Profile

Commercial, practical, collaborative, strategic and trusted legal, dispute resolution and governance expert.

Nigel has been legal adviser and counsel for Australian and international corporations, regulators, Australian Governments and private clients for over 30 years. He has also held diverse General Counsel roles, including: General Counsel of South Australia's largest private corporation, General Counsel & Head of Governance of the Indigenous Land Corporation, Deputy Chief Counsel, National Disability Insurance Agency (NDIA) and Senior Legal Counsel, Menzies School of Health Research.

He has held roles as Company Director and Company Secretary of both national and private corporations with key responsibilities for governance, strategy and technology.

Nigel has commercial, practical and research expertise in regulation, competition & consumer law, mergers & acquisitions, insurance & risk management, water rights & agribusiness, renewables, critical infrastructures, corporate law and governance, environmental protection, indigenous rights, medical health research, cybersecurity & technology law and dispute resolution. He has been a law reform adviser to the South Australian and Australian Governments regarding the impact of the Digital Age. He is a longstanding member of the Law Council of Australia’s Competition & Consumer Law Committee and is a former President of the Australian Insurance Law Association (SA).

Nigel was awarded a PhD by the University of South Australia: “Regulation in the Information Age in Australia: From the Boardroom to the Courtroom”. He also holds degrees in Law (Honours – 1st Class) and Economics from the University of Adelaide. He received a Masters’ degree in Law from Oxford University and has completed Harvard University’s Cybersecurity: Managing Risk in the Information Age programme.

Nigel is also a teaching and workplace training specialist with over 30 years' experience. He has conducted educational training programmes for Australian Universities, legal practices, workplaces and judicial colleges. Nationally and internationally, he has spoken at over fifty conferences.

Nigel is the author of Teaching Professionals - Revised AI Edition! - The Art of the Teaching Professional and How to Teach Professionals - The CAISSEP Technique, published by Archway Publishing (from Simon & Schuster). Teaching Professionals, and its innovative CAISSEP technique, assists educators and mentors worldwide to reimagine teaching and accelerate positive change for future generations.

Professional Expertise

qualifications

Barrister and Solicitor of the Supreme Court of South Australia, 1993-present

Barrister and Solicitor of the High Court of Australia, 1994-present

Doctor of Philosophy, University of South Australia, 2020

Cybersecurity (Premier Certificate), Harvard University, 2019

Bachelor of Civil Law (Masters of Law degree), University of Oxford, 1993

Graduate Diploma in Legal Practice, University of South Australia, 1993

Bachelor of Laws (Honours - First Class), University of Adelaide, 1992

Bachelor of Economics, University of Adelaide, 1990

Professional experience

Barrister and Solicitor, Australis Chambers, 2016-present

Senior Legal Counsel, Menzies School of Health Research, 2023-

Sessional Ombudsman, Australian Financial Complaints Authority, 2023-

Senior Lawyer - Practical Law (Corporate), Thomson Reuters, 2022-2023

Deputy Chief Counsel & Senior Legal Adviser, AAT Dispute Resolution and Litigation (AAT DR&L),

National Disability Insurance Agency, 2021-2022

Director, Market Regulation, Government and Conveyance, Water Find Pty Ltd, 2020-2021

General Counsel and Head of Governance, Indigenous Land Corporation, 2017-2018

General Counsel, Peregrine Corporation, 2016

Barrister, Bar Chambers, 1995-2015

Barrister and Solicitor, Minter Ellison Baker O’Loughlin, 1993-1995

Marshal to Mr Justice Latham, Justice of the English High Court, United Kingdom, 1993

law reform experience

Commonwealth of Australia

Co-Author, Report to the Australian Government: “A study of the privacy, security & identity management implications of cloud computing for home users and SMEs”, Convergent Communications Research Group, University of Adelaide, 2010. Report adopted by the Australian Taskforce on Cloud Computing

South Australia

     Chair, Evidence & Technology Sub-Committee, South Australian Law Reform Institute, 2011-2013

Preliminary & Final Reports on “Modernisation of SA Evidence Law to deal with new technologies”. Recommendations enacted in the Evidence (Records & Documents) Amendment Act 2015 (SA)

Final Report, SA Law Reform Institute, “Witness Oaths and Affirmations”, 2014

Academic experience

Senior Lecturer, College of Business, Government & Law, Flinders University, South Australia 2019-2020

Senior Lecturer (tenured), University of Adelaide Law School, South Australia 2011-2015

Adjunct Senior Lecturer, Edith Cowan University, School of Computer & Security Science, Western Australia 2012-2015