OUR TEAM
We count some of Australia's most passionate UNCITRAL advocates amongst our ranks. Find out more about our leadership below.
UNCCA Leadership
UNCCA's leadership, comprising its Executive Committe and a Board of Directors, is responsible for overseeing and executing the organisation's activities.
We're proud of our diverse team, which is made up from a varied range of senior legal practitioners, academics, junior legal practitioners and law students.
If you have an idea or an initiative you'd like to discuss, reach out to anyone below. We'd love to hear from you.
Justice Markovic was appointed Chair of UNCCA on 1 January 2021, taking over from former Chair, the Hon Justice Neil McKerracher
Justice Markovic was appointed a judge of the Federal Court of Australia on 24 August 2015.
Prior to her appointment to the Court, Justice Markovic practised as a solicitor at a national Australian law firm. She was appointed a partner in 1997 and for a period of 4 years (2010 to 2014) was national managing partner of the firm’s litigation and dispute resolution department. As a solicitor and partner, Justice Markovic practised in the areas of insolvency, corporations including in relation to regulatory inquiries, commercial and administrative law for a range of clients including in a number of high profile insolvencies and significant proceedings in the superior courts in Australia.
Chair
The Hon Justice Brigitte Sandra Markovic
Deputy Chair
Dr Jessica Viven-Wilksch
Dr Jessica Viven-Wilksch is a lecturer at the Adelaide Law School at The University of Adelaide.
Jessica has studied in both civil law and common law jurisdictions, and is a comparative commercial law scholar at heart. In 2019, she published a book chapter titled ‘How Long Is Too Long to Determine the Success of a legal Transplant? International Doctrines and Contract Law in Oceania" in Vito Breda, Legal Transplants in East Asia and Oceania (Cambridge, 2019) where she called for more education on international instruments in law schools, using the Vienna Convention on the International Sale of Goods as a case study.
Her PhD thesis considered the role of good faith in Australia and the EU. Her 2019 article on good faith in Australian and Canadian contract laws, published in the Journal of Commonwealth Law, was cited in 2020 by the South African Constitutional Court. Jessica’s research focuses on bridging contract law theory and practice. Using a comparative framework, Jessica is exploring how jurisdictions can learn from each other. Her current research explores the notion of relational contract in domestic law and international instruments.
Jessica lectures in Contract law, Corporate Law, Comparative law and Private International law. Her passion and commitment to teaching and her unique learning journey have led her to bring comparative materials and international matters to her students. She has been engaging with UNCCA since her first attendance at a UN Day lecture in 2017 and is looking forward to contributing to the next chapter of the organisation.
Justice McKerracher is the immediate Former Chair of UNCCA. He sat as Chair between 2018 and 2020 and assumed the position from the Founding Chair, Tim Castle SC.
Justice McKerracher was appointed to the Federal Court on 15 October 2007. His Honour generally practised in commercial and civil disputes until his appointment to the Bench. He took silk in 1997. He was actively involved in several professional bodies and served for 15 years as a Director, Chairman and Deputy Chairman of WA Bar Chambers Ltd. He also served as an acting Commissioner of the Corruption and Crime Commission (the CCC), a Senior Sessional Member of the State Administrative Tribunal and as a Commissioner of the Supreme Court of Western Australia. He has chaired a number of educational and sporting institutions.
Director
The Hon Justice Neil McKerracher
Director
Neil Hannan
Neil Hannan has more than 20 years’ experience advising on all aspects of commercial dispute resolution. Neil’s experience includes commercial litigation, banking and finance, insurance, insolvency, directors and officers claims, and claims under the Competition and Consumer Act and the Corporations Act. Neil regularly appears in the Supreme and Federal Courts and on behalf of clients during ASIC examinations. His clients include leading financial institutions, accountants, and corporate entities operating in both local and international markets.
Neil is a CPA, a Public Notary, and a member of the Law Council’s Insolvency and Reconstruction Committee. He also has a PhD obtained from The University of Western Australia and is the author of Cross-Border Insolvency: The Enactment and Interpretation of the UNCITRAL Model Law (2017).
Neil has been recognised by his peers as one of the Best Lawyers in Australia (2016 – 2021) in the area of Insolvency and Reorganization Law, and in Doyle’s Guide as a recommended lawyer in Victoria in Insolvency & Restructuring (2016 – 2020), and Commercial Litigation & Dispute Resolution (2018 – 2020).
