Jackson McDonald Solicitor Charlotte Hall has won this year’s Australian Insurance Law Association’s (AILA’s) Ron Shorter award, a public speaking prize for young professionals in the insurance industry.

Perth-based Ms Hall, who took the $1000 prize with her submission “How major technology trends will transform the insurance industry,” says being crowned the winner was a privilege and encouraged young insurance professionals to get involved next year.

“Participating in the national final, alongside two impressive finalists, was an incredible experience. I am very grateful for the invaluable public speaking coaching that I received,” she said.

“A special thanks to the partners and my team at Jackson McDonald for their continued support and encouragement. The Ron Shorter award is a great competition and public speaking, although often very daunting, is a much-needed skill.”

The annual award, now in its 10th year, is open to young professionals aged 35 and under. Thirty applicants were selected to attend a training workshop and three were then selected as finalists, presenting their topics before a panel of judges and industry professionals.

In her application, Ms Hall said insurers must move to “hyper-personalised” policies, and that five tech trends will have a “seismic” impact on the insurance industry: artificial intelligence, distributed infrastructure, zero trust architecture, greater connectivity and process automation.

The award is sponsored by Colin Biggers & Paisley, where Ron Shorter was Practice Manager in Sydney until his death in 2012, as well as Sedgwick, Dever’s List, Law Image and Steadfast.

The award has benefited more than 500 young insurance professionals since it was established.