The third annual 30 Under 30 awards, presented at The Establishment in Sydney on 5 June, attracted exceptional lawyers from the big end of town to regional practices.

The sold-out gala event hosted by Lawyers Weekly was emceed by Australian comedian, actor and director Gary Eck.

Lawyers Weekly would like to congratulate all of the winners who beat a tough field of finalists in their category.

Around 200 lawyers made submissions over the 10 categories, the highest number since the event was launched in 2013.

The high calibre of finalists this year was noted by the eminent judging panel, which included general counsel, senior members of the Bar and respected business figures.

Hear from our finalists in this special feature and find out who has achieved 30 Under 30 status for 2015.

Banking & finance

Ideas that are on the money

This year’s banking and finance finalists were bursting with ideas about how their practice area could be improved.

“That we are legal experts is our clients’ minimum expectation of us,” said one 30 Under 30 winner Anna Bennett, a solicitor at King & Wood Mallesons.

Ms Bennett recommends a “lawyer-plus” approach and argues that upskilling in business and management will dramatically improve the client experience.

“The more banking and finance lawyers are exposed to clients’ economic drivers and internal pressures, the better service we will provide,” she said.

Ms Bennett has acted for major banks, insurance clients and start-ups in the financial technology space.

Meanwhile, finalist Ashleigh Kable from Ashurst suggested that the key to a successful legal practice is balancing quality, price and speed of delivery.

“While I agree it is difficult to achieve all three, the profession as a whole should be striving to do just that,” Ms Kable said.

She has worked as a lawyer in the restructuring and special situations group for the past three years and was recently promoted to senior associate.

Other finalists in this category focused on the opportunities for firms to develop work-life balance among their staff.

Michael Zheng, a lawyer at Gilbert + Tobin and recently a father, argued that flexible working arrangements are a major issue in the profession.

“Last year I became a dad and, along with the multitude of baby skills I needed to learn, I was also faced with the challenge of managing my ambitions at work with the increased demands,” Mr Zheng said.

“I believe flexible working arrangements … go a long way to meeting this challenge.”

Mr Zheng listed the growth of the G+T Melbourne banking and finance team as one of his major achievements.

Winners

Anna Bennett
King & Wood Mallesons

Lucienne Cassidy
Ashurst

Mitchell Thorp
Baker & McKenzie

Finalists

Jason Bernard, Corrs Chambers Westgarth

Varun Bhatia, Lander & Rogers

Steven Catanzariti, Herbert Smith Freehills

Ashleigh Kable, Ashurst

Brian Kirkup, DibbsBarker

William Kontaxis, Salvos Legal

Corinne Rathie, Norton Rose Fulbright

Christopher Shute, Gadens

Michael Zheng, Gilbert + Tobin

p>Corporate counsel

Best lawyers at the business end

Finalists for this year’s Lawyers Weekly 30 Under 30 e.law International In-house Award were scattered across some of Australia’s biggest corporates.

Bianca Xerri, a lawyer with Suncorp Group, started her career in-house and has moved up the ranks to where she can work autonomously on a big caseload. She is also an active member of the company’s Awards and Recognition program, which she helped to set up in 2014.

A senior claims officer at Suncorp said Ms Xerri “always makes herself available to answer queries, no matter how busy she is, and I don’t know how I would get through some days without her help”.

Like Ms Xerri, 30 Under 30 winner Clara Edwards also promotes an open-door policy at the Australia Council for the Arts. But this is not the only reason she is well-known by employees of the council.

Ms Edwards started, and is the captain of, a netball team made up of colleagues and friends. She also formed a book club, which has been recognised by her superiors for contributing to high staff engagement while focusing on an art form funded by the council.

The two remaining 30 Under 30 category winners have also left their mark at their workplace.

Charlotte Lau led the restructure of Telstra’s marketing help desk, which acts as a hub for marketing law assistance and training. She not only designed the model but also identified and addressed risks, created a resource-rich intranet site and conducted marketing and consumer law training workshops.

Nova Entertainment’s Alison Eveleigh can also claim to have improved the efficiency of her legal team. Ms Eveleigh initiated a competitions and campaign legal clinic that runs for two hours twice a week, allowing colleagues to book appointments to discuss upcoming matters.

The clinic, which has proven particularly useful for interstate clients who phone in at allocated times, has streamlined the way the legal team helps the rest of the company.

