HSF has named 34 new partners across 14 cities, making it the “largest cohort of partner promotions in the firm’s history”. This follows fellow BigLaw firm Ashurst announcing a “record” 25 new partners worldwide last week.

Fourteen (41 per cent) of this year’s partner promotions at HSF are women, including six of the 10 new partners in Australia.

HSF executive partner (east) Andrew Pike (pictured) said: “We are proud to have been the first large commercial law firm in Australia to have appointed a female partner in the 1970s, and so seeing our Australian offices now reach 36 per cent female partners and exceed our 35 per cent target, is important progress.” 

The new HSF partners in Australia are: Patrick Clark (competition, Melbourne), Rachel Dawson (employment and industrial relations, Perth), Wendy Fauvel (employment and industrial relations, Brisbane), Mark Hatfull (energy and resources, Perth), Nerida Jessup (workplace, health and safety, Sydney), Jason Jordan (M&A, Melbourne), Olga Klimczak (employment and industrial relations, Perth), Alex Mackinnon (equity capital markets and M&A, Melbourne), Niresha Mudalige (commercial property, Melbourne), and Aoife Xuereb (commercial litigation and class actions, Melbourne).

Their promotions take effect on 1 May 2022.

Speaking about the new partners, HSF chief executive Justin D’Agostino said: “This is a diverse, outstanding group of bright, talented lawyers and future leaders of our firm.

“In a world that’s changing very rapidly – and with many challenges on the horizon – these new partners have demonstrated the skills and leadership qualities that we need to cement our position as a leading international law firm.”

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Firm chair and senior partner Rebecca Maslen-Stannage added: “Our talented new partners presented a brilliant opportunity to invest heavily in the future of our firm, to ensure we continue to have the depth and experience to deliver the best service to clients, challenge ourselves to step our innovation up yet another notch, and achieve the aims of our Ambition 2025 strategy.

“The skills of these outstanding lawyers further enhance our firm’s traditional strengths and invest in strategic growth areas such as private capital, energy and infrastructure, ESG, digital and legal transformation. The talented and energy of this diverse group reflects the depth and breadth of our global business and have the expertise and experience to support our clients’ evolving needs and strengthen our client base.”

And Mr Pike noted: “They have all the attributes to be leaders in their fields and the skills to meet the emerging needs of our clients. I look forward to seeing their careers continue to blossom.”

Executive and special counsel

The global firm has also promoted 15 Australians to counsel roles, as part of its annual counsel promotions round.

The firm’s 12 new executive counsel are: Sophie Beaman (industrial relations, Sydney), Danielle Briers (financial services regulatory, Sydney), William Chew (corporate, Sydney), Rebecca Davie (real estate, Sydney), Guillermo García-Perrote (international arbitration and construction, Sydney), Ben Harris (employment, Sydney), Nadine Kilpatrick (project finance, Melbourne), Zoe Leyland (M&A, Melbourne), Vanessa Leyshon (class actions, Sydney), Emily Peverill (real estate, Melbourne), Kara Reynolds (employment, industrial relations and safety, Brisbane), and Lauren Selby (corporate, Sydney).

And the firm’s three new special counsel are: Daniel Johnson (corporate, Sydney), Yorick Ng (corporate, Sydney) and Daniel Ryan (corporate, Melbourne).

These appointments will also take effect on 1 May 2022.

Mr Pike commented: “Promotions are not only about recognising talent and investing in our people. They are also about ensuring that we have the right people in place to meet the evolving needs of our clients.  

“These new counsel – from a wide range of practice groups across the firm – are all highly skilled and experienced senior lawyers with the specialised knowledge and expertise that our clients expect on their matters. They have each made a positive contribution to the firm and have a strong track record of delivering outstanding work.

“I wish them every success in their new roles.”

The firm added that the roles of executive and special counsel are commensurate in level, despite their varying specialisations in particular areas of law.

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