Presenter: Dr Michelle Sharpe, Victorian Bar
Dr Michelle Sharpe practices primarily in the area of general commercial and regulatory law specialising in contract and consumer protection law and disciplinary hearings. She regularly appears in all jurisdictions either led or on her own.
Michelle is the author of Unconscionable Conduct in Australian Commercial and Consumer Contracts published by LexisNexis in August 2018.
Michelle has also published numerous articles in peer-reviewed journals and book chapters in the areas of consumer protection and legal ethics. A recent article is “More Than a Feeling: Finding Statutory Unconscionable Conduct” (2019), Australian Journal of Competition and Consumer Law, 27(2) pp108–18. In November 2018 Michelle was named 'Barrister of the Year' in the Lawyers Weekly Women in Law Awards.
Presenter: Wendy Peter, General Counsel, Legal and Economic, ACCC
Wendy Peter has been General Counsel at the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission since 2011. She was previously a partner at Allens for 21 years, specialising in competition and consumer law. As part of her role at the ACCC, Wendy has been involved in a number of enforcement cases where the ACCC has alleged unconscionable conduct.
Presenter: Luisa Alampi, Barrister, Victorian Bar
Luisa has returned to the Bar after two and a half years at Consumer Affairs Victoria (CAV) where she occupied the roles of General Manager, Legal Services Branch and Senior Advocate. During her time at CAV, Luisa advised and represented the Director in a breadth of consumer protection matters under the Australian Consumer Law including product safety, misleading or deceptive conduct, false or misleading representations, unconscionable conduct and unfair contract terms.
Luisa’s matters at CAV resulted in pecuniary penalties and fines in excess of $2m. She was appointed as the Director’s Delegate/Appointee and Counsel assisting the Director in numerous coercive examinations held under the Australian Consumer Law and Fair Trading Act 2012. Her passion for consumer and regulatory law has continued since her return to the Bar.