Joanna Renkin’s promotion from senior associate recognises the role she played in establishing and managing the Pro Bono & Community Support Program at the firm.

“We really actively encourage participation in pro bono and treat that work equally with other paid work,” Lander & Rogers’ managing partner Andrew Willder told Lawyers Weekly. “Jo leads and manages the entire [pro bono] program. We feel it’s a very sophisticated program and we invest heavily in it. I think we invest more than the great majority of firms of our size.”

According to Willder, Landers invests more than two per cent of its annual total revenue in pro bono work.

After being admitted to practice and joining Landers in 1999, Renkin gained experience in managing large and complex litigation, including class action proceedings in the Federal Court of Australia. Aside from pro bono, her expertise lies in directors' and officers' liability, public liability and product liability.

Only a handful of law firms in Australia have a dedicated pro bono partner. David Hillard at Clayton Utz, Anne Cregan from Ashurst, DLA Piper’s Nicolas Patrick and Brisbane-based Heather Watson at McCullough Robertson are all full-time pro bono or community-based partners.

Ian Gordon was also promoted to partner in the property, projects and infrastructure group at Lander & Rogers, with Ailbhe Kirrane promoted to partner in the insurance law and litigation group.

Two new special counsel and six new senior associates were also promoted within the firm. All promotions take effect from 1 July.

Michael Cooper was promoted to special counsel in the insurance law and litigation team, while Beth McConnell was promoted to special counsel in the firm’s corporate advisory group.

Senior associate promotions included: Christopher Balfour-Browne, Julie Shooter and Kirsty Symons in the insurance group; Catherine Berry and David Catanese in the workplace relations and safety group and Justine Edwards in the property, projects and infrastructure team.

“Our 2012 promotions reflect the continued expansion of the firm across all our practice areas and demonstrate the depth of 'home-grown' talent within the firm,” said Willder.