Following a period of substantial growth for the firm, Thomson Geer has promoted Hannah Sowdon to partner, in addition to four special counsel, 19 senior associates and 26 associates.

Sowdon is a part of the firm’s dispute resolution team based in Melbourne and joined Thomson Geer in 2014, according to chief executive partner Adrian Tembel.

“[Sowdon] has been a strong performer in the dispute resolution space,” he said.

“She has taken a lead role with a number of clients and has demonstrated the skills and experience necessary to be a partner of our firm.”

This comes after specialist litigation and construction firm Tottle Partners merged with Thomson Geer’s presence in Western Australia in May this year, during which partners Stephen Penrose, Lee Panotidis, Richard Wilenski, and Yin Fang all joined Thomson Geer along with their team of 19.

The firm has more than 700 staff across its offices in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth, Adelaide, and Canberra, after it took teams from Holding Redlich and Gadens, as reported in February; and last year, nabbed a property team, including two partners, from Macpherson Kelley in November; hired a special counsel from Clayton Utz as a new taxation partner in October; took two M&A partners from Carter Newell in September; promoted 23 professionals in June; elevated three to partner in the same month; appointed a Perth-based partner from a Hong Kong-based investment company in May, and added a banking and finance partner from Allens in April.

Tembel congratulated everyone on their promotions this year.

“I am proud of the people who are growing their legal careers at Thomson Geer and that we are able to recognise the contribution they make to the firm and clients,” he said.

VIEW ALL

“They exemplify our values and have each worked hard to develop the required skills and knowledge to meet the criteria for promotion.”

The new special counsel at the firm are Shaun Restorick-Barton, Viki Sanderson, Fiona Stapleton and Jessica Tabe.

Additionally, the new senior associates are Jade Andrews, Lucy Aylward, Rebecca Bailey, Liam Cobain, Arianne Daly, Samantha Hannah, Jakita Hodgson, Alice Leary, Davina Lee, Jeanie Lee, Emily Livingston, Geoffrey Milani, Edward Morcombe, Kajal Parmar, Bronwyn Thomas, Lawrence Ward, Angela Watson, Alanna Wright and Matthew Yahl.

Lauren Croft

Lauren is a journalist at Lawyers Weekly and graduated with a Bachelor of Journalism from Macleay College. Prior to joining Lawyers Weekly, she worked as a trade journalist for media and travel industry publications and Travel Weekly. Originally born in England, Lauren enjoys trying new bars and restaurants, attending music festivals and travelling. She is also a keen snowboarder and pre-pandemic, spent a season living in a French ski resort.