Mills Oakley promotes 55
National law firm Mills Oakley is the third BigLaw practice to unveil a sizable promotions round today (Monday, 19 July), with three named to the partnership, while 13 have been elevated to special counsel, 14 to senior associate, and 25 to associate.
Editor's note: This story has been updated to include the names of those promoted to associate.
Mills Oakley will enter the new financial year with 55 professionals promoted to more senior positions, following a nine-month period that saw the national firm expand its footprint across the country, acquire a handful of SME practices, and bolster its partnership ranks.
Three have been promoted to partner at the firm: Scott Coulthart (corporate, Brisbane), Matthew Barry (property, Sydney) and Nikki Cassar (insurance, Sydney).
The 13 new special counsel are Adrienne Fraser, Ada Wong, Alex Myers, Alison Malek, Alissa Harnath, Ben Salon, Dean Brayley, Henry Holland, Nathan Timmins, Som Leung, Tanya Murugan, Thomas Blanch, and Tom Doherty.
The firm’s 14 new senior associates are Alexander Kingsbury, Andrew Greenhalgh, Carolyn Tran, Enoch Hui, Jonathan Gillard, Jonathan Green, Lyn McSweeney, Maria Civisic, Mitchell Dunk, Nik Angelakis, Philippa Peel, Rebecca Browder, Sam Dekker, and Samantha Lo.
Mills Oakley has also elevated 25 lawyers to associate level: Amy Green, Will Constable, Serena Tong, Nicole Mouyat, Henry Shaw, Cleo Ioannou, Antonia Marran, Edward Cope, Holly White, Nadia El-Hissi, Emma Clarence, Lorna Anderson, Mark Mackay, Russell Buckley, Caitlin Cleary, Kate Garnock, Grace Hobbs, Selina Mao, James Pattinson, Amberley Speak, Bryn de Bes, and Jessica Elakis.
All promotions are effective as of 1 July.
Speaking about the promotions, Mills Oakley chief executive John Nerurker said: “A robust round of promotions is a key indicator of a healthy, meritocratic firm.”
“Reaching partnership is a particularly significant milestone for Scott, Matthew and Nikki and thoroughly deserved.”
Mr Nerurker added: “Our newly promoted lawyers exemplify the unique combination of detailed industry expertise and innovative thinking which gives leading practitioners a distinctive edge.”
“We are delighted to acknowledge and reward their hard work.”
The promotions round follows the firm’s hiring of three new partners from rival national practices in recent months, as well as its nabbing of Gilchrist Connell’s national head of corporate and commercial in February.
It also comes after Mills Oakley expanded its national presence to South Australia, with the opening of an Adelaide office in mid-December, as well as its acquisition of a Sydney insurance firm and a Melbourne-based boutique, both in September of last year.
The EOFY promotions also follow recent promotions rounds at fellow BigLaw firms, including: the promotion of 23 at Thomson Geer earlier this morning (19 June), the elevation of 26 to more senior roles at Piper Alderman, also unveiled this morning; five new partners in Australia at King & Wood Mallesons announced last Friday (16 June); the promotion of seven to partner at Gadens last Thursday (15 June); the elevation of 18 at the start of June at Johnson Winter Slattery; 35 senior promotions at Lander & Rogers in early June; four senior hires for MinterEllison’s consulting arm a fortnight ago; seven to partner at Moray & Agnew in late May; three new partners at Corrs Chambers Westgarth, also in late May; seven named as special counsel at Clyde & Co in early May; two new partners at DLA Piper as announced in late April; three new partners at Allen & Overy from April; seven to counsel roles at Herbert Smith Freehills in the same week and 10 to partner in Australia a week earlier; and the elevation of 13 to the partnership at Ashurst in mid-April.
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Jerome Doraisamy
Jerome Doraisamy is the editor of Lawyers Weekly. A former lawyer, he has worked at Momentum Media as a journalist on Lawyers Weekly since February 2018, and has served as editor since March 2022. He is also the host of all five shows under The Lawyers Weekly Podcast Network, and has overseen the brand's audio medium growth from 4,000 downloads per month to over 60,000 downloads per month, making The Lawyers Weekly Show the most popular industry-specific podcast in Australia. Jerome is also the author of The Wellness Doctrines book series, an admitted solicitor in NSW, and a board director of Minds Count.
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