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Hall & Wilcox to take 3 insurance partners and team from Holman Webb
National law firm Hall & Wilcox has moved to strengthen its insurance offering by appointing three partners across Sydney and Melbourne, who are bringing a team of up to 20, from a fellow BigLaw player.
Jerome Doraisamy
Partners John Van de Poll, Lucy Rooney and Vahini Chetty are leaving Holman Webb for Hall & Wilcox and will be joined by a team of up to 20 people from that BigLaw firm.
Van de Poll, the 2016 and 2019 winner of the insurance category at Lawyers Weekly’s Partner of the Year Awards, