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Wotton + Kearney promotes 34, with 3 new partners

International law firm Wotton + Kearney has unveiled another major promotion round for 2023, with 34 Australia-based lawyers being elevated to more senior roles, including three to its partnership.

user iconJerome Doraisamy 20 December 2023 Big Law
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In June, Wotton + Kearney promoted 34 lawyers to more senior roles, including four to its partnership. Now, it has again elevated 34 lawyers in another promotion round for the year, with three lawyers becoming partners.

In addition to those joining the international firm’s partnership, W+K has named 10 new special counsel, nine new senior associates, and 12 new associates. All promotions come from the firm’s Australian offices in Adelaide, Brisbane, Canberra, Melbourne, Perth, and Sydney.

In a statement, the firm said that this latest promotion round reflects its “ongoing accelerated growth, people-first culture, and investment in nurturing talent, and span some of its key practice areas”, namely general liability, financial lines, health, pro bono, property, energy and infrastructure.

The newest partners at W+K are Cindy Lam and Gemma Burke, who work in general liability in the firm’s Canberra office; and Maryan Lee, based in Sydney, who also practices in general liability.

Elsewhere, the new special counsel are Brendan Kennedy, Emmeline Granger, Eveline Rygorowicz, Jesse Pereira, Jessica Smith, Matt O’Donnell, Rachel Walls, Samantha Younane, William Yeo, and Yen Tan.

The new senior associates are Alexandra Robinson, Anna Zeltzer, Bailey Neate, James Gornall, James Kefford, Miranda Lakiss, Nick Darwen, Simon Nickolas, and Subashini Sinnan.

And the new associates are Caley McDonald, Declan See, Georgina Irving, Ioanne Gianniotis, Josh Mills, Kapil Bazil, Keely Gage, Liam Hanley, Michaela Manila, Olivia Tan, Richard Marshall, and Tamaki Brinkworth.

The promotions are effective as of 1 January 2024 and take the partnership of W+K to 79.

The news follows a year of significant growth for W+K.

In January, it poached a team of six from fellow BigLaw firm Corrs Chambers Westgarth, then added a team from MinterEllison later that month. In March, it nabbed a partner from King & Wood Mallesons to create a “dual expertise” offering for the defence of class action proceedings. In October, it hired a health partner from Lander & Rogers, and in November, it appointed a director from EY Law and an associate from HWL Ebsworth for its cyber and technology advisory practice, who joined as a special counsel and senior associate, respectively.

The firm has more than 360 lawyers across its nine offices in Australia and New Zealand.

Jerome Doraisamy

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.

You can email Jerome at: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. 

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