The promotions of seven to partner, 12 to special counsel and 30 to senior associate are across its practices, including commercial disputes, compensation law, corporate, insurance law and litigation, family and relationship law, real estate and projects, and workplace relations and safety.

The increased number of promotions in this round, firm chief executive partner Genevieve Collins said, is in response to “strong” firm growth.

“The promotions speak to our continued investment in professional development as we scale to meet client demand across a range of commercial legal specialisations including construction and infrastructure, real estate, insurance, the digital economy including cyber security, environment and both mergers and acquisitions and equity capital market, particularly in growth markets in Sydney and Brisbane,” she said.

“We’re pleased to recognise and reward the efforts of our future leaders and thank them for their continued role in delivering the very best law firm experience to our clients, people and communities.”

The promotions are effective as of 1 July 2022, and the addition of seven new partners brings the firm’s partnership gender balance to 48 per cent females, which the firm proclaimed is “among the highest of any Australian law firm”.

The seven new partners are Allison Haworth, Elizabeth Brookes, Melissa Tan, Ralph Bankes, Caroline Mills, Scott Traeger and Monique Robb.

Notably, Ms Mills and Ms Robb have been elevated to partner while maintaining part-time work status.

VIEW ALL

Speaking of her appointment, Ms Mills said that “balancing family and work commitments can be challenging, but working part time has not been a barrier to career progression. The firm has embraced my decision to give equal energy to work and home commitments”.

The 12 new special counsel are Andy Mansfield, Candice Lau, Edward Smith, Eleni Tsiavis, Eliza Elliott, Giana Laidlaw, James Hill, Jason Chew, Laura Josey, Natale Ilardo, Rachel Quigley and Samuel Sumaru.

And the 30 new senior associates are Adam Conti, Alannah Slater, Alex Dworjanyn, Amrit Joseph, Angela Taraborrelli, Anna Olayos, Anna Plunkett, Bill Qiu, Bonnie-Anne Talese, Brandon Hoffler, Calum Woods, Danielle Jones, Edward Lyons, Elizabeth Kemp, Emily Krelle, Genevieve Kofoed, Graeme Matheson, Hayley Chester, Isabella Pierri, Jaimee Brocksopp, Jessica Miral, Jonathan Rose, Kate Rietdyk, Lana Grime, Lily Chen, Lisa Townsend, Rachel Patterson, Shayal Autar, Stephanie Tran and Thomas Nguyen.

Ms Collins also pointed out that five of those promoted (four women and one man) are currently on parental or extended leave.

“The promotions are recognition of their exceptional work and evidence that flexible arrangements do work, while still delivering great client service,” she submitted.

“We’re talking a lot more about permanent flex working. We have introduced policies that enable 100 per cent hybrid working, with no mandated days or number of days in the office, as well as additional generous parental leave provisions including support on return from leave; and a focus on personal and professional development.”