Leading independent Australian law firm HWL Ebsworth Lawyers has announced the internal promotion of 11 partners and 10 special counsel.
The following new partners work across various areas of the firm, including Construction & Infrastructure, Commercial, Insurance, Litigation, Property and Workplace Relations & Safety:
- Andrew Allan – Insurance (Canberra office)
- Brad Swebeck – Workplace Relations & Safety (Sydney office)
- Cassandra Emmett – Commercial and Property (Darwin office)
- Chris Egan – Workplace Relations & Safety (Melbourne office)
- Colin Harris – Construction & Infrastructure (Brisbane office)
- Laura Young – Commercial (Melbourne office)
- Mark Riddington – Construction & Infrastructure (Sydney office)
- Melinda Leacy – Property (Brisbane office)
- Melissa Hanbidge – Litigation & Dispute Resolution (Brisbane office)
- Sarah McJannett – Insurance (Canberra office)
- Tony Scott – Insurance (Brisbane office)
The firm has also promoted Alexandra White (Litigation – Sydney), Alinta Bradley (Property – Melbourne), James Fleetwood (Banking & Finance – Brisbane), Kyle Norton (Insurance – Brisbane), Matthew Thickett (Insurance – Perth), Paul Lewis (Commercial – Melbourne), Renee Cansdale (Banking & Finance – Brisbane), Tim Dorgan (Commercial – Melbourne), Timothy Chan (Litigation – Sydney), and Victoria La Fontaine (Construction & Infrastructure – Sydney) to the position of special counsel.
A further nine team members were promoted to the position of senior associate.
This represents the largest ever single round of internal partner, special counsel and senior associate promotions in the firm’s history.
“Several years ago, we embarked on a sustained and unrivalled growth strategy with a view to assisting our clients with their broad range of commercial law needs, regardless of where in Australia they are operating. This involved new office launches, lateral hires and the progression of our existing team members. Alongside our well publicised lateral recruitment program, we invested heavily in enhancing our graduate programs and have sought to provide our existing staff with the opportunity to develop their legal and commercial skills, while building a client base of their own. This latest tranche of promotions, involving a collection of exceptionally talented lawyers operating across Australia, shows that our long term strategy is proving to be highly effective,” said Juan Martinez, HWL Ebsworth Managing Partner.
“I am immensely proud that five of our new partners, four of our new special counsel and all of our new senior associates are women. This is a clear demonstration that our policy of promoting talent based solely on merit allows all team members to reach their potential without needing to rely on affirmative action. I congratulate all of our promoted team members for taking this next exciting step in their career progression,” Juan added.
Note to Editors:
HWL Ebsworth is the largest legal partnership in Australia according to the most recent partnership surveys published by The Australian and the Australian Financial Review.
The firm comprises 1,040 staff including: 217 partners, 502 other legal staff and 321 support staff across offices in ten locations – Adelaide, Alice Springs, Brisbane, Canberra, Darwin, Hobart, Melbourne, Norwest (North West Sydney), Perth and Sydney.
HWL Ebsworth is an independent, nationally integrated, full service commercial law firm, providing tailored and commercially oriented legal services.
HWL Ebsworth operates a different business model to the other leading national law practices, and this allows us to offer unrivalled value for money without compromising quality and service. Our low ratio of solicitors to partners ensures that our clients receive optimal access to partner resources for all matters.
For further information, please contact:
Russell Mailler, National Marketing Manager (03) 8644 3569 or rmailler@hwle.com.au