Winners

Clara Edwards
Australia Council for the Arts

Alison Eveleigh
Nova Entertainment

Charlotte Lau
Telstra Corporation

Finalists

Sarah Buggy, AMP

Sarah Lukies, Wesfarmers Limited

Tess Lynch,

REA Group

Scott Newlan, Transport Accident Commission

Michael Simmons, Playfair Visa and Migration Services

Bianca Xerri, Suncorp Group

Courtenay Zajicek, Wendy’s

Dispute resolution

Boutiques take on big end of town

Small firms rivalled larger competitors in the dispute resolution category.

Of the 12 finalists in this category, four are from firms with fewer than 30 lawyers.

Daniel Meyerowitz-Katz is a solicitor at Sydney firm Levitt Robinson, the smallest in the category with nine lawyers on staff.

At just 27, Mr Meyerowitz-Katz has taken on high-value cases, including a dispute between partners over joint ownership of a $40 million business. He also took carriage of a class action racial discrimination claim brought by the Palm Island Indigenous community against the State of Queensland.

Patrick Hanrahan also comes from a boutique, JHK Legal, which has more than 18 lawyers across Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne and the Gold Coast.

Mr Hanrahan started the firm’s Sydney office at 25 and has grown it to nine staff in the past two-and-a-half years.

“There are very few practitioners of whatever age or experience who could (or in fact would) have taken on this task, let alone made a success of it,” JHK Legal special counsel Rhonda King wrote in her reference. “Patrick, however, has made an outstanding success of the Sydney office.”

Thynne + McCartney is a two-office firm that owes its strata specialty to Jason Carlson.

According to partner Aaron Webb, Mr Carlson developed an expertise in strata law, including advising bodies corporate, negotiating building management agreements and representing clients in specialist jurisdictions and the courts.

“In less than six months Jason has achieved what I thought would take much longer by creating referral networks and an industry presence to organically create a strata practice,” Mr Webb wrote.

One of the winners in this category, Diana Biscoe, is a lawyer at a boutique with international flavour, Webb Henderson, which has about 25 lawyers with offices in Sydney, Singapore and Auckland.

Ms Biscoe was one of the lead lawyers for the ACCC in cartel proceedings in the Federal Court and has also taken the lead for KFC in a dispute with a major franchisee.

Winners

Diana Biscoe
Webb Henderson

Alexandra Kirby
DibbsBarker

Andrew Bass
Minter Ellison

Finalists

Nina Abbey,

Maurice Blackburn

Jason Carlson, Thynne + Macartney

Patrick Hanrahan, JHK Legal

Daniel Meyerowitz-Katz, Levitt Robinson Solicitors

Jin Ooi, Allen & Overy

Andrew Poulton, McCullough Robertson

Holly Sara, Jones Day

Kirk Simmons, DLA Piper

Garth Towan, Lander & Rogers

 

Energy & resources

Queensland emerges as energy powerhouse

The Sunshine state continues to be a major hub for resources deals, supplying most of finalists in the energy & resources category.

The six finalists working in Queensland were mainly involved in mining and natural gas projects, native title matters and landholder rights.

30 Under 30 winner Liam Davis, a senior associate at McCullough Robertson Lawyers, advised mining company Adani on its $7 billion Carmichael Coal Project in central Queensland.

He was also involved in native title negotiations between Senex Energy and traditional landowners, as well as between Glencore Bauxite and the Aurukun community and Ngan-Aak Kunch Aboriginal Corporation.

Fellow winner Suzanne Brown created McKays Solicitors’ Mining Team at the age of just 26 after identifying a gap in the Mackay market.

In the past three years the practice has attracted high-profile clients such as PIMs Group, the second-largest underground coal contractor in Queensland.

Brisbane-based Clayton Utz senior lawyer Prue Warner has advised on native title negotiations all over the country, including the Australia Pacific LNG Project in Queensland and the South West Indigenous Land Use Agreement in Western Australia.

Ms Warner also completed a secondment at Origin Energy, where her manager, Martin Aylward described her as “an inquiring lawyer with sound commercial acumen”.

As part of global firm King & Wood Mallesons, Carolyn Wong has become the lead senior associate for the BG Group, co-leading the $5 billion sale of its export pipeline.

Ms Wong is an example of a fly-in, fly-out lawyer, servicing clients in Queensland but living in Melbourne. She encourages other organisations to adopt flexible working policies, saying “flexibility and mobility are paramount, particularly for women”.

Another Queensland-based lawyer, Libby McKillop from Ashurst, has advised major energy providers BHP Billiton, Rio Tinto Australia and Whitehaven Coal on native title matters; while Eugene McAuley is an associate at three-office firm McCarthy Durie, with a specialisation in landholder rights.

