2026 Winners & Finalists

Academic of the Year

Sean Brennan, UNSW Law & Justice
James Glissan, Glissan & Associates Lawyers
Doron Goldbarsht, Macquarie Law School
Chun-Chi (Michael) Hung, UNSW Law & Justice

Kathy Reeves, University of Southern Queensland

Leon Terrill, University of New South Wales
Paula Zito, Adelaide University

Barrister of the Year

Paul Folino-Gallo, Third Floor Wentworth Chambers
Sharon Kermath, Victorian Bar

Darren Mort, Victorian Bar

Amanda Pearson, Victorian Bar
Francois Salama, 13th Floor St James Hall

Dealmaker of the Year

Con Boulougouris, MinterEllison

Tony Damian, Ashurst Perkins Coie

Jane Garber-Rosenzweig, Gable Lawyers
Shaun Hardcastle, Hamilton Locke
Kate Jefferson, Baker McKenzie
Adam Jeffrey, Lander & Rogers
Sandy Mak, Corrs Chambers Westgarth
Rory Moriarty, Clayton Utz
James Rozsa, Johnson Winter Slattery
Philippa Stone, Herbert Smith Freehills Kramer

General Counsel of the Year

Emily Ackland, National Storage
Stephanie-Kate Bratton, AgriFutures Australia
Rachel Launders, Nine Entertainment Co
Peter Le, City of Swan
Samantha Lennox, Cancer Council Queensland
Christopher Miers, National Heart Foundation of Australia
Vanessa Nakhl, Riverstone Partners

Katrin O’Sullivan, The Fred Hollows Foundation

Kate Sherburn, Who Gives A Crap
Emma Wolfenden, Varley Group

Government Lawyer of the Year

Loretta Houlahan, SPA Australia
Clare Jones, Victorian Government Solicitor’s Office

Ming Li, Australian Transport Safety Bureau

Gavan Mackenzie, Maddocks
Rupert Su, NSW Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water

In-House Lawyer of the Year

Ricardo Basetti, Teachers Mutual Bank

Simon Burnett, Westpac Banking Corporation

Candice Colman, Alinta Energy
Sam Gillis, Gold Fields
Charlotte Hollindale, Telstra
Theresa Jennings, Cancer Council Queensland
Greta Koshy, Jemena
Sarah Lang, St Vincent’s Hospital (Melbourne)
Taylor Murphy, EssilorLuxottica
Rupert Su, NSW Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water

Indigenous Leader of the Year

Samantha Alexander, ALS

Duane Keighran, Keighran Legal + Advisory

Innovator of the Year (Individual)

Mona Chiha, JurisTechne

Mark Machaalani, Unified Lawyers
Maureen Migliazzo, Dentons
Sapphire Parsons, Macpherson Kelley
Daniel Rod, Chamberlains Law Firm
Renee Roumanos, Renee Roumanos Legal
Caryn Sandler, Gilbert + Tobin
Anna Shaw, Hunt & Hunt Lawyers
Mick Sheehy, PwC
Jocelyn Sutjipto, Clayton Utz

Law Student of the Year

Alison Cook, ANU
Lauren Devine, The Family Law Co.
Chéryl Garreau, DSA Law
Joshua Georges, Bartier Perry
Tiarna Hall, Maurice Blackburn Lawyers
Isabelle Perry, Henry Carus + Associates
Renee Puno, Evolve Legal
Deb Russell, Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions and University of New England

Raahat Shaik, University of New South Wales

Shani Toye, Shine Lawyers

Legal Operations or Support Professional of the Year

Jenny Binetter, Weinberger Lawyers
Siobhan Bruce, Coleman Greig Lawyers
Belinda Carlesso, BDC Law
Jordan Collier, Emma Turnbull Lawyers
Julie Cook, Lewis Family Lawyers
Holly Gilholme, Attwood Marshall Lawyers
Kaitlyn Leamy, Slater and Gordon Lawyers

Chrissie McCann, Bartier Perry

Tish Mios, Jones-Hope Legal and Advisory
Ana Maria Oreskovic, Umbrella Family Law

Litigator of the Year

Luke Buchanan, Buchanan Rees Dispute Lawyers
Joshua Dale, Carroll & O’Dea Lawyers
Christopher Fahmy, GopherWood Lawyers
Sach Fernando, Maxiom Injury Lawyers
John Duc Ho, State Law Group
Sophie Inwood, AJ & Co Lawyers

Patrick Mead, Carter Newell

Nicholas Stewart, Dowson Turco Lawyers
Shaun Temby, Maddocks
Samuel Warming, Warmings Compensation Lawyers
Perry Wood, Australian Migration Lawyers

Managing Partner of the Year

Fadiya Ali, Ali Family Lawyers
Mengpei Gao, Ascent Lawyers
Jane Garber-Rosenzweig, Gable Lawyers
Krish Gosai, Gosai Law
Michael Harmer, Harmers Workplace Lawyers
Andrew Henshaw, Velocity Legal
Chanel Martin, Resolve
Victoria-Jane Otavski, BlackBay Lawyers
Danielle Snell, Elit Lawyers by McGirr & Snell

