CONFERENCE SPEAKERS AND DISCUSSION PANEL MEMBERS

MARK RICE
In September 2000 Mark was appointed Master, District Court of South Australia and ERD Court. He was admitted to practice as a Barrister and Solicitor in 1979. From 1983 to 1987 he worked in the Attorney-General's Chambers, Hong Kong as Senior Crown Counsel in the Commercial Crime Unit and in the Construction and Engineering Disputes Section. From 1987 to 2000 Mark practised as a Barrister in commercial litigation and construction disputes and regularly sat as an arbitrator and mediator.

Mark is the acting Chair of the Professional Development Committee of the Law Society. He was previously SA Chair, Institute of Arbitrators and Mediators, Australia. Mark is a periodic lecturer at the Adelaide and Flinders University Schools of Law and Engineering and is a presenter/lecturer at various courses and seminars including advocacy training for the Legal Practice and Bar Readers courses.

Mark is married to Shauna and they have 7 children and 10 grandchildren. Mark has served in various positions in the Church and has a particular interest in the welfare program. He is currently the High Priest Group Leader in the Morialta Ward, Adelaide Firle Stake.

HOLGER SORENSEN
Holger graduated LL B from Otago University, LL M (HONS) from Victoria University of Wellington, and PhD in law from Melbourne University. He is a barrister practising at the Sydney bar specialising in State and Federal tax law. He is an Adjunct Professor at the Faculty of Law, University of Technology, Sydney teaching post-graduate tax courses, and also teaches the post-graduate Stamp Duties course at Sydney University Law School. Holger has published articles in variously, “Taxation in Australia”, “Australian Tax Review”, and “Law Society Journal”, and has presented on tax topics at Taxation Institute of Australia Seminars. He is a co-editor of “Hills Duties Legislation”.

Before commencing practice as a barrister, Holger was a solicitor at the NZ Tax Office (Inland Revenue Department, Head Office), a Crown Counsel at the NZ Crown Law Office, a partner in private practice in Melbourne, and a Senior Solicitor, Special Prosecutor’s Office (Gyles QC) investigating the “bottom-of-the-harbour” tax frauds.  A 4th-generation Church member, Holger is Stake Patriarch for the Sydney Australia Greenwich Stake and a member of the Kellyville 2nd Ward.

MICHAEL STOKES
Michael has an LL.B (Hons) from the University of Tasmania and an M Phil from Oxford University. He is Senior Lecturer in the Law Faculty, University of Tasmania, specialising in Constitutional Law, Administrative Law, Planning and Environmental Law and Jurisprudence.

Church callings include Gospel Doctrine Teacher, High Councillor, Counsellor in Bishopric, High Priest Group Leader and Elders Quorum President.

NEVILLE ROCHOW
Neville has an LL.B (Hons) and an LL.M from the University of Adelaide and an LL.M from Deakin University. He is a Member of South Australian and Victorian Bars, practicing principally in the Federal and Supreme Courts and has appeared in the High Court on several special leave applications and appeared for the appellants in Perre v Apand, (on recovery of economic loss).

He has particular interest and experience in Part IV and other provisions of the Trade Practices Act and has presented an extensive range of papers in these areas. He has been active in legal education and been requested to speak at legal seminars on federal law and practice and been active in the training of new members of the Bar as a mentor for new readers and instructor in the course.

SUSAN PURDON
Susan is one of Australia's leading family law practitioners. She was the first Australian woman lawyer to be made a Fellow of the International Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers at the invitation of the Academy. A leader in the field of non-court dispute resolution she was appointed by the Federal Attorney-General Hon. Philip Ruddock MLA to the Family Law Council of Australia in 2004. The Council advises and makes recommendations to the Attorney-General on matters relating to family law. In a practice that has spanned 25 years, Susan has been at the forefront of the ADR movement in Australia. Her principal professional focus has been the development and encouragement of interventions that support families following marital breakdown.

