Council biographies

Lisa Quilty, President Lisa is a partner at Mills Oakley, having been admitted to practice since 2004. She works predominantly in the areas of insurance litigation and dispute resolution, acting for both government and private clients in several legal areas. She is a strong advocate for gender equality and the benefits of flexible work arrangements, being a mother of three (energetic) young children. She is passionate about fostering a culture that embraces diversity, equality, flexibility and inclusion.
Georgia Briggs, Vice-President Georgia is the principal solicitor of Briggs Law, operating in Canberra and Wagga Wagga, NSW. Her primary areas of practice are criminal law, family law, care and protection law and estate management. She was admitted as a solicitor in October 2015. Georgia has been on the Law Society Council since 2021. She hopes her age, experience and areas of practice bring a different and important perspective to the Council, and therefore to the Law Society and its practices, for the benefit of members. In addition to her day-to-day work and being on the Law Society Council, Georgia is also on the Law Society’s Criminal Law Committee and has contributed to Law Society continuing professional development units. She teaches at both the University of Canberra and Charles Sturt University, is a director of the board of the Tuggeranong Arts Centre and volunteers for several charities, such as Camp Quality.
Vik Sundar, Vice-President  Vik is the managing director of Clear Law, a boutique commercial, tax and estate planning law firm. Vik is a leading private wealth lawyer specialising in estate planning, self-managed super funds, asset protection, commercial and tax law. He has published three textbooks in the area. Vik was admitted to practice in 2010 and has held numerous roles, including in the public service, in-house, and private practice, allowing him to appreciate the different issues that lawyers practising in different areas experience. Vik has previously served as the treasurer of the Law Society, bringing expertise in financial management and governance to the role.
Mark Tigwell, Treasurer Mark has practised in Canberra since 1984, and has worked in sole practice, and as a partner, director, and special counsel in several local firms. In February 2019, Mark co-founded Bedfords Legal, where he practises principally in small-medium business and commercial matters, specialised estate planning and business succession, as well as general client advisory work. Mark was a member of Council between 2010 and 2014, before stepping down for a few years. He was re-elected to Council in 2018 and was elected Treasurer in 2020. Mark has been a member of the Society’s Professional Standards Committee since 2007.
Kevin Robinson, Secretary Kevin is a director of Robinson + McGuinness Family Law and practices in family law, care and protection, and wills and estates. He has been in practice in Canberra for 15 years. He has experience working with and representing the interests of people across the community, including those with decision-making disabilities. Kevin has served on the Family Law Committee since 2016 and has been its chair since 2020. He is an accredited mediator and arbitrator, and an independent children’s lawyer.
Tim Dingwall, Immediate Past President Tim came to the law late, deciding to follow in his father’s footsteps after working in a variety of other fields, from IT consulting to bartending. He has a keen interest in employment law and corporate governance, and a strong background in IT, privacy and data. As well as regularly providing pro bono advice, he is a trusted adviser within the charity sector in Canberra. He was also actively engaged with the ACT Government for the review of residential tenancy legislation, advocating from the perspective of Canberra’s community housing providers. Tim has been on the ACT Law Society Council since 2019 and was previously Vice-President.
Andrew Allan, Councillor Andrew is a partner at HWL Ebsworth Lawyers and was admitted to practice in June 2005. He has been a Council member since September 2022. Andrew is an expert dispute resolution lawyer and works primarily in common law-based insurance schemes and administrative benefit and review schemes. He was recognised as lawyer of the year for alternative dispute resolution in Canberra in BestLawyers Australia 2022, and as lawyer of the year for insurance work in Canberra in 2021. He has also been recognised in the same publication for government practice (2017-23), insurance (2019-23) and dispute resolution (2020-23). Andrew is also a registered migration agent and assists businesses and individuals to obtain Australian visas.
Catherine Coles, Councillor Catherine is a founding director of the family law firm Parker Coles Curtis, which commenced operation in September 2020. Prior to that, she worked in a national family law firm and also at Legal Aid ACT. She was admitted to practice in 2010 and obtained specialist accreditation in family law (NSW) in 2015. She is also an independent children’s lawyer, a mentor for Australian National University and University of Canberra law students, and a volunteer at the Women’s Legal Centre. She previously served on Council from 2013 to 2017, taking time off to have two children who keep her busy. She has been recognised as a leading family and divorce lawyer and parenting custody lawyer in Doyle's Guide for multiple consecutive years.
