Three trailblazing women share their stories, and an anecdote or two, on what got them started and has keep them on their journeys of eDiscovery. We’ll also hear about some of their wins and challenges along the way, as well as their views on the future of the industry.

Panel

John Wallace, Moderator, Director at Large, ACEDS ANZ Chapter, Australia

Angela Bunting – Manager, Litigation & Practice Transformation, Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions, Australia

Niika Komokallio – National Litigation Support Manager, Russell McVeagh, New Zealand

Lizan van Niekerk – Senior Community Enablement Specialist, Relativity, Australia

About the Panelists

John Wallace. With over 30 years leadership experience in government regulatory and law enforcement settings, John is a recognised thought leader and adviser driven by opportunities to support organisations to be data-informed and intelligence-led through the utilisation of AI and legal technology. In his previous role with Australia’s corporate regulator ASIC, John established and led a range of specialist investigation and support functions, a number of which have been modelled by other agencies. As ASIC’s inaugural Chief Data Officer, he developed the regulator’s Data Strategy and foundational data governance frameworks. Other portfolio responsibilities included risk management, procurement and Regional Commissioner, Victoria. John has advised and partnered with national and international regulators in relation to data and analytics initiatives, as well as legal technology transformation programs. He has held senior executive roles in Victoria Police in corporate services and forensic science.

John’s current appointments include Government Advisor, Asia Pacific with Relativity and Director at Large on the Board of ACEDS, Australia New Zealand Chapter.

Niika Komokallio is the National Litigation Support Manager at Russell McVeagh, leading the Litigation Support teams in both the Auckland and Wellington offices. She has over 17 years of experience in various legal support roles at Russell McVeagh.

Niika has worked on a range of discoveries from small to large scale in the High Court, as well as assisting with arbitrations, cases on appeal to the Court of Appeal and Supreme Court, and tax and other regulatory investigations. She works closely with the firm’s legal and support teams, and is an expert on various aspects of the discovery process, such as how to use relevant software, application of the High Court Rules and best practices. She has a particular interest in streamlining the e-discovery process for the legal teams and the firm’s clients through practical solutions and appropriate use of technology.

Lizan van Niekerk is a senior community enablement specialist at Relativity, and is based in Hunter Valley, Australia. As a community enablement specialist, she educates and advise customers to make the best use of Relativity. Having worked in the Digital Forensics and eDiscovery industry for the past 10 years, her background includes Big 4 consulting firms in South Africa where she gained hands-on experiences across all the phases of EDRM, with a focus on forensic collections, processing, and review workflows. Lizan holds a Master of Commerce in Forensic Accountancy degree from the North-West University, South Africa. She moved to Australia in 2019 to work on a multi-billion dispute world class project. Lizan is also a certified Relativity Master and member of the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners (ACFE).