A graduate of the University of Queensland, Susan has served on many committees of the Queensland Law Society including the Family Law Committee, the Family Law Specialist Accreditation Committee, the Alternative Dispute Resolution Committee, Equalising Opportunities in the Law Committee and the Mentoring Committee. She has also served on a number of government Boards. She is presently a member of the practitioner's panel of the Legal Practice Tribunal of Queensland and a member of the Board of Trustees of the Queensland Art Gallery. A Past President of the Queensland Women Lawyers Association, she was co-editor in 2005 of "A Woman's Place: 100 Years of Queensland Women Lawyers".

Susan is a partner with the Brisbane firm, Hopgood Ganim. Hopgood Ganim was voted Australia's Best Value Professional Services Firm in 2005 and 2006 in the BRW-St.George Client Choice Awards. Susan is married to Brian Sully, a partner in a national accounting firm. They have three children, aged 21, 19 and 12. A member of the Brisbane North Australia Stake, Chermside Ward, Susan teachers Laurels in the Young Women's programme.

KEITH THOMPSON
Currently serves as International Legal Counsel - Pacific Area for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Prior to this current assignment, Keith spent 12 years practicing in Commercial Law with Fortune Manning and Partners in Auckland New Zealand.

Keith holds LLB(Hons) and MJur from Auckland University, Diplomas of Export and International Marketing from New Zealand Technical Institute and has recently completed his PhD through Sydney and Murdoch Universities on Religious Confession Privilege at Common Law.

Admitted as a Barrister and Solicitor of the High Court of New Zealand and of the High Court of Kiribati, a Solicitor of the Supreme Court of New South Wales, the Federal Court of Australia. Keith has delivered guest lectures at a number of Universities, including the J Reuben Clark Law School, Brigham Young University, Victoria University, Wellington, New Zealand and Queensland University of Technology.

Keith's Church service has included Mission President, Stake President, Bishop, Editor of The Ensign for Australia/NZ, Stake Mission President, Temple Ordinance Worker and Member of Australia National Public Affairs Council. He has eight children, teenage or older and his other interests include Music (piano, organ and CD collection), Fitness, Reading, Travel and Motor cycles.

ELDER ROBERT E BAKES
Elder Bakes iscurrently serving an Associate International Legal Counsel - Pacific Area for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Elder Bakes served 21 years as a Justice with the Idaho Supreme Court, serving as Chief Justice from 1989 until his retirement in 1993. He authored nearly 1,000 written opinions during his judicial career, including many precedent setting cases, such as Bliss Valley v. West One Bank, outlining the law of lender liability. Since retiring from the bench, Elder Bakes has been a partner at Moffatt Thomas Barrett Rock & Fields, Chartered concentrating his practice in the area of alternative dispute resolution, such as arbitration, mediation, and summary trials, as well as consultation in trial and appellate practice and procedure.

Justice Bakes received his law degree from the University of Idaho Law School in 1956, graduating first in his class. He has taught at the University of Illinois Law School in Urbana, Illinois. He was appointed to the Idaho Supreme Court in 1971. In 1992, he received the Kramer Award for excellence in judicial administration, as well as the Idaho State Bar Outstanding Service Award. He also received an honorary Doctor of Laws degree from Albertson College of Idaho.

Church service includes Stake High Counselor, Asst. High Priest Group Leader, Stake/Ward Missionary and Gospel Doctrine teacher.

WILLIAM F ATKIN
Bill is currently serving in the Office of General Counsel of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Salt Lake City, he has been International Chair of the J Reuben Clark Society and currently sits on the Society's Board of Directors.

Prior to commencing his appointment with the Church, Bill was a partner with Baker & McKenzie, in many locations around the world, rendering advice on the laws of foreign jurisdictions relevant to transnational commercial investment and financial transactions and previously was a Trial Attorney with the United States Department of Justice.  Bill has held Adjunct Professor positions with Brigham Young and Moscow International Universities.

Bill holds a LLM from Columbia University School of Law, a JD from Arizona State University College of Law and BA from Brigham Young University and has held many board positions with commercial, educational and legal advisory groups.

