Council and Executive

Tim Mellor - President

Tim Mellor has been in practice since admission in 1981 having graduated with a Bachelor of Law Degree from the University of Adelaide.  

Since admission he has been in practice in the firm of Mellor Olsson and its predecessors.  Tim’s practice is largely in the area of planning, development and environmental law.  He is also largely focused on rural issues, including acting for a large number of pastoralists and fishing licence holders in relation to native title claims.  The balance of Tim’s practice is in commercial and estate litigation.
 
Since 2005 Tim has been a member of the Council of the Law Society of South Australia including a period of 4 years as a member of the Executive.  He is also a member of the Planning, Local Government and Environment Committee and the Aboriginal Issues Committee. 

Away from the law, Tim is the father of five children and an enthusiastic participant in various outdoor pursuits, music, and all forms of the arts.  He is a happy spectator of all sporting endeavours.

Amy Nikolovski - President-Elect

Amy is a Partner at Duncan Basheer Hannon.

Amy was admitted to practice in 2007, graduating from the University of Adelaide with degrees in Arts and Law.

In 2006 Amy worked as an Advocate for the Australian Workers Union before moving to Duncan Basheer Hannon in 2007 where she practices in the areas of workers compensation, motor vehicle accidents, public liability and general civil litigation.

Amy has been an active member of the Law Society since her admission in 2007 and is a former Chair of the Young Lawyers Committee. 

Amy’s positions for and on behalf of the Law Society include:

• Member; Accident Compensation Committee
• Member: Well-being and Resilience Committee
• Member; Gender Equity Working Group
• Member: Crash! Seminar Committee
• Panel Member:  Litigation Assistance Fund
• Board Member:  Litigation Assistance Fund
• Member:  Young Lawyers' Support Group
• Member: Audit and Risk Management Committee
• Member: GDLP Committee
• Member: Corporate Governance Committee
• Member: Young Lawyers' Support Group
• Member: Investment Committee

Amy has been a member of the Law Society Council since 2012 and joined the Executive in 2015.

Tim White - Vice-President

Tindall Gask Bentley Lawyers owner/partner Tim White has been with the firm for 20 years. In that time he has built a client base as diverse as Australian society itself. He attends TGB’s offices in SA, WA and the NT.

He has particular expertise handling personal injury claims in which he has helped thousands of clients including defence force members, Commonwealth employees, state-based workers under the WorkCover schemes, and people with motor vehicle claims. 

His military clients include current-serving members who have been injured physically or psychologically, and veterans who have left the military but need assistance with their compensation claims. These include veterans from World War 2, Korea, Vietnam and the Middle East. He has tackled historic and complex claims on behalf of veterans exposed to atomic bomb tests at Maralinga in the 1950’s and the bombing at Hiroshima. 

Tim is a member of the Air Force Reserves, in which he serves as a Legal Officer with the rank of Squadron Leader. This pursuit has inspired him to become one of the very few lawyers in Australia to specialise in representing defence force personnel and their families.

Pursuing difficult class-action claims is one of Tim’s specialities. Recently he helped hundreds of South Australian breast cancer sufferers who were tragically misdiagnosed. He was also the driving force behind an international class action relating to faulty PIP breast implants.

His tenacity in helping his clients is also on show outside of work where he is a keen runner and cyclist. He has completed in more than 15 marathons and cycled in a number of long-distance events including the Police Legacy WA event /ride from Karratha to Broome.

Rebecca Sandford - Vice-President

Rebecca is a Senior Associate at HWL Ebsworth Lawyers in the litigation team, with a particular focus on intellectual property, media, defamation and competition law.  Rebecca's background also includes building and construction law, corporations law, property law and contractual disputes. She is admitted as a barrister and solicitor in the Supreme Court of South Australia and the High Court and Federal Courts of Australia.

Rebecca was admitted to practice in 2011, graduating from Flinders University in 2010 with a Bachelor of Laws and Legal Practice (Honours) and Bachelor of Commerce (Finance).  In June 2015 Rebecca completed her Masters of Law (Applied Law) with the College of Law, majoring in Commercial Litigation.

Rebecca has been an active member of the Law Society since her admission in 2011, becoming a Junior Member of the Law Society Council in 2011.  After her two year term concluded at the end of 2013, Rebecca had a one year break from Council before becoming a Metropolitan member of the Council again in 2015. She has been a member of the Executive of the Council since 2016.  Rebecca’s other Law Society positions include:

• Member, Governance Compliance (now Corporate Governance) Committee;
• Member, Ethics & Practice Committee;
• Member, Audit & Risk Committee;
  
• Member, Investments Committee;
  
• Former Member, Chair, and Deputy Chair, Women Lawyers Committee;
  
• Former Member, MCPD Regulatory Committee (prior to that Committee’s disbandment; and
  
• Former Member, Gender Equity Working Group of Council (prior to that Group's disbandment).

Rebecca is also a Board Member for Spence Club Inc and the Flinders Law School Advisory Board, and is a member of the Inter-Pacific Bar Association, the Women Lawyers' Association of South Australia, the YWCA of Adelaide and the Adelaide Media Club.  Rebecca was the scholarship participant in the YWCA’s 2015 SHE Leads Program, and has also previously been a member of the YWCA’s Nominations Committee and a member of the WLASA Committee.

Rebecca’s personal interests include reading, yoga (especially Anti-Gravity) and swimming.

Tony Rossi - Immediate Past President and Law Council Representative

Tony is the Principal of Rossi Legal.

Tony graduated with an Honours Degree in Bachelor of Laws in May 1982 and has been admitted to practice in the Supreme Court of South Australia and Federal and High Courts of Australia from December of that year.

He is a senior member of the profession with extensive experience as both solicitor and counsel in most civil jurisdictions. He has appeared as counsel for Rossi Legal and a number of other law firms in the High Court, Federal Court, Supreme Court, District Court, Workers Compensation Tribunal, Industrial Court of South Australia, Fair Work Australia, Medical Practitioners Disciplinary Tribunal, Administrative Appeals Tribunal and Equal Opportunities Tribunal.

Tony has been involved in many of the leading cases in the areas of common law damages claims for personal injury, defamation, workers compensation and industrial law. Tony is a member of the following:

• The Law Society of South Australia Litigation Assistance Fund Advisory Board

• Limitation of Liability Scheme Committee of the Law Society of South Australia

• Accident Compensation Committee of the Law Society of South Australia (Chair)

• Investment Committee of the Law Society of South Australia

He is also a public notary able to certify documents for use overseas.

Mr Martin Frayne SC

Martin Frayne is a Barrister and Senior Counsel who practices in the area of civil and commercial litigation at Jeffcott Chambers. 

He was admitted to practice in South Australia in 1978 and practised as a solicitor and was a partner at the then Wallman & Partners until 1986 when he joined the independent bar. He was appointed Senior Counsel in 2009. He is qualified as an adjudicator under the Building & Construction Industry Security of Payment Act and equivalent legislation in Western Australia and the Northern Territory.

He has been a member of the Law Society of South Australia since 1978 and a member of the South Australian Bar Association since 1987.  He has served on various sub-committees of the Law Society over time and has served as a member of the Litigation Assistance Fund from 1993 to date. 

In addition to his involvement with the Law Society and the Bar Association he has been a board member of the Basketball Association of South Australia Incorporated and is a life member.  He has also served as a board member of Softball SA Inc, is a member of Australian & New Zealand Sports Law Association, the Australian Insurance Law Association and Resolution Institute and Society of Construction Law, Australia.