Leading independent Australian law firm HWL Ebsworth Lawyers has announced that it has appointed Michael Palfrey and Sam Dundas as partners within its national Litigation team.
Michael Palfrey joins HWL Ebsworth’s Canberra team from Sparke Helmore, where he was a partner.
Michael is an experienced litigator, having represented Commonwealth Government departments and agencies in merits and judicial review proceedings and commercial disputes for over fifteen years.
Michael also advises Commonwealth Government clients on all aspects of administrative law, including statutory interpretation, legislative development, information law issues, privacy and secrecy advice.
Michael’s experience includes acting as an in-house lawyer at the Department of Health, the Department of Finance, the Therapeutic Goods Administration and the New South Wales Crown Solicitor.
Michael is joined in moving from Sparke Helmore by Daniel Stewart, Consultant and Senior Lecturer in Administrative Law at the Australian National University. Michael brings a unique blend of academic expertise with practical experience, having advised the Departments of Immigration, Social Services, Defence, Health and Agriculture over the past four years on administrative law and information law issues.
The appointments of Michael and Daniel follow on from the recent appointment of Sophie Given, who also joined HWL Ebsworth from Sparke Helmore.
Sam Dundas joins the firm’s Perth team from Herbert Smith Freehills, where he was an executive counsel.
Sam offers clients a broad litigation practice, with particular experience advising clients in the mining, resources and energy sectors in relation to a range of matters including joint venture disputes, mining services disputes, construction disputes and corporate governance issues.
Sam also has a specialisation in banking, contentious insolvency and corporate restructuring, advising clients in relation to turnaround options, the enforcement of securities, priority disputes between creditors, insolvent transactions and compliance issues under regulatory laws.
Sam’s experience includes working for Clifford Chance in London as a member of their structured finance team. When combined with Sam’s restructuring and insolvency expertise, this has enabled Sam to develop an extensive understanding of domestic and international finance arrangements.
Juan Martinez, Managing Partner of HWL Ebsworth, said “we are delighted that many of Australia’s most impressive legal practitioners continue to recognise that our firm offers the ideal foundation for the next stage of their career, irrespective of the practitioner’s particular degree of experience. Michael and Sam are perfect examples of this. Michael joins us as an established and experienced partner with an impressive following amongst Commonwealth Government clients. Sam, on the other hand, has chosen to launch his partnership career with us and will be looking to rapidly drive the growth of his practice by leveraging the firm’s unrivalled value offering and his exceptional litigation capability.”
“Michael’s expertise is extremely highly regarded across the Commonwealth Government departments and agencies, and his appointment will be instrumental in our continued push to build Australia’s premier administrative law offering.” added Juan.
“Sam is an outstanding addition to the commercial litigation and restructuring/insolvency team that we have been building across Australia. Sam’s passion for assisting clients is evident to all who have worked with him, and we are excited to welcome him to the team” said Juan.
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.
Following the abovementioned appointments, the firm will comprise 1,004 staff including: 198 Partners, 494 other legal staff and 312 support staff across offices in nine locations – Adelaide, Alice Springs, Brisbane, Canberra, Darwin, 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.