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Director
Dr Dalma R Demeter LLM, SJD, GCTE
Dr Demeter is an educator, researcher, independent arbitrator, adjudicator, consultant, and executive with expertise in international commercial law and dispute resolution. As an educator, she is the winner of a series of teaching awards, possessing the ability to adjust the training to her audience. She focuses on teaching professional skills and practical application together with theory in dispute resolution and international commercial law. She holds academic appointments at several universities across Australia and is frequently providing capacity building training for departments of the UN. As a researcher and author, her publications focus primarily on dispute resolution and legal development, currently finalising a co-authored scholarly textbook on legal dispute management. As a legal practitioner and consultant, Dr Demeter’s expertise is in commercial arbitration, international commercial law, and contracts from both civil law and common law systems. As an adjudicator, she is accredited to decide construction payment claims. As an executive, she is coordinating the operation of the UNCITRAL National Coordination Committee for Australia, a national organisation contributing to the development and promotion of international trade law in Australia.
Michael Green SC was admitted as a legal practitioner in 1991, came to the Bar in 1998 and was appointed Senior Counsel in 2015. He has appeared in the High Court of Australia, the Federal Court, State Supreme Courts, the Land and Environment Court, and various tribunals. He has participated in many mediations and arbitrations and practises throughout Australia.
Michael practises principally in the areas of Intellectual Property (particularly Copyright, Trade Marks, and Patents), Consumer Protection, Privacy and Information Technology, Confidential Information, Competition Law, Corporations Law, Regulation and Planning, Corporate Insolvency, and general Commercial Litigation. He has appeared in numerous notable cases.
Treasurer / Director
Michael Green SC
Alana is a paralegal at Clayton Utz in their construction disputes team and a legal assistant at Newcrest Mining Limited. She recently obtained a Juris Doctor from the University of Melbourne. Alana is looking forward to her graduate program at Clayton Utz in 2022 and is currently completing her Graduate Diploma in Legal Practice.
Alana developed an interest in international law while studying commercial disputes and international arbitration law at university. She helped launch the Comparative ASEAN Animal Law Library (CAALL) and is actively engaged in research for the organisation.
In her role at UNCCA, Alana oversees the organisation's financial management and ensures its compliance with regulatory requirements.
Secretary
Alana Ticchi
Communications Officer
Matyas is a lawyer at Ashurst, based in Sydney. His experience spans across several areas of commercial law with a particular focus on Finance, Restructuring and Commercial Litigation.
Matyas has been involved with UNCCA since the beginning of 2020 when he attended a session of Working Group II at the UN headquarters in New York. In his current role at UNCCA, Matyas assists the Communications Director with managing UNCCA’s marketing and communications portfolio.
His interest in international law stems from his time spent in Luxembourg. In Luxembourg Matyas was fortunate to gain exposure to several areas of international law including international trade law at the European Court of Justice and the European Commission; space law at the United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs; and international human rights law at the European Court of Justice.
Matyas Szuk
Assistant Treasurer
Chelsea Fernandez is a student at the University of Adelaide, studying her final year of her Bachelor of Laws degree having recently completed her Bachelor of Economics. She is currently working part-time as a legal clerk for barristers at Len King Chambers, and recently completed an internship with South Australia's Department for Trade and Investment.
Chelsea has a particular interest in learning more about the role of the law in facilitating international trade. In 2021, she undertook a course with the University of Gothenburg's Summer School for Sustainability, where she learnt more about the role of policy, contracts, and domestic laws in building sustainable global value chains.
Chelsea is excited to join UNCCA as assistant treasure, and is eager to contribute to its work alongside other members of the legal community.
Chelsea Fernandez
Administrative Assistant
Malena Mavrakis
Malena is a student at the University of Adelaide currently studying a Bachelor of Laws and a Bachelor of International Relations, as well as a Diploma of Languages majoring in Chinese. She is also working as a senior debating coach at Wilderness School in Adelaide, assisting children in years’ 9-12 in the South Australian debating competition. She has also recently completed an internship with Food South Australia where she worked with their Export Hub to create a virtual library database where exporting information, market data and other resources could be stored.
Malena has a keen interest in diplomacy and geopolitics. After participating in UN Youth programs throughout high school and receiving a merit in Legal Studies in year 12, she realised her growing interest towards studying in the fields of international relations and law, with a special interest in understanding how international relations theories correlate with international law practises.
She is delighted to be a part of the team at UNCCA and is excited to support them in an administrative capacity.
