PANEL FACILITATOR

Theo Kapodistrias

TEDxHobart

Theo Kapodistrias is a multi-award-winning lawyer, based in Hobart, Tasmania. He is also a speaker, trainer, MC and public speaking coach, running his own business www.theokap.com.au.

He has been recognised for his work in the legal and community space winning the 2017 and 2018 Lawyers Weekly 30 Under 30 Award (Corporate Counsel), the Academia, Training and Education Lawyer of the Year Award at the 2018 Corporate Counsel Awards, the Young Lawyer of the Year Award at the 2020 Law Society of Tasmania Awards, and Excellence Award at the 2021 Australasian Law Awards. He has been identified as a rising star by both the Legal 500 in 2019 and the Australasian Lawyer in 2022. In 2022, he was named one of Australia’s Most Influential Lawyers and as International Speaker of the Year.

He is a Non-Executive Director of the Association of Corporate Counsel Australia and Business Events Tasmania. In 2021, Theo took on the role as Executive Director and Licensee of TEDxHobart and is the host of a podcast titled ‘Craft Messages That Matter.’

PANNELISTS

Professor Ben Richardson

University of Tasmania

Benjamin J. Richardson is a Professor of Environmental Law at the University of Tasmania, and an Adjunct Professor at the law faculties of Queen’s University and York University in Canada.  His latest research is the book Before Environmental Law: A History of a Vanishing Continent (Bloomsbury, 2023). Professor Richardson is a member of the Tasmanian Independent Science Council and active in promoting environmental law reform

Dr Felicity Bell

Dr Felicity Bell is a lawyer and academic, currently working for the Tasmanian Government. She spent five years as the Research Fellow for the NSW Law Society’s Future of Law and Innovation (flip) research stream at the University of New South Wales (UNSW) Faculty of Law and Justice, and is affiliated with the new Centre for the Future of the Legal Profession also at UNSW. Felicity’s research examines the impact of new technologies on legal practice, legal professional ethics and regulation, and on lawyers’ work. She has also researched extensively in family law and children’s law. Felicity has published widely in these areas, and her work has been cited in judgments of the former Family Court of Australia. She is the co-author, with Professor Michael Legg, of Artificial Intelligence and the Legal Profession (Hart, 2020).

Sam Nickless

Gilbert and Tobin

Sam is a partner and the Chief Executive Officer at Gilbert + Tobin. He is responsible for the firm’s operational functions and plays a leadership role in the development and implementation of the firm’s strategy. With a focus on technology and innovation, Sam drives the firm to challenge the status quo, particularly in the delivery of legal services. Sam also represents the firm on the board of LegalVision, a technology-based legal start-up which is partly owned by Gilbert + Tobin. Before joining Gilbert + Tobin in 2015 as Chief Operating Officer, Sam was Head of Property Innovations at GPT Group, steering its response to the disruptive threats to its retail and office portfolios. Sam has also worked as an executive at Aristocrat Leisure, National Australia Bank and as a partner at McKinsey & Company, where he served a range of clients in financial services, retail, agribusiness and telecommunications, with a focus on strategy and organisation. Sam has Economics and Law degrees from the University of Adelaide, and a Bachelor of Civil Law degree from the University of Oxford, where he studied as a Rhodes Scholar.