Winners

Suzanne Kathryn Brown
McKays Solicitors

Liam Davis
McCullough Robertson Lawyers

Eugene Edward James McAuley
McCarthy Durie Lawyers

Finalists

Tom Heading, Norton Rose Fulbright

Louise Lee, Corrs Chambers Westgarth

Libby McKillop, Ashurst

Emma McLeod, Gilbert + Tobin

Callum Strike, King & Wood Mallesons

Prue Warner, Clayton Utz

Carolyn Wong, King & Wood Mallesons

Government

Collaborative lawyers can boost government efficiency

Lawyers with government clients should work together to help deliver value for taxpayers’ money, according to this year’s Government finalists.

Daniella Gennari, a solicitor at DLA Piper, said lawyers should advise government departments on how to cut costs throughout the life of a contract, rather than focusing on the initial offering.

“In my experience, the focus of government clients tends to be mainly on the initial approach to market,” Ms Gennari said.

The majority of time and effort is spent ensuring the chosen contractor’s proposal represents value for money but, once the contract is signed, day-to-day management of the contract is not given the same priority, she added.

Ms Gennari has worked with the Department of Human Services since 2012 on its multimillion-dollar Managed Telecommunications Services contract.

Darshini Nanthakumar, a senior associate from Minter Ellison, said the shift towards outsourcing government functions to the private sector should change the way lawyers interact with their clients.

Lawyers need to develop “broader commercial understanding and strategic perspectives”, she said.

Ms Nanthakumar has been responsible for the implementation of policy objectives to reduce Australia’s carbon emissions, the competition and economic regulatory aspects of the current Port of Melbourne privatisation and the implementation of the Victorian Government’s Powerline Bushfire Safety Program.

Jacinta Goutama, also a finalist from Minter Ellison, said lawyers should try to understand the broader policy context of particular transactions; while 30 Under 30 winner Stella Loong believes that making it possible for lawyers to move between different roles would improve her practice area.

“It would help if it was easier to facilitate in-house lawyers moving from agency to agency so they could get different experiences throughout government,” said Ms Loong, who is a lawyer at Ashurst.

Winners

Luke Grayson
Colin Biggers & Paisley

Stella Loong
Ashurst

Suzanne Kathryn Brown
McKays Solicitors

Finalists

Tom Galvin, Minter Ellison

Daniella Gennari, DLA Piper

Jacinta Goutama, Minter Ellison

Darshini Nanthakumar, Minter Ellison

Jin Ooi, Allen & Overy

Elise Paynter, Maddocks

Sharon Sangha, Mills Oakley Lawyers

 

Insurance

NSW dominates insurance shortlist

Ten lawyers from NSW were among the finalists in the competitive Insurance category.

The accomplished lawyers who were short-listed for the award come from global heavyweights and specialised boutiques.

Sydney lawyer Dearne Matheson, of insurance boutique firm Wotton + Kearney, demonstrates that challenging and high-profile work is not confined to the major firms.

Ms Matheson recently ran defence of proceedings in the Supreme Court of NSW on behalf of a large valuation firm involving allegations of negligence and misleading and deceptive conduct.

She is also taking a lead role within the firm. For the past five years Ms Matheson has been heavily involved in running Wotton + Kearney’s property professionals practice.

Meanwhile, at the bigger end of town, 30 Under 30 winner Tejas Thete from Gadens is running a diverse litigation practice under the oversight of her supervising partner, Wendy Blacker.

Ms Thete has also made efforts to boost the firm’s profile, preparing legal updates in the area of personal injury law and contributing to submissions that saw Gadens achieve individual and practice group rankings in Chambers and Partners and The Legal 500.

Vying for the award alongside Ms Matheson and Ms Thete were two lawyers from Minter Ellison’s Melbourne and Queensland offices.

Emily Archer, who is based in Melbourne, was one of this year’s 30 Under 30 winners. The young lawyer has conducted workers’ compensation litigation and regularly advises some of the country’s major insurers.

Her role includes advising and acting as the sole legal provider of advice regarding asbestos claims for Allianz, QBE and AAI.

Ms Archer’s Queensland-based colleague, Nicole Morgan, was also in the running for the award.

Ms Morgan practices exclusively in the health and aged care space. Her clients include UnitingCare Health Queensland, Royal Children’s Hospital and Central Queensland Hospital.

