Alison Deitz | Managing Partner-elect
Norton Rose Fulbright
She is an experienced banking and finance lawyer with a background in regulatory and compliance advice, having been a partner at the firm since 1998. Prior to her appointment as managing partner-elect, she was part of the Australian executive for seven years, serving as leader of the business law practice group, encompassing the banking and finance, corporate M&A, real estate, financial restructuring and insolvency, financial services, tax and technology teams in Australia.
Alison's legal practice focused on banking regulatory compliance, including anti money laundering and consumer credit compliance, acting for major international and domestic financial institutions. She also has experience in liaising with regulators and conducting regulatory enforcement litigation.
Read more...
Favourite fictional character and why?
Of course it has to be Jo March from Louisa May Alcott’s Little Women.
"I think I shall write books, and get rich and famous, that would suit me, so that is my favorite dream."
Jo March was an independent young woman who refused to conform to the binding social constraints set up for women in Civil War era New England. Whilst many of the other women in the novel conformed with that period’s conventional expectations of woman being demure and not pursuing independence, she did not. She is a free-spirited character who achieves her dream of gaining literary success and she also finds a partner who loves and supports her for her individuality.
Driving force in your life?
My mother. She was a very clever woman who could have been anything, but because of the time she was born into and the interruption of her high school education caused by WWII, she was denied the opportunities of further education that women have today. She was a voracious reader, incredibly articulate and she always won an argument. In many respects her life was one of unfulfilled promise, and she did everything she could early to make sure that my brother and I had the educational opportunities she did not have. In this regard she was my first mentor. Unfortunately she eventually lost her brilliant mind to dementia. Watching her mind disintegrate was one of the hardest things I’ve experienced. She succumbed to the disease at the age of 91 immediately prior to the onset of the global COVID-19 pandemic. With the benefit of hindsight, this turned out to be a blessing in disguise given the severe impact on the vulnerable in our society wrought by COVID-19.
Who do you most admire?
New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern. Jacinda Ardern scraped into power and became the leader of a coalition government but quickly demonstrated that she was going to be a force to be reckoned with. One of the youngest political leaders and only the second woman to give birth whilst in office, she became a beacon of light in a sea of darkness after the Christchurch mosque massacres. She demonstrated an authentic, pragmatic, empathic way forward with a backbone of feminist steel ready for New Zealand’s darkest day. Her unapologetic style and desire to protect her community resonated throughout a world jaded by insincere and jingoistic politicians. Her proactive and decisive response to the COVID-19 crisis again showed the reasons why she is probably the most admired global leader today.
Something that your social media followers don’t know about you?
When my daughter was a baby, I wrote a book about anti-money laundering or AML. In my case AML stood for All My Life because for nine months, I spent all my waking hours writing it. It was cutting edge at the time – new legislation being introduced across the world to stop illegal funds flowing freely across international borders.
The biggest risk you took?
In my 20s, I climbed Machu Picchu in Peru at the height of the Shining Path guerrilla terrorist campaign. Trekking through the Andes on the Inca Trail was a huge achievement and it was amazing to see the ruins of the ancient Inca civilisation rising out of the midst of the jungle. However, we had to have armed guards accompanying us because it was incredibly dangerous at that time with a number of tourists being robbed and murdered. You do silly things when you’re young!