UNLAWS Overseer / Director
Dr Alan Davidson
Dr Alan Davidson is a Director and Fellow of UNCCA and is its Education Director arranging for Australian Law students to attend UNCITRAL Working Groups (50+ to date). In 2011 Dr Davidson was invited to speak at the UNCITRAL Colloquium on Electronic Commerce at UN Headquarters. Since 2014 Dr Davidson has attended all sessions of Working Group IV (Electronic Commerce), and in 2015 was invited to join its Panel of Experts to assist with future directions.
Dr Davidson is a solicitor and barrister of the Supreme Court of New South Wales and of the High Court of Australia. He practiced law for more than a decade before moving into academia full time. He was engaged as an Assistant Professor at Bond University, Queensland University of Technology including acting Head of School, and Associate Dean at James Cook University before commencing at the University of Queensland in 1997. He is a Fellow of the Institute of International Banking Law and Practice and regularly speaks at the conferences for the Institute in Hong Kong, Singapore and New York.
Dr Davidson presents courses in International Trade Law, International Trade Finance Law and Law and Technology. He has been a visiting academic in the USA, Thailand, Indonesia, Singapore and China. In 2016 he formed the UNCITRAL Society which comprises students who have attended UNCITRAL Working Groups from UQ, meeting six times per year. His books include Social Media and Electronic Commerce Law in 2 editions by Cambridge University Press; The Internet for Lawyers and The Internet for Accountants.
UNLAWS Overseer
Dr Anne Matthew
Dr Anne Matthew is a Senior Lecturer at the School of Law at Queensland University of Technology (QUT), a practicing lawyer, and Consultant with Corrs Chambers Westgarth, Lawyers. Her research focuses on companies engaged in innovation, entrepreneurship and regulation. Anne’s research studies how regulation can create an enabling environment for micro, small and medium-sized enterprises, including particularly their access to finance. Her current research projects include an examination of regulatory approaches to artificial intelligence and the place of artificial intelligence in board practices.
Anne’s PhD thesis considered how to best position the legal environment created by corporate law to encourage innovation, entrepreneurship and risk-taking, particularly among start-up ventures. Anne’s thesis explored this question by examining select elements of Australian corporate law through the lens of innovation economics, and broke new ground in doing so. Anne’s thesis was awarded QUT’s Outstanding Thesis Award 2019. Anne is keen to support the ongoing success of start-up culture development and innovation initiatives on campus and participates as an academic mentor in Disrupting Law, an annual 54 hour hackathon in which lawyers and students collaborate to generate new ideas seeking to advance legal practice via technology and innovation.
Anne lectures in Corporate Law, International Commercial Law, International Sales Law, International Commercial Arbitration, and Artificial Intelligence, Robotics and Law. Anne has received a Law Faculty Teaching Excellence Award, has a keen interest in advocacy and dispute resolution, and plays an active role in the QUT Law School’s mooting program, as academic advisor to QUT Law’s team in the Willem C Vis International Commercial Arbitration Moot held each year in Vienna.
Delcy Lagones de Anglim
Delcy Lagones de Anglim is one of the leading international ADR practitioners in Australia. Delcy graduated with Honours as a lawyer in her native Peru in 1988, specialising in international contracts and International arbitration.
Delcy worked as an International Trade lawyer before joining the United Nations in 1992. She currently works as a Dispute Resolution expert with the IFC/World Bank. Delcy is the author of two books on Mediation and Conciliation and writes regularly on these topics, including a chapter on the enforceability of Mediation agreements in “Global Trade Through the Harmonization of Laws”, published by UNCITRAL in November 2015. Delcy has been part of UNCCA since its inception in 2013.
She is a foundaton Director and Fellow of UNCCA with particular interest and expertise in mediation and conciliation. Delcy is invited to speak regularly about ADR at international conferences and at the UNCITRAL conferences in Macau. Delcy has been instrumental in facilitating the adoption of UNCITRAL Model laws in the Asia Pacific region.
She is the founder and Managing Director of the Australasian Dispute Resolution Centre. She speaks Spanish, English, French, Italian and basic Quechua, Portuguese and Khmer.
Director
Director
Dr Lisa Spagnolo practiced law at leading law firm Minter Ellison. Now at Monash University, she specializes in comparative and international contract law, and in property law, and lectures in Property Law, Contracts, Advocacy, and Advanced Commercial Contracts.
Lisa has published with Kluwer, Cambridge University Press, Beck/Hart/Nomos, and Elgar, with many works cited by judges and government reports.
She was expert advisor to the New York State Bar Association, Rapporteur for CISG Advisory Council Opinion No 16, is a Fellow of UN Coordination Committee of Australia, has consulted for law firms and UNCITRAL, acted as an assessor for the Australian Research Council, and is currently a chief investigator on an ARC Linkage Grant.