PRESIDENT SYBROWSKY
Elder Paul K. Sybrowsky was called to serve as a member of the Second Quorum of the Seventy of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on 2 April 2005 at age 60, and is currently serving in the Australia Area Presidency. Elder Sybrowsky studied general education at the Church College of Hawaii and then received a Bachelor of Science Degree in Social Science from Brigham Young University in 1968.

His professional career included positions as vice-president of sales and marketing at CTI, and president of Dynix and Management Dynamics. Elder Sybrowsky served on the BYU President’s Leadership Council and chair of the Provo Public Library Board.

Prior to his call as a General Authority, Elder Sybrowsky served the Church as a mission president, presiding over the Canada Toronto West Mission (2001-2004). He also served as a young missionary in the Canada Toronto Mission (1964-1966). In addition, during his many years of Church activity, he has been a bishop, a high councillor, a stake president’s counsellor, and a stake president. Paul Kay Sybrowsky was born in Salt Lake City, Utah on 22 August 1944. He married Evelyn “Lynne” Frances Sybrowsky in 1968. They are the parents of nine children.

MARK BENDER
Mark teaches Marketing Law, Commercial Law and Corporations Law at Monash University. His research interests are in the areas of consumer protection and competition law, property and planning law, intellectual property, legal teaching and IT law. His formal studies include BBus, LLB(Hons), LLM and Grad Cert in Higher Education and is completing a Grad Cert in Trademark Law & Practice in 2007.

Prior to moving into the hallowed halls of higher learning, Mark was General Manager in firms involved in defence, manufacturing, IT and retail. He currently serves on the High Council in the Melbourne Australia Heidelberg Stake, with responsibility for Public Affairs, Auditing, Teacher Development and Sunday School. He served a full time mission in Sydney. He and his wife, Ann, have a son, Harrison, aged 11.

RUSSELL LENEHAM
Served a mission in Western Australia under renowned church scholar Daniel H Ludlow, whose leadership had a profound influence.  Russell and his wife Kim have 7 sons aged from 11 to 21 (with the eldest presently serving a mission in Tasmania). Past church callings have include Stake Mission President, Ward Clerk, Ward YM Presidencies, Ward Mission Leader, High Priests Group Leader, Sunday School Teacher, and currently High Priests Group Instructor.

Obtained LL.B. and Grad. Dip in Legal Practice from Qld Institute of Technology. Admitted as a solicitor in 1988.  Approved mediator.

Has significant  general practice experience in civil litigation, criminal law (including several years on the roster as duty lawyer at Magistrates Courts), family law, wills and estates, personal injuries, residential conveyancing, and business sales and purchases.  Notably has also acted in professional negligence matters (especially against solicitors who failed to adequately advise clients purchasing investment units with long-term lease-backs – which led to a foray to the High Court as a successful respondent to an application for special leave to appeal).

MATTHEW PAWSON
Matthew is currently a Senior Associate of Peter Worrall Lawyers and heads the Commercial Practice Group of that firm. He was admitted to practice in August 2000 and is a member of the Commercial Law Committee of the Law Society of Tasmania and the Taxation Institute of Australia. His practice is in commercial law and property development, taxation and asset planning. Matthew is a guest lecturer in GST at the University of Tasmania post-graduate admission course.

After serving a mission in the Australia Perth Mission, Matthew has served as a High Councillor in the Hobart Australia Stake, Stake Executive Secretary, Bishopric Counsellor, Stake Young Mens President, Ward Young Mens President and Ward Mission Leader. He is the father of three sons.

CAROLINE STIRLING
Caroline holds a Bachelor of Psychology from Macquarie University and a Bachelor of Laws from the University of Technology, Sydney.

Caroline has a particular interest in children’s matters and Family Law and has previously worked in the field of Child Protection with the Queensland Department of Child Safety and in Family Law at the Brisbane firm Emerson Family Law. She currently works as a solicitor with the Department of Community Services in NSW, representing the Department in Child Protection matters in the Childrens Court at Parramatta.  Caroline is currently serving as a Primary teacher in Normanhurst Ward, Greenwich Australia Stake with her husband Drew.

GEOFF KING
Geoff is a Solicitor with 39 years private practice experience. Presently practicing in Estate Planning, Wills and Probate and does some commercial work for old clients.

