozer is a Senior Police Prosecutor with the NSW Police Force currently based at Wagga Wagga. Sergeant Tozer has been a solicitor since 2009 and is an accredited specialist in criminal law. Jason is also an active member with the Law Society of NSW sitting on its Government Solicitors’ Committee and the Specialist Accreditation Criminal Law Advisory Committee. Outside of his roles with the NSW Police Force and the Law Society, Jason has also worked with the Australian National University in its Graduate Diploma of Legal Practice program and with the Charles Sturt University in its Policing program.

Will Tuckey

Barrister, 11th Floor Garfield Barwick Chambers

Will tuckey

Matthew Ward*

Partner, Morrisons Law

matthew ward

Matthew has been practising exclusively in criminal law since his admission as a Solicitor. He graduated from the University of Wollongong with a Bachelor of Laws and a Graduate Diploma in Legal Practice. He then commenced working at Morrisons, a criminal law firm based in Wollongong, of which he is now a Partner.
In 2017, Matthew became an Accredited Specialist in Criminal Law. In 2018, he was appointed to the Criminal Law Specialist Accreditation Advisory Committee, a committee that is responsible for setting and marking assessments for Solicitors applying to be accredited specialists. In 2019 and 2020, Matthew was identified as a finalist in the Lawyers Weekly 30 under 30, in the category of Criminal Law. This is an Australia wide assessment, that identifies excellence in the field for persons 30 years or younger. In 2020, Matthew was elected as the criminal law representative for the Wollongong and District Law Society.
Matthew appears for persons in the Local, District and Supreme Courts charged with all types of criminal offences and is passionate about Courtroom advocacy.

*Speaker is an Accredited Specialist

criminal law SPEAKERS

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