Both Hector West and Jessica Bates have joined the firm’s commercial litigation division.

Previously from a chartered accounting firm, West is excited by his return to insolvency law. An experienced insolvency practitioner with 10 years’ experience, West has worked on many complex receiverships, voluntary administrations and liquidations, along with providing advice to financial institutions, liquidators and directors.

Bates joins the firm from Norton White and has experience in the areas of insurance, insolvency and commercial litigation. Originally from the Northern Territory, where she was an associate to the Honourable Justice Trevor Riley in the Supreme Court of the Northern Territory in 2002, Bates entered private practice in 2003. She is an active member of the NSW Young Lawyers’ Animal Rights and Civil Litigation committees.

Fellow solicitor Josephine O’Brien has joined the family law division. Admitted in August 2001, O’Brien has worked in Sydney and more recently in the United Kingdom for CKFT, practising in the area of high net-worth family law.

Joining the corporate division is Leila Golchin, who comes from Hicksons Lawyers. She brings experience in banking and finance litigation from four years spent working for large financial institutions, mortgage originators and trustees. She is currently undertaking postgraduate studies in the University of Sydney’s Master of Laws program.

The firm also welcomes the appointment of new solicitor Naomi Messenger from Freehills to its intellectual property, corporate and commercial group. She has knowledge of legal issues in the new media space, providing practical advice to clients in the area of IP. Messenger worked as a media and entertainment legal adviser to the Arts Law Centre of Australia for more than five years, gaining experience in the arts, theatre and music promotion space.