The new year has brought some significant changes at Lexon which see us saying goodbye to two longstanding contributors who have been instrumental in the success of Lexon, and some others taking on new roles.
Glenn Ferguson AM
Glenn retired as Chair of Lexon on 31 December 2025. Having served Lexon as a director for many years and as Chair since 2012, his leadership transformed Lexon into the preeminent lawyers’ insurance scheme in Australia and one that our reinsurance partners recognise as being at the cutting edge of innovation and risk management.
For the insured members, Glenn’s financial legacy has been driving down the cost of your insurance whilst at the same time ensuring Lexon delivered an excellent insurance and risk management product. His impact has been profound.
Glenn’s involvement with Lexon can be traced back to its creation in 2001 when it looked like the profession may be unable to access any level of insurance due to the failure of HIH Winterthur and FAI Insurance. The wise minds of the time created (what is now) Lexon to allow Queensland lawyers to obtain insurance and keep their doors open.
All at Lexon congratulate Glenn on his service to Lexon and the Queensland profession.
David Durham
David will be concluding his time with Lexon on 30 January 2026.
In over 19 years of service, David has worked with the Board and management to create from scratch a risk management program which our reinsurance partners note is unlike any other program they have seen and is world leading in the legal field.
David never wavered during his time at Lexon from constantly seeking innovative ways to better manage risk. From personalised workshops, risk tools to aid practitioners and support programs for practitioners under duress, David has always been at the forefront of identifying innovative, risk averse ways for practitioners to undertake their work.
The success of these programs is borne out by the frequency of files opened per 1,000 solicitors having fallen almost 70% since 2002/3. Lower claims mean lower costs, and this has been a key to the capacity of QLS and Lexon to regularly reduce levy rates over the years.
David’s innovation has been recognised with awards including RMIA Risk Manager of the Year and the Lawyers Weekly Accounting and Management Consultancy Lawyer of the Year.
We wish David all the best for his future.
Tricia Schmidt
We congratulate Tricia on becoming the Chair of Lexon on 1 January 2026.
Tricia was previously the Deputy Chair and had the benefit of a number of years working closely with Glenn Ferguson to ensure that the transition is seamless. Tricia is the Chair of the Underwriting & Risk Committee (URC), the Appointments Committee and also sits on the Claims Committee.
A well-known personal injuries lawyer, Tricia is the senior Principal of MurphySchmidt and has a wealth of board experience as well as being actively engaged in the profession where she currently serves as Chair of the Legal Practice Committee and sits on the Legal Practice Tribunal.
Helen Gillies
We are also pleased to report that Helen has been appointed Deputy Chair of Lexon with effect from 9 January 2026.
A professional director and member of the Board since February 2022, her audit experience has been of particular value to the Audit & Investment Committee, which she now chairs. In more recent times her contributions to, and knowledge of, Lexon have grown further following appointments to both the URC (Helen has considerable experience in the design of insurance programs) and the Appointments Committee.
Tracy Skellern
Tracy, our Deputy Risk Counsel, will step into David Durham’s shoes as Risk Counsel with effect from1 February 2026.
Tracy has worked alongside David in developing the risk program since 2007 and has principal responsibility for a number of key projects, including the suite of risk tools Lexon provides free of charge to its insureds. She is well known to the profession, and we are very confident that the leadership of our class leading risk program will continue to be in safe hands.
We congratulate Tracy on her appointment.
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