Chair: Nicole Farrar

Sophie Manera

Sophie Manera is the principal solicitor of Rothstein Lawyers, a boutique law firm specialising in immigration and employment law. Sophie specialises in complex migration matters, including representing clients with character and health concerns, assisting asylum seekers with Protection visa applications, representing clients at the Administrative Appeals Tribunal and making requests for Ministerial Intervention. Sophie’s passion is for arguing cases based on compelling or compassionate circumstances, and she finds it incredibly rewarding to help families stay together in Australia. She was recognised in the Law Society of Western Australia’s Lawyers Make a Difference campaign for her pro bono work. Sophie is the Vice President of the Migration Institute of Australia’s Western Australia State Committee. In 2018 she won the Migration Institute of Australia’s Keven Lane Service Award. In 2019 she won the Lawyers Weekly Women in Law Award for Mentor of the Year.

Peter Papadopoulos

Peter Papadopoulos is an Accredited Specialist in Immigration Law. Since 2011, he has been annually voted by his peers as one of Australia’s best immigration and civil rights lawyers and has been included on the annual Best Lawyers International list for Australia. Admitted to practice in 1996, Peter has been a registered migration agent since 1997. He has practised extensively in the field of migration law by assisting clients with their visa and citizenship matters as well as handling merits and judicial review applications. In addition to his private practice, Peter has provided strategic advice to government in relation to immigration policy development, visa programme design and the regulation of the migration advice profession. Since 2008, Peter has edited LexisNexis’ Australian Immigration Law service. He is the Chair of The College of Law’s Migration Agent Capstone Assessment Advisory Committee and an active member of the Law Council of Australia’s Migration Law Committee, the Law Institute of Victoria’s Migration Law Committee and the Migration Institute of Australia.