The promotions are, the firm said in a statement, its “largest in Australia for the second consecutive year”.

HSF’s new Australian partners are Jane Ballard (energy and resources, Perth), Melissa Gladstone (disputes – class actions and commercial litigation, Sydney), Elizabeth Henderson (corporate – venture capital and M&A, Sydney), Tom Hoare (corporate – private equity, Sydney), Anne Hoffmann (disputes – insurance and financial services, Sydney), Michael Lake (disputes – construction and infrastructure, Sydney), Amelia Morgan (corporate – M&A, Sydney), Stephanie Panayi (competition, regulation and trade, Sydney), Adam Roberts (finance – real estate, corporate and acquisition finance, Sydney) and Lauren Selby (corporate – head office advisory, Sydney).

The promotions are effective as of 1 May 2023.

The promotions follow fellow BigLaw firm Ashurst’s elevation of 13 Australian lawyers to its global partnership, as reported yesterday (19 April) by Lawyers Weekly.

The news also follows the decision, in October 2022, of regional managing partner and executive partner for Asia and Australia Andrew Pike to step down from his role in May of this year.

In December, HSF named Mr Pike’s replacement in Kristin Stammer (pictured), who has been with the firm for 25 years. She is a partner in the firm’s IP practice in Sydney and co-leads the firm’s global consumer sector.

Ms Stammer was appointed for an initial three-year term.

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Speaking about the firm’s new Australian partners, Ms Stammer said: “Developing and promoting the next generation of talented lawyers ensures that we can continue to do outstanding work for our clients and deliver on our ambitious firm strategy.

“I congratulate each of these new partners on their promotion.

“They each have the wide-ranging abilities and experience required of a successful partner. Of course, they are all technically excellent, but they also possess strong business acumen, proven client relationship capabilities and outstanding leadership skills.”

Ms Stammer went on: “The new partners work in our market-leading practices, as well as many of them in our key growth areas, including private capital, energy transition and ESG.

“These areas play to our strengths and represent huge opportunities for our clients and our business, which is why we continue to invest heavily in them.”

In January of this year, Mr Pike spoke exclusively with Lawyers Weekly about HSF’s continuing evolution, and in March, managing partner of the firm’s Perth operations, Elizabeth Macknay, detailed the growth of the legal market in the west.