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Barry Nilsson expands Adelaide presence with team from Sparke Helmore
National law firm has bolstered its presence in Adelaide with the appointment of a team of senior lawyers, including two new principals, from fellow BigLaw practice Sparke Helmore.
Jerome Doraisamy
Barry Nilsson (BN) has appointed principals Julie Kinnear and Helen Stavridis (both pictured), special counsel Lucille Stewart, associate Matthew Birrane, paralegal Renee Songer and personal assistant Keryn Mason — all of whom have come over from Sparke Helmore.
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As a result of hiring the team from Sparke Helmore, BN has 378 staff nationally, 28 of whom are located in its Adelaide office. Its other offices are in Brisbane, Hobart, Melbourne, Perth and Sydney. The firm now has 36 principals, with women making up 39 per cent of those professionals.
The appointments also follow BN’s promotion of 18 professionals in mid-December and its elevation of 20 professionals in June 2022.
The news also follows recent team appointments across the Australian legal services marketplace, including Hall & Wilcox adding a team of five senior lawyers from Australian Business Lawyers and Advisors, as reported last week; Wotton + Kearney taking a team from Corrs in mid-January and then a team from MinterEllison the following week; K&L Gates taking three partners from HWL Ebsworth in early December and then another team from the same firm the next month; and also Bartier Perry taking four partners from Coleman Greig in February.
One month ago, Lawyers Weekly explored how and why poaching teams is all the rage right now. Also, in January, Lawyers Weekly spoke with BN about how it is looking to buck the trends in Australia’s legal services marketplace.
Speaking about the appointments, BN board chair and national insurance and health lead principal Rhett Kennedy said that the firm is committed to recruiting the best talent and providing the highest level of service to its clients nationally.
“We are thrilled to be expanding the Adelaide office with a group of people of such high calibre and renown,” he proclaimed.
“Julie, Helen and Lucille and their team will not only grow our office in Adelaide, but significantly strengthen our capability to support our national clients in the highly specialised areas of insurance and health law.”
“Julie is a recognised leader in the insurance market in Adelaide and specialises in professional indemnity and financial lines claims,” Mr Kennedy went on.
“Helen is highly regarded and responsible for managing a casualty practice assisting a number of major Australian insurers.”
“The quality of our team members in the insurance and health practice demonstrates BN’s commitment to providing our clients with the highest level of technical ability and client service, and we are delighted to have Julie, Helen and their team on board,” Mr Kennedy concluded.
Ms Kinnear added: “I speak on behalf of Helen and our team when I say we are thrilled to be joining BN to expand the firm’s renowned client service within the Adelaide market.
“It’s an honour to be appointed to the firm within such a fundamental time of growth and evolution for the practice, and we are so pleased to be hitting the ground running within the firm.”