Winners

Melissa Zen
Sparke Helmore Lawyers

Emily Archer
Minter Ellison

Tejas Thete
Gadens

Finalists

Joshua Carton, Norton Rose Fulbright

Laura D’Alessandri, Curwoods Lawyers

Kelvin Liew, Clyde & Co

Dearne Matheson, Wotton + Kearney

Nicole Morgan, Minter Ellison

Stephen Morrissey, Gilchrist Connell Lawyers

Daniel Robinson, Clyde & Co

Michael Rumore, Colin Biggers & Paisley

Rachel White, Colin Biggers & Paisley

Intellectual property

Rethink needed on intellectual property’s image

KWM solicitor and 30 Under 30 winner Anna Spies has said lawyers working in intellectual property should aim to improve public opinion of their practice area.

“Lawyers and clients can work together to increase public perceptions of intellectual property,” said Ms Spies.

“In particular, with recent developments in copyright (such as the Dallas Buyers Club litigation) and in patent law, there seems to be a public perception that lawyers and rights holders are using intellectual property in a way adverse to the public interest.

“What has been lost in the discourse is the purpose of providing intellectual property rights: to provide incentives for the development and distribution of arts, culture and science.”

Ms Spies is a member of KWM’s dispute resolution team and works in areas such as copyright, advertising and social media through to trademarks and patents.

All of the finalists for the UTS Intellectual Property Award, including Ms Spies, demonstrated how they bring value to their firm’s IP practice. For instance, Rebecca Silberberg, an associate in Baker & McKenzie’s technology communications and commercial group, has been working on legal marketing reviews for a major client over the past nine months.

Finalists from Corrs Chambers Westgarth, Gilbert + Tobin and Maddocks are also working on major matters.

Corrs’ Bridie Egan is representing a pharmaceutical company in a complex and unprecedented piece of Federal Court litigation; G+T’s Anna Smyth has been advising Woolworths South Africa on the launch of its new branding and packaging in Australia and New Zealand; and Maddocks senior associate Elizabeth Stary has advised Amazon on acquiring a large catalogue of digital video content for its video on demand services in Britain and Germany.

Winners

Anna Spies
King & Wood Mallesons

Paul Gordon
NDA Law Pty Ltd

Jessica Norgard
Ashurst

Finalists

Tracy Lu, Allens

Rebecca Silberberg, Baker & McKenzie

James Neil,

Clayton Utz

Bridie Egan, Corrs Chambers Westgarth

Eliza Forsyth, DibbsBarker

Anna Smyth,

Gilbert + Tobin

Elizabeth Stary, Maddocks

Mollie Daly Tregillis, Norton Rose Fulbright

James Skelton, Swaab Attorneys

 

M&A

Globals dominate M&A finalists

Global firms are strongly represented in the shortlist for the M&A Award.

HSF lawyers Jason Jordan and Michael Compton have taken lead roles on major deals to earn their place among the finalists.

Mr Jordan, a finalist in this category, has advised the likes of Leighton Holdings (now CIMIC Group), specifically on the firm’s $1.15 billion sale of John Holland to CCCC International Holding Limited.

He was the lead non-partner in the transaction, which saw him coordinate the legal due diligence, prepare various transaction documents and complex advices, and project manage internal and external work streams.

His colleague, Mr Compton, has also worked on high-profile deals, including Seven Group Holdings Limited’s acquisition and recapitalisation of Nexus Energy Limited.

The 30 Under 30 winner appears to be well on his way to a partnership role, advising on structural and regulatory issues relating to schemes of arrangement and takeover bids, drawing on HSF resources to deliver commercial and relevant due diligence and undertaking a complex analysis of Australia’s foreign investment laws.

Mr Compton is also an adjunct lecturer at the University of Technology, Sydney law school, lecturing in takeovers law.

Another global firm represented in this category, Ashurst, has another seven finalists spread across this year’s 30 Under 30 program.

Senior associate Jason Hewitt has been recognised by his firm for developing strong client relationships, with one client, BlueScope Steel, praising Mr Hewitt for his “pragmatic perspective” during a secondment to the company in 2013.

Nicholas Kipriotis from Norton Rose Fulbright, Amy Chinnappa from K&L Gates, Chris Rosario from Squire Patton Boggs and Elliot Cheung from DLA Piper round out the global firm finalists.

Taking on these global dealmakers are several accomplished M&A lawyers from national and mid-tier firms.

