Staff of the College

Chief Executive Officer, Lyn Slade

Chief Executive Officer: Lyn Slade BA, LLB, M Bus
Lyn Slade, as the inaugural CEO, established the operations of the College in November 2002. Previously Lyn was the Director of Legal Professional Development at Leo Cussen Institute for seven years, during which she completed her Master of Business in Leadership and Organisation Dynamics.

Before moving into legal education, Lyn worked as a solicitor with the then Australian Securities Commission, primarily on class action litigation, and in private practice at a large city firm. In a previous life, Lyn worked in business both in Australia and the UK.

Programs Team

Director Education: Samantha Burchell BA, LLB, M.App.Sci.(Organisation Dynamics)
Samantha took up the position of Director Education at the Judicial College of Victoria in November 2007. She has a professional background in legal practice (as a solicitor and member of the Victorian Bar) and policy. Between 1999 and 2004 she was Co-Executive Director of the Public Interest Law Clearing House (PILCH); then prior to commencing at the College, she worked at the Victorian Law Reform Commission on the reviews of the Uniform Evidence Act and the Victorian civil justice system. At the College, Samantha's role includes oversight of the Programs Team and the development and implementation of the programs that comprise the Continuing Professional Development Scheme.

Program Manager: Fiona Dea BA, LLB(Hons), LLM, Cert IV TAA
Fiona joined the College in March 2013 and is part of the team responsible for implementing continuing professional development programs. Previously, Fiona worked in legal education as a Senior Program Manager at the Leo Cussen Centre for Law where she was responsible for continuing professional development programs for lawyers and managed and taught as part of the Victorian Traineeship program and the Western Australian Articled Clerks training program. Fiona also has experience in private practice as a commercial litigation lawyer at a large city law firm and has completed a Master of Laws with a particular focus on litigation and dispute resolution.

Program Manager: Melinda Shiell BA, LLM (Juris Doctor), Grad Dip Legal Practice
Melinda joined the College in April 2013 to assist with the development and implementation of Continuing Professional Development programs. Melinda was admitted to legal practice in August 2011. Prior to her commencement at the College, Melinda worked at the Centre for Corporate Law and Securities Regulation at Melbourne Law School. She previously managed Editorial legal affairs at The Age newspaper.

Program Manager: Cassie Carter BSc, LLB(Hons), Grad Dip Legal Practice
Cassie joined the College in July 2011 to assist with the provision of continuing professional development programs. Cassie was admitted into legal practice in September 2009. Cassie is currently completing a Master of Laws at the University of Melbourne.

Events and Marketing Officer: Aimee Foo BBus (Hons), AdvDip Advtg, Grad Cert Media 
Aimee joined the College in December 2011 to assist with the provision of continuing professional development programs. Before commencing at the College Aimee worked at the Department of Education and Early Childhood Development (Western Metropolitan Region) as an administrative assistant for over two years. She has also previously worked in the television industry for Channel 7 and various production companies as a runner, question coordinator and production assistant.

Publications Officer: Stephanie Siriwardene BA
Stephanie joined the College in July 2011 as Administration Officer and in May 2013 took up the position of Publications Officer to provide editorial support for the College's Annual Report and Program Prospectus. In this role, Stephanie also provides support for the maintenance of JOIN, the College's social media platforms, and online publications.  She is currently completing a Master of Publishing and Editing at Monash University.

Publications Team

Director Research & Publications: Matt Weatherson BSc (Hons), LLB (Hons)
Matt joined the College in January 2007 after working as a research associate at the Supreme Court of Victoria, Court of Appeal. He has worked extensively on the Victorian Sentencing Manual, the Victorian Criminal Charge Book and the Victorian Criminal Proceedings Manual. In 2012, he worked with Justice Weinberg on the Simplification of Jury Directions Report. Matt's role at the College involves supervising the publications team and ensuring that the College's bench books remain up to date and relevant to judicial officers.

Senior Legal Research Officer: Jane Mevel BA, LLB (Hons), Grad Dip Legal Practice
Prior to commencing at the College in June 2010, Jane worked as a legal policy officer in the Civil and Criminal Law Policy Units of the Department of Justice. In those roles, Jane was involved in various legislative reform programs, including in respect of family violence and civil procedure. Jane completed her articles of clerkship at Corrs Chambers Westgarth and was admitted to practice in October 2005. Jane has also worked as a researcher at the County Court. Jane provides research support to a range of College publications, including the Victorian Sentencing Manual and the Uniform Evidence Manual.

Legal Research Officer: Eamonn Hortle LLB (Hons), Grad Dip Legal Practice
Eamonn commenced at the College in 2012 to assist in developing College publications, such as the Sentencing Manual and Uniform Evidence Manual. In his role, he provides research support for the programs and publications teams, and provides assistance on IT projects. Before commencing at the College, Eamonn was employed as a lawyer at a large Australian law firm, and was admitted to legal practice in 2011.

JOIN Coordinator: Damian Siracusa BA, LLB, Grad Dip Leg Practice
Damian commenced at the College in November 2008 and is tasked with coordinating and managing the day-to-day content of JOIN (our judicial intranet) and the JCV website. He was admitted into legal practice in August 2005. Before commencing at the College, Damian was employed as a lawyer at a large city firm.

Administration Team

Operations Manager: Alex Blake
Prior to commencing at the College in February 2013, Alex worked as the Operations Manager for the Office of the Victorian Privacy Commissioner (OVPC). In her capacity as Operations Manager for the OVPC, Alex developed and managed many of the high level and day to day policies and practices within the office to support the compliance monitoring and general administration of the OVPC.

PA to Chief Executive Officer and Program Support: Kylie Pearse
Kylie is responsible for providing high-level PA support to the CEO as well as support for the delivery of College programs.