Anne-Marie Rice is an award-winning solicitor and mediator. She is recognised as a leader in the field of mediation and alternate dispute resolution nationally. A Senior Judicial Registrar and Executive Director of Registrar Practice and Operations at the Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia, Anne-Marie is responsible for the development and implementation of the dispute resolution processes in Australia’s busiest courts.
With over 25 years’ experience Anne-Marie has been an accredited specialist in family law, and is a nationally accredited mediator. She is trained as a FDRP and has been routinely recognised by her peers as one of Queensland’s best family lawyers and mediators. She is a current member of the Attorney General’s Family Law Council – a group charged with providing the government with recommendations about the development of family law policy in Australia.
A WLAQ Leneen Forde AC Woman Lawyer of the Year, Anne-Marie has also been an executive member of some of Queensland’s and Australia’s leading legal organisations including the QLS Practice Management and Specialist Accreditation Committees, the Family Law Practitioners Association of Qld and the Executive of the Family Law Section of the Law Council of Australia. Anne-Marie is currently a member of the QLS AI in the Courts and Dispute Resolution working group.
Anne-Marie has long committed to dispute resolution without recourse to trial and regularly presents to practitioners around the country on topics including mediation, arbitration and collaborative. Her focus is on the practical application of a “positive approach” to problem solving and her engaging presentations invite audiences to embrace the concept that conflict can be resolved without combat. She taught the Family Law subject at UQ for 5 years prior to her appointment at the FCFCOA and has taught the popular post-grad Mediation and Conflict Resolution subject since 2020. In 2025 she revived the Undergraduate Alternative Dispute Resolution subject and enjoys encouraging students to think practically about how their legal skills might positively impact the parties they will work with and for in the future.