Winners

Jacqueline How
Minter Ellison

Gavin Hammerschlag
Arnold Bloch Leibler

Michael Compton
Herbert Smith Freehills

Finalists

Elliott Cheung, DLA Piper

Amy Chinnappa, K&L Gates

Jason Hewitt, Ashurst

Jason Jordan, Herbert Smith Freehills

Nicholas Kipriotis, Norton Rose Fulbright

Kate Latta, Maddocks

Chris Rosario, Squire Patton Boggs

Jen Tan, Piper Alderman

Reuben van Werkum, Gilbert + Tobin

Pro Bono

Young lawyers call for compulsory pro bono

Lawyers should be obliged to do pro bono work as a condition of their practising certificates, several pro bono finalists have proposed.

In sharing her suggestions for improving the legal profession, DLA Piper senior associate Cindy Lim suggested that lawyers are in a privileged position and therefore had an obligation to give back.

“The profession as a whole would benefit from regular reminders of the fortunate position we are in,” said the 30 Under 30 finalist.

“We already benefit from compulsory professional development as part of the requirements for maintaining our practising certificates. In addition to this, there is scope for compulsory pro bono and/or community service attached to the renewal of our practising certificates.”

James Johnston, a solicitor from Ashurst and winner in this category, agreed with Ms Lim’s proposal – but urged the profession to take on community education programs, not just individual cases.

“Providing free community legal education about legal obligations and rights in relation to common areas of dispute or difficulty could avoid many of the issues pro bono clients frequently present with,” Mr Johnston said.

Another proponent of compulsory pro bono was Steven Hardey, who recently founded his own practice, Hardey Legal.

Mr Hardey suggested a minimum requirement of one day or one case per year of pro bono work, suggesting it would improve the profession’s reputation.

“I believe pro bono work is a fundamental component of making the legal system fair, and it would be humbling to see larger firms do pro bono work in fields they are not usually in,” he said.

While King & Wood Mallesons solicitor and 30 Under 30 winner Philippa Macaskill encouraged firms to aim for the National Pro Bono Aspirational Target of 35 hours per lawyer, per year, she added that pro bono work should be a personal decision.

Winners

Philippa Macaskill
King & Wood Mallesons

Kara Cook
Women’s Legal Service

James Johnston
Ashurst

Finalists

Emma Anderson, Herbert Smith Freehills

Reece Corbett-Wilkins, Norton Rose Fulbright

Alice Greenwood, Ashurst

Steven Craig Hardey, Hardey Legal

Cindy Lim,

DLA Piper

Elise Paynter, Maddocks

Michael Simmons, Playfair Visa and Migration Services

 

Workplace Relations, Employment & Safety

IR lawyers want in on FWC hearings

The restrictions on legal representation in Fair Work Commission (FWC) hearings have been challenged by young workplace relations lawyers.

Finalists for the KordaMentha Workplace Relations, Employment & Safety Award argued that lawyers help streamline the process and aid parties in negotiating and settling claims.

30 Under 30 winner Jessica Main from McKean Park Lawyers said the legislation that allows the FWC to block lawyers from hearings must be removed.

“The current process requires lawyers to make oral or written submissions as to why permission should be granted to represent his or her client,” said Ms Main, who was elected as president of the Young Lawyers section of the Law Institute of Victoria in 2014.

“This process causes unnecessary cost and concerns.”

Finalist Kaitlyn Gulle from Lander & Rogers agreed, arguing that lawyers help streamline the process by offering informed input.

The “onerous procedural requirements placed on parties seeking legal representation” add additional costs to the running of matters and “jeopardise the administration of justice”, said Ms Gulle said, who acted in the landmark decision of a full bench of the commission which established the temporal scope of the new anti-bullying jurisdiction.

Unions have raised concerns that allowing lawyers into hearings will disadvantage employees who do not have same resources to ‘lawyer up’ as their employers. Ms Gulle said there is a “real need” to increase legal aid services for individuals who are not union members or are unable to afford private legal representation.

Employers would spend less money defending against “unmeritorious, vexatious or weak claims” if employees had access to legal advice at an early stage, she said.

Winners

Jessica Main
McKean Park Lawyers

Alana Heffernan
Maurice Blackburn Lawyers

Ajay Mukesh Khandhar
Minter Ellison

Finalists

Katherine Zoe Adams-Lau, Herbert Smith Freehills

Michelle Blewett, Printing Industries Association of Australia

Kaitlyn Gulle, Lander & Rogers

Kristen Hammond, Holman Webb

Nathan Moy, Clayton Utz

Elise Paynter, Maddocks

Kyle Scott, Australian Business Lawyers & Advisors

Martin Watts, K&L Gates

Amy Zhang, Harmers Workplace Lawyers