Chris Donohue, Councillor Chris has been a sole practitioner in the ACT since 1978. He practices primarily in the areas of civil litigation, commercial, conveyancing and probate. His involvement in community groups has included serving as president of the Commercial and Retail Tenants Association, the Canberra Environment Centre, and the Residents Rally (a local political party). Chris has served on Council since 2007 (excluding two years), both as a councillor and executive member, including for two years as Vice-President, and two as President (2018-20). He is a member of the Society's Family Violence & Children’s Committee.
Andrew Giddings, Councillor Andrew began his legal career as a family lawyer at Legal Aid ACT when he was admitted to practice in 2017. In 2019, he went on to work at the office of the ACT Government Solicitor, where he is a senior solicitor. At the office of the ACT Government Solicitor, he has worked across the litigation and citizen’s rights and welfare practice groups. Currently, he is on a directorate out-posting to Child and Youth Protection Services in the ACT Government Community Services Directorate, where he works in child protection litigation. He is a former co-chair of the Law Society’s New Lawyers Committee (formerly Young Lawyers), and is a current member of the Law Society’s Government Law Committee. Andrew is passionate about the continuing professional development for new lawyers and has an interest in driving mentoring in the legal community.
Liz Hug, Councillor Liz attended the Australian National University, where she studied Asian studies and law. She was admitted to practice in 2003 and has previously worked in a large firm as corporate and commercial lawyer and in-house as a government lawyer. Liz now runs her own boutique immigration law firm, Welcome Legal. She has served a diverse range of clients including refugees, Australians wishing to bring family to Australia, and employers who want to sponsor skilled employees from overseas. Liz brings the insight and empathy gained from her previous legal roles to the position as a Council member. Liz has two school-aged children. Liz understands the pressures that lawyers work under in tending to client’s needs, compliance obligations and family commitments. She is passionate about lawyer wellbeing and has presented seminars on this important topic. When she is not working, Liz enjoys bushwalking, birdwatching and making travel plans.
Sarah Milson-Mahy, Councillor Sarah is passionate about trauma-informed lawyering and providing high-quality legal assistance to members of our community experiencing systemic disadvantage. Sarah completed her bachelor of laws at the Queensland University of Technology in 1991 and was admitted to practice in 1993. She is currently the acting director of legal services and principal solicitor at the Women’s Legal Centre ACT. Prior to her change to support the community sector, Sarah was a partner with Gabbedy Milson Lee and in private practice some 28 years. Sarah’s career has predominantly been in family law. Sarah is also a member of the ACT Law Society Family Law Committee, a member of the Legal Aid ACT ICL Committee and the ACT representative for Women’s Legal Services Australia committee for family law and domestic violence. Sarah is also an accredited mediator with the National Mediator Accreditation System. Sarah is married with three adult children and two Jack Russell terriers.
Adam Peppinck, Councillor Adam was admitted in 2003 and initially practised in Melbourne and London before returning to Canberra in 2011, first as a special counsel at Ashurst and later as a partner at Mills Oakley. Adam is now a partner at Clayton Utz. He has spent all his legal career as a property lawyer, advising public and private sector clients in relation to the acquisition, development, sale, and leasing of real property. He also assists clients with planning law and probity matters. Adam has been listed every year since 2014 in the Best Lawyers in Australia publication, every year since 2016 in Doyle’s Guide, and every year since 2017 in the Legal 500 Asia Pacific. Adam has been a member of the Society’s Property Law Committee for over ten years, including having Chaired that committee for the past five years. He was also a member of the ACT Law Society’s Government Law Committee for a number of years.
Amy Pyett, Councillor Amy was admitted to the ACT Supreme Court in 2017 and spent several years in private practice specialising in the provision of property, development and construction related legal services, including commercial structuring and private lending and borrowing. Amy is currently a senior solicitor with the ACT Government Solicitor in the property, land and construction team, advising on a broad range of commercial property and construction related matters. Her experience spans government and the private sector (including start-up and traditional mid-sized firms) and, in 2018 and 2019, she served on the ACT Chapter Council of the National Association of Women in Construction (NAWIC), a not-for-profit organisation seeking to champion and empower women in construction and related industries to reach their full potential.
Amanda Wescombe, Councillor Amanda is a corporate and commercial lawyer specialising in telecommunications, technology, and cybersecurity. Since her admission in 2006, Amanda has worked across corporate and government in-house roles and private practice. Amanda currently works as a special counsel at lawyerbank, and in a prior role was the commercial and procurement lead for a global corporate, delivering a major project for the Department of Defence. An advocate of flexible working and non-traditional legal pathways, Amanda is passionate about these options, together with advances in technology, being available to lawyers to achieve a sustainable balance of work-life integration.