Executive Biographies

Glenn Ferguson, President

Queensland solicitor Glenn Ferguson is managing partner of Ferguson Cannon Lawyers on the Sunshine Coast.

Mr Ferguson is the current President of LAWASIA, and is a former President of both the Queensland Law Society, and of the Immigration Lawyers Association of Australasia. He is also an active member of a number of legal bodies, including the Queensland College of Law, the Queensland Law Foundation, the Federal Attorney General's International Legal Services Advisory Council and the International Law Section of the Law Council of Australia.

Mr Ferguson practices mainly in the areas of insurance and compensation law, migration law and trade law.

Alexander Ward, President-Elect

Alex Ward is a Barrister at Edmund Barton Chambers in Adelaide, where he practices in civil litigation and serious accident cases.

He was President of the Law Society of South Australia in 2004/5 and remains on several Law Society committees including those mentoring indigenous law students, community relations and Professional Standards. He has regular appearances on ABC Radio in SA dealing with legal issues. Mr Ward also delivers lectures for CLE and graduate law students.

Mr Ward is a legal officer in the Royal Australian Naval Reserve.

Catherine Gale, Treasurer

Melbourne lawyer Cathy Gale has practised in the specialised field of family law for more than 30 years. Her law firm, Catherine Gale Collaborative Family Lawyer and Mediator, assists separating and divorcing clients in the Melbourne metropolitan area, as well as in parts of regional Victoria.

Ms Gale, a former President of the Law Institute of Victoria, is Chair of the Law Council’s National Collaborative Practice Committee, and is actively involved in the training of lawyers in the collaborative process.

Joe Catanzariti, Executive Member

Joe Catanzariti is the current President of the Law Society of New South Wales and a partner of one of Australia’s leading Law Firms, Clayton Utz.

Now in his twenty-seventh year of practice, Mr Catanzariti is specialised in workplace relations and employment law and has extensive experience in advising major corporate and public sector clients on strategic workplace relations matters.

Mr Catanzariti was first appointed to the Law Society Council in 2000. He has been extensively involved in the review and development of legal practice and policy, particularly through his role as Chair of the Law Society’s Industrial Law Committee. At a national level, Mr Catanzariti has been a Law Council Director since 2006, and was appointed to its Executive in March of this year. He is currently Chair of the College of Law and Honorary Secretary of the Industrial Relations Society of Australia.

Michael Colbran QC, Executive Member

Michael Colbran joined the Victorian Bar in 1982 and was appointed Queens Counsel in 1997. He has trial and appellate experience around Australia in general commercial litigation and advice work including trusts, property, probate, trade practices and professional negligence matters.

Michael Colbran is the Chairman of the Victorian Bar Council. He was for many years the secretary and a member of the Bar's Ethics Committee and a director of Barristers' Chambers Ltd, the property subsidiary of the Victorian Bar. He was also a director and Chairman of the Essoign Club Ltd.

Michael became a director of the Law Council in 2006. He has been Chairman of the National Judicial Issues Working Group since 2008 and a member of the International Strategy Working Group since 2009. He is actively involved in projects of the Law Council and the Australian Bar Association to develop National Rules of Conduct.

Duncan McConnel, Executive Member

Duncan commenced practice in 1994 as a litigation solicitor practising in general litigation, worker's compensation and commercial litigation. Duncan became a Partner in 1998. He has practiced for most of his career as a solicitor and partner in a private firm in the Northern Territory.

Duncan has practiced law in the Northern Territory for over 15 years in a wide range of litigation areas. He studied law in Darwin and was admitted to practice in the Supreme Court of the Northern Territory in 1994. He now works as a barrister, practising predominantly in commercial litigation and worker's compensation.

Duncan has had a long association with national legal affairs, originally as a member of the Law Council's Access to Justice Committee. In 2007 Duncan became the president of the Law Society of the Northern Territory. In 2008 he became the Northern Territory Law Society representative on the Law Council of Australia and in November 2009 Duncan was elected as a member of the Law Council Executive.

Bill Grant, Secretary-General

Law Council Secretary-General Bill Grant has extensive experience in government and inter-governmental relations and skills in policy, administration and management.

A former NSW Legal Aid Commission CEO, Mr Grant assumed the role of Secretary-General of the Law Council in January 2008.

Mr Grant is a past Deputy Director General of the NSW Attorney-General's Department and a senior officer in the NSW Crown Solicitor's Office.