The Illusionists: How do leading in-house counsel work their magic? (currently waitlisting RSVPs)

Meriel is an internationally recognised dispute resolution and litigation lawyer with expertise in domestic and international arbitrations, court-ordered and private mediations and expert determinations.

As a leading advisor in the energy, mining, transport, construction, agribusiness and life sciences and healthcare sectors, she has also worked in London, the Caribbean and is highly experienced in the Australian court system having practised in both Sydney and Perth, as well as running cases in Melbourne.

Meriel assists clients at the contract drafting and negotiation stage of a transaction in order to put them in the best position to avoid a future dispute.

Meriel has a broad range of disputes experience, including: advising on domestic gas and LNG pricing disputes; representing clients in industries including agribusiness and mining on joint venture disputes; and advising clients in industries including mining, life sciences and healthcare, logistics, shipping and transport, on complex contractual disputes. She also regularly advises clients about corporate and minority shareholder disputes, construction disputes and on acquisitions by scheme of arrangement.

In addition to holding a First Class Honours Degree in Law, Meriel is a Graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors’ Company Directors course.

Meriel holds a number of board positions including Director of the Australian British Chamber of Commerce (WA Branch), Director of Telethon Community Cinemas and Director of Australia-Africa Minerals & Energy Group (AAMEG).  She is also a mentor with Mentor Walks and an active member of 100 Women and the British Business Network.

Neil has been one of the founding executives of the technology and data company, Land Services WA, in the role of General Counsel and Chief of Corporate Affairs.  He has led the companies legal, risk and corporate affairs function, inclusive of his role in the Board as Company Secretary.  Neil is an innovative lawyer, with a commercial background both within and outside government that has been served well by his approach to GSD with integrity.

Prior to joining LSWA, Neil worked in Landgate’s commercialisation and ministerial team, inclusive as Director of Commercialisation, working on the rare State government commercialisation programs that commercialised the State’s Land Titles Register (that led to the creation of Land Services WA) and the State’s divestment of its stake Property Exchange Australia Limited (PEXA) sale.  He has graduated the Australian Institute of Company Directors Course in 2020 and has a background in corporate and property infrastructure law.

Alison relocated to Australia from the UK in 2007. Alison worked at Herbert Smith Freehills in the Energy team before moving to Shell in 2011. Alison worked on a number of O&G projects including Gorgon, Wheatstone and Browse. In 2020, Alison became global Ethics and Compliance Manager for Shell’s 46k petrol stations around the world. In 2021, Alison also assumed responsibility for a number of other businesses within Shell including, Aviation, Marine, Construction and Road, Agriculture & Forestry, Low Carbon Fuels, Commercial Road Transport among others. Alison’s responsibilities involve working directly with the global leadership teams of these business to ensure that their staff understand and comply with Shell’s Code of Conduct, in particular with respect to topics such as data privacy, anti-bribery and corruption, antitrust, trade compliance, and behaviours such as harassment and equal opportunity.