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KWM adds 6 partners, a strategic counsel, and 12 lawyers from Corrs
Global law firm King & Wood Mallesons has swelled its employment relations and safety practice significantly, with the appointment of 19 professionals, including six partners and a strategic counsel, across three major cities from a BigLaw rival.
Jerome Doraisamy
Editor's note: This story has been updated to include the names and titles of the 12 lawyers joining the six partners and strategic counsel at KWM.
Six lateral partners and one strategic counsel (all pictured) have joined KWM, having come across from national firm Corrs Chambers Westgarth. The departure of the group from Corrs was reported earlier this year by The Australian Financial Review, and the professionals – plus a team of 12 lawyers – have now commenced at KWM.
Partners John Tuck, Paul Burns, Sarah Clarke (Melbourne), Kirsty Faichen (Brisbane), Anthony Longland (Brisbane and Perth), and Giacomo Giorgi (Perth) – alongside the Honourable Graeme Watson, who joins as a strategic counsel, have joined the global practice.
The team of 12 accompanying the six partners and strategic counsel include five special counsel (Joanna Kramer, Jade Saunders, Christopher Leong, Danika Casey and Nicole Savoff, six senior associates (Erin Richardson, Alannah Hogan, Shea Wilding, Molly O’Neill, Mia Henderson, and Courtney Logue), and lawyer Katya Harrop.
The appointments mean that KWM now has over 50 employment specialists nationally.
The news follows the decision by the firm’s global chief executive, Sue Kench, to step down from her role this month, as reported in October.
It also follows the firm’s promotion of 82 lawyers to more senior roles in June, its promotion of nine to the partnership in the same month, and its appointment of industrial relations and employment law partner Cilla Robinson from BigLaw rival Clayton Utz earlier this year.
Speaking about the appointments, KWM chief executive partner Renae Lattey said: “We’re in the middle of the most significant period of IR reform in decades, and workplace practices are under the spotlight more than ever before.”
As such, she went on, “we’re really excited to be broadening, deepening and diversifying our capability to provide clients with a full-service offering in this increasingly complex and evolving area”.
“We are confident the team joining us will bring a high degree of mastery and dynamism to our national ERS practice, and we look forward to welcoming them to the firm next year,” Lattey said.
The firm’s M&A co-head, Rachael Lewis, added: “This is a truly transformative opportunity to expand and elevate our already strong ERS practice and continue our strategic investment in this area, which is of increasing importance to clients.
“It will complement our existing ERS capability and provide us with considerable national bench strength across Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth, and Sydney.”
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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