Perry Wood, Australian Migration Lawyers

Mediator/Arbitrator of the Year

Michel Esnault, Consensus Mediation

Amrit Kaur, Clear Conflict Resolution

Anne Purcell, Resolution Partners
Jay Tseng, Enyo Lawyers

Mentor of the Year

Lynda Babister, Transitus Legal

Donna Bartlett, Deloitte Australia

Dalvin Chien, Mills Oakley
Carla Giles, The Family Law Co.
Tiffany Marsh, Slater and Gordon Lawyers
Amy Nason, Telstra
Michael Seton, Seton Family Lawyers
Lauren Solomonson, Coulter Legal
Lisa To, Bartier Perry
Ashlee Wachtel, Resolve

Partner of the Year

Matt Baumgurtel, Hamilton Locke
John Brewster, Ashurst Perkins Coie
Janine Gregory, Maurice Blackburn
Samy Mansour, Clayton Utz

Rebecca Maslen-Stannage, Herbert Smith Freehills Kramer

Tina Nematian, One Planet Migration Law
Blake Shaw, Ironbridge Legal
Caroline Snow, Dentons
Philippa Stone, Herbert Smith Freehills Kramer
Michael Ziegelaar, Herbert Smith Freehills Kramer

Property Lawyer of the Year

Zohra Ali, Corporate Legal
Suzanne Azzi, Lexmerca Lawyers
Constance Bouras, Bird Law (formerly WRP Legal)
Marcus Carbone, MTK Lawyers
Clare Jones, Victorian Government Solicitor’s Office
Jin Seop Jung, JSP Legal

Stephanie Martyn, Southern Waters Legal

Julie Maxfield, Aitken Partners
David Nematalla, DBN Lennox Lawyers
Nathan Weinberger, Weinberger Lawyers

Regional/Suburban Lawyer of the Year

Leona Bennett, Southern Waters Legal
Raquel Bond, Thynne + Macartney
Georgia Carroll, Jacaranda Legal
Carla Giles, The Family Law Co.
Monika Hermann, Eliza Legal
Chun-Chi (Michael) Hung, ClearSky Legal
Alana Jacquet, Our Lawyers
Samantha Lewis, Lewis Family Lawyers

Liam Loader, Conditsis Lawyers

Holly Lynch, Rafton Family Lawyers

Rising Star of the Year (In-House)

Briahna Connolly, Queensland Corrective Services
Benjamin Gray, EML Group
Dajana Jefic, Transdev Australasia
Amogh Kadhe, Davidson

Jasmine Wang, Oceana Funds

Alice Wang, Samsung Electronics Australia
Grace Welsby, The a2 Milk Company Limited
Vikki (Weijia) Zhang, Findex

Rising Star of the Year (Private Practice)

Samantha Alexander, ALS
Bree Campbell, Justice Family Lawyers
Alexandra Cowden, Holding Redlich
Struan Jansen, Henry Carus + Associates
Lauren Kavanagh, Jewell Hancock Employment Lawyers
Rosa Lindon, DBH Lawyers
Emma Nettelbeck, McInnes Wilson Lawyers
Nicol Petkovic, Law Partners
Mikhail Safarudin, K&L Gates

Giorgia Wilson, Evans & Wislang

Senior Associate of the Year

Jessie Allen, Pinsent Masons

Claudia Brennan, Adero Law

Betty Chen, Thomsons (formerly Thomson Geer)
Tiara Dalpadado, Crossover Law Group
Heather Ruramayi Dzviti, Nevett Ford Lawyers
Katherine Higgins, Law Squared
Kamille Deanne Lagasca-Mahig, Maison Chen Law Group
Laura Martin, Norton Rose Fulbright
Bonnie Paton, Ashurst Perkins Coie
Sarvashree Singh, Mullins Lawyers

Sole Practitioner of the Year

Sepi Agahi, Agahi Lawyers
Marija Caruana-Smith, Altura Legal
Tanja Djokic, TD Migration Consulting
Amanda Harrington, Pivotal Law Group
Chun-Chi (Michael) Hung, ClearSky Legal
William McCullough, MCC Advisory
Louise Neilson, Neilson & Co Legal
Awash Prasad, NorthBridge Legal

Trish Ryan, Sydney Legal Consulting

Nour Salama, Salbridge Lawyers

Special Counsel of the Year

Ko Ko Aung, Albert Arthur Lawyers
Linda Huan, KHQ Lawyers
Angela Liaskos, HWLE Lawyers
Tracey Lynch, Johnson Legal
Tinashe Makamure, Barry Nilsson

Ole Mitrevski, Massons

Johan Pietersz, DLA Piper Australia
Suman Soni, AJ & Co Lawyers
Anika Valenti, Terri Janke and Company
Justin Vaughan, Colin Biggers & Paisley

Australian Law Awards Excellence Award

Darren Mort, Victorian Bar