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Current councillors

Below are profiles of the 10 Councillors who do not currently hold Office Bearer positions. Members of the Executive Council who are not Office Bearers are elected for a term of two years and must participate in and/or chair at least one Committee during their term.

Rebecca Barry

Rebecca Barry practices as Legal Counsel for BT Financial Group which is the wealth arm of the Westpac Banking Corporation. Previously Rebecca practised as a solicitor in the corporate division of TressCox Lawyers. Rebecca is also Vice Chair of the Business Law Committee and a member of the Corporate Lawyers Committee of the Law Society of NSW.

As well as her involvement with NSW Young Lawyers Rebecca is also President of the Women Lawyers Association of NSW and a Director on the board of Australian Women Lawyers. Rebecca is a member of the Editorial Committee (and a contributing author) for the Clarion publication of the Commonwealth Lawyers Association and a member of Women on Boards, Women in Insurance and the ALFA International Women's Initiative Practice Group. Rebecca has a keen interest in history and is passionate about the Rule of Law.

Email Rebecca.

Renée Bianchi

Renée is a lawyer at McCabe Terrill Lawyers working in insurance litigation.

Renée first became involved with NSW Young Lawyers as a fresh-faced lawyer in 2008 as a member of the Civil Litigation Committee. Since September 2010, she has been the co-vice chair of the Civil Litigation Committee as well as the editor for the Committee’s newsletter, and was elected to the Executive Council in November 2011.

Renée is passionate about ensuring that those lawyers and law students outside Sydney have access to the network, support and opportunities that are available through NSW Young Lawyers, particularly as she originally hailed from Newcastle.

Outside of the law, Renée is a Girl Guide (having started at the age of 7 years) and has previously sat on the board of Girl Guides NSW&ACT.

Email Renée.

Adam Flynn

Adam has been an active member of NSW Young Lawyers since 2003 and has attended over 10 Assemblies. In addition to being Chair of the Communications, Entertainment & Technology Law Committee (CET) for five years, he led the organisation of IP & Technology Law Today seminars for the NSW Young Lawyers CLE program in 2008 (inaugural year), 2009 and 2010.

During his service on the Executive Council since 2009, Adam has taken a keen interest in: addressing resourcing issues; improving communication systems (especially for regional members); and maximising member attendance at Assemblies. With legal experience spanning jurisdictions, Adam supports the development of a truly national profession.

Adam has worked across the private, community and government sectors and encourages lawyers young and old to do the same. Adam is Senior Legal Officer at the National Film and Sound Archive of Australia, is a pro-bono lawyer to clients of the Arts Law Centre of Australia and has contributed to Halbury's Laws of Australia. He holds Bachelor of Arts/Laws (Honours) and Master of Laws (Industrial and Intellectual Property) degrees.

Make a connection on LinkedIn or email Adam.

Robert Hoyles

Robert is a criminal defence solicitor currrently working in Coffs Harbour for the Legal Aid Commission, previously having worked in criminal practice in Dubbo, Wagga Wagga and the Sydney CBD. He was admitted to practice in 2007 and has worked for the Legal Aid Commission, Aboriginal Legal Service and private criminal practice.  In 2007-2008 he was Researcher for the NSW Court of Appeal.

Rob has a strong interest in access to justice issues particularly to minorities and those who find the legal system cumbersome and impossible to navigate.

Rob is also the chair of the subcommittee responsible for rewriting the NSW Young Lawyers' Practitioners Guide to Criminal Law, which is due to release its 4th edition in 2012.

He also represented Australia in the Inaugural Lawyer's Cricket World Cup in Hyderabad, India in 2008.

Email Robert.

Matthew Karpin

Matthew Karpin is a solicitor with the Aboriginal Legal Service (NSW/ACT) Ltd and is currently based in Moree in North Western NSW. He has also worked with the Director of Public Prosecutions, both in Sydney and in Dubbo, and with the Judicial Commission of NSW.

Matthew was elected to the Executive Council in 2010. Since that time, he has worked with fellow Councilors and regional practitioners to relaunch the Bushweb Committee's 'Creating Networks' project with great success.

He brings the experience of a regional practitioner to his work with the Executive Council, as well as insights gained through experience in different areas of the public sector.

Email Matthew.

Ajay Khandhar

Ajay is a lawyer at Middletons practising in employment, industrial, safety and discrimination law.

Since March 2010, Ajay has served as the CLE Representative of the Employment and Industrial Relations Law Committee and was elected to Council at the 2011 Annual Assembly.

As an Executive Councillor, Ajay is passionate about equal opportunity in the profession and in society at large. He also aims to promote access to justice by educating legal professionals and the broader community about their rights and responsibilities.

Ajay holds degrees in Law and Journalism from the University of Technology, Sydney. He is currently undertaking a Masters of Law at the University of Sydney.

In his down time, Ajay enjoys hiking, practising yoga, attending the theatre and indulging in good food.

Email Ajay.

JY Lee

JY is a lawyer at Baker & McKenzie in the Technology, Communications, Commercial, IP and Media practice group. JY is currently the chair of the CLE Committee and the chair of the Communications, Entertainment and Technology Law Committee (CET) and has been a part of NSW Young Lawyers since 2007.

As expected, she thoroughly enjoys being involved in NSW Young Lawyers and in Young Lawyer projects, some of which have included launching an online discussion board and social media accounts for the CET Committee, and she is currently working on new initiatives to refresh the NSW Young Lawyers CLE program.

JY holds a Master of Laws specialising in Media, Communications & Information Technology Law (UNSW) and is currently working her way through a Master of Intellectual Property at UTS and a Master of Taxation at USYD.

When she isn't spending time on NSWYL projects or on wondering why she keeps studying, JY likes to sleep, win eating competitions, and go rock climbing.

Email JY.

Kathryn Millist - Spendlove

Kathryn is a barrister at Sir James Martin Chambers, practicing in insurance, family provision, trade practices and occasionally dabbling in crime.  Prior to being called to the Bar, she worked in private practice and in-house roles.

Kathryn has been involved with NSW Young Lawyers since 2006 in various committees, including as Vice-Chair of the Civil Litigation Committee in 2008-2009. She is passionate about issues relating to mental health, regional practitioners and legal careers. She dreams of a time when lawyers are the happiest profession rather than the most miserable.

When not in court or at a Young Lawyers event, Kathryn can be found sampling various teas at local tea salons, shopping up a storm or baking delicious goodies to feed to her colleagues.

Email Kathryn.

Thomas Spohr

Thomas Spohr was previously an Executive Councillor in 2009 and 2010 and Treasurer in 2011.  He is the current Chair of the NSW Young Lawyers Criminal Law Committee, the NSW Young Lawyers Representative to the Law Society's Criminal Law Committee and is a past Chair of the NSW Young Lawyers CLE Committee.

Thomas currently works for the NSW Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions in Sydney as a Senior Solicitor and has also spent time as a defence lawyer. His work life focuses on advocacy.

He also has a passion for teaching advocacy and regularly assists in the witness examination and mooting competitions of the University of NSW and the University of Sydney , as well as the PLT program of the University of Technology and the Law Society's Mock Trial Competition.

His beard draws disappointingly few compliments.

Email Thomas.

Brenda Tronson

Brenda is a barrister at Sixth Floor Selborne Wentworth Chambers, practising in commercial law and public law.

Having been involved in NSW Young Lawyers since 2009 as a member of the Civil Litigation Committee, Human Rights Committee and Public Law and Government Committee, Brenda has played an active role in each committee. Before starting at the Bar in 2008, Brenda studied at Oxford University (including completing a masters thesis on equality), was associate to the Honourable Justice Crennan at the High Court of Australia and worked as a graduate lawyer at Freehills.

Other law-related pursuits including teaching at UNSW (where she studied for her undergraduate degrees), coaching various moot and mock trial teams and mentoring. When Brenda is able to drag herself away from law reports and textbooks, you can find her curled up with a novel or else on a yoga mat somewhere. 

Brenda was named NSW Young Lawyer of the Year in 2010 and, in 2011, was shortlisted for the Women Lawyers Association of NSW’s Up and Coming Woman Lawyer Award.

Email Brenda.