Melbourne | What’s Next? Hot tubbing witnesses of fact and costs of arbitration – drive for greater efficiency

The Panel:

Dr Sean Brady

Dr Sean Brady has acted as an expert witness in numerous proceedings involving a wide range of constructed facilities. He is a Chartered Professional Engineer, a Fellow of Engineers Australia, a director of the Society of Construction Law Australia and a member of the Singapore International Mediation Centre’s Panel of Experts.

In 2020 he completed the Brady Review, an investigation into the causes of fatalities in the mining industry in Queensland, Australia. This review analysed 20 years of incident and fatality information, was data driven, and culminated in 11 recommendations for both industry and the regulator on how to lower the fatality and incident rate.

He also speaks, podcasts, and writes on the subjects of failure, human behaviour, data analytics and engineering disasters.

Georgia Quick

Georgia has been a partner in Ashurst’s dispute resolution practice since 2008 and is the head of the Australian International Arbitration practice. She specialises in dispute resolution and risk management in the areas of energy, construction and major projects. Georgia is dual qualified (Australia and the UK, having practiced international arbitration in London for seven years, primarily in respect of oil & gas and power projects). She has worked as counsel on international arbitrations involving most of the major institutional rules as well as ad hoc arbitrations. Disputes she is involved in tend to be highly technically and involve complex delay & disruption issues.

 

Described as “a star: hardworking, technically brilliant and very responsive” (Asia Pacific Legal 500), "deep experience across multiple dispute forums“ (Chambers Asia Pacific), Georgia is recognised in a range of legal directories including Who’s Who Legal, Doyles, Chambers, and Legal 500 where she is ranked as one of only six ‘Leading Individuals’ for Arbitration in Australia.

 

In 2021 Georgia was appointed President of the Australian Centre for International Commercial Arbitration (ACICA). She has served on the board and executive for many years. Georgia is also a Fellow and former Director of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators (Australia).

Michael Whitten QC

Michael Whitten QC is the current Lord Chief Justice of the Kingdom of Tonga (Michael's tenure ends on 31 August 2023). Prior to his Honour’s appointment in mid-2019, he was a member of the Victorian Bar and Chancery Chambers in Melbourne, Victoria. There, he practised for more than 20 years in commercial litigation, specialising in building, construction, infrastructure and energy disputes. Prior to that, his Honour’s legal career started in Brisbane in the Public Defender’s Office, then associate to the late Judge J.P. Kimmins, then as a law clerk at Blake Dawson Waldron, before being called to the Bar there in 1990. He has appeared in all jurisdictions throughout most of Australia and in domestic and international arbitrations.

He is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators, and was an accredited NMAS mediator. He was one of the founding members of MTECC, a virtual chambers dedicated to promoting its members in the construction law field, particularly, for international arbitration in the Asia-Pacific region, and was its Chair between 2016 and 2019. He was a member of the Australian Bar Association’s Arbitration committee until his current appointment in mid-2019. He is a co-author of the 4th, 5th and 6th editions of ‘Brooking on Building Contracts” and presented numerous CLE papers throughout his career at the Bar. His Honour’s work in Tonga has included consulting on the International Arbitration Bill following Tonga’s accession to the New York Convention, the 164th country to do so, on 12 June 2020.

Sadie Andrew

Sadie Andrewis a partner in Pinsent Masons Sydney office and has worked for Pinsent Masons for over 20 years in Manchester, Singapore and now in Sydney. She is qualified in England and Wales and in New South Wales. Sadie  has a wide range of experience in advising clients in the Construction and Engineering, Energy and Oil and Gas sectors and specialise in advising clients on contractual and commercial matters involving complex, large-scale projects in Europe, Australia and in the Asia Pacific Region. 

Alexandra Einfeld 

Alexandra Einfeld is a Senior Associate at Corrs Chambers Westgarth in Sydney, whose practice focuses on commercial and construction arbitration, primarily in the energy sector. Previously, Alexandra was based in Dubai specializing in Middle East-based international commercial and construction disputes. She holds a Bachelor of Business from the University of Technology, Sydney, a Juris Doctor from the University of Melbourne and a Masters in Chinese Business Law from the Chinese University of Hong Kong. Alexandra is passionate about creating opportunities for young practitioners to break into international arbitration and is the Oceania co-chair for Young ITA and founding member of Very Young Arbitration Practitioners Australia.