When he was admitted as a Solicitor in the late 1960's, Geoff believes he was the only Church member who was also a legal practitioner in Australia. Today of course the landscape has changed dramatically.

He is approaching retirement age, he and his wife Jan are the parents of 8 children and have 18 grandchildren and 2 on the way.  Geoff is currently serving as Stake President of the Australia Melbourne Maroondah Stake.

DINEEN WELLS
Dineen Wells is a graduate of Waikato University, Hamilton New Zealand. She graduated with a Bachelor of Education (Hons), Diploma of Teaching and LLB. Dineen has one paper to complete her Masters of Education with a special focus on mediation practice.

Dineen was admitted to the Bar in 2003 and is currently an Associate with the Hamilton firm Till Henderson. Dineen's main areas of practice are family (specialising in relationship property), employment, elder and property law. She is actively involved in the admissions, legal education, family and new members committees in the local law society and is also a committee member of the Hamilton Womens' Lawyer Group. She is currently the Hamilton (NZ) Chapter Chair for the J Reuben Clark Law Society, the first female Chapter Chair outside of the USA. In 2006 she represented the Hamilton Chapter at the Leadership Conference in BYU Provo.

Dineen is a fifth generation church member and is currently in the Frankton Ward, Glenview Stake Hamilton. She has served as a gospel doctrine teacher, Primary pianist and in the Primary Presidency. Dineen is the proud mother of 3 children.

KITIONE VUATAKI
Graduated with a Bachelor of Laws Degree from Victoria University of Wellington in New Zealand in 1985 and was admitted to the Fiji Bar in 1986. Worked as legal counsel for Native Land Trust Board from 1986 to 1987. The Board administers 85% of land in Fiji.

Went into private practice from 1988 to the present. He is now Senior Partner in the law firm of Vuataki Qoro, a firm of Solicitors based in Lautoka City with four resident lawyers. He mainly deals with civil litigation but has also done some criminal work. Is currently involved in a historical land claim to Suva City lands by original native owners as well as the suspension of Chiefs from Great Council of Chiefs, apart from work for the Native Land Trust Board in the Western Division of Fiji.

Married to Titilia Vuataki with eight children. One of the children has graduated with Bachelor of Arts from University of South Pacific. Two are studying for Bachelor of Commerce in Waikato University in New Zealand with
one to graduate and go on her mission at the end of the year. One is studying Arts at the same University and one studying law at Bond University in Australia. One son studying Marine Science and two at High School level.

Currently serving as High Priest Group Leader at Lautoka First Ward in the Lautoka Fiji Stake. His wife Titilia Vuataki is Relief Society President in the Ward.

BARBARA SMITH
Barbara tried law after leaving school but dropped out and worked in Telecom for 10 years. Finally admitted in 1987. Presently a Solicitor in a medium sized practice on the Gold Coast, has practised or taught in criminal law, personal injuries, small business advice, estates, and anything that doesn't pay very well.

After five years in private practice Barbara moved to teaching at Griffith University and for over ten years taught law to thousands of non-law students. Also studied education and significantly influenced methods of teaching and assessment in some departments.  A ten year marriage into a Malaysian family was a useful experience, especially when large numbers of overseas students began coming to Queensland.

Father was a barrister, politician, law reformer and Deputy JAG, and two brothers have their own legal firms. Absolutely no family connection with the Church which she joined 33 years ago, over time has contributed in many areas of Church and community service, but now prefers to play detective with family history. Finds dead people are so much easier to work with.

CHRIS McCAPPIN
Chris predominantly practices in family and succession law.  She has also had some time in general practice in a semi-rural environment.  She also worked as a judges associate in the District Court for two years and was admitted to the South Australian Bar in 2001. Chris and her husband Mark are the parents of 4 children, their eldest daughter has just commenced post-graduate study of the law following her completion on an Arts degree, their other daughter is currently studying International Studies and Business Management.

Chris has served in many capacities in the Church, including Relief Society President, on Stake Primary Presidencies and is currently teaching 8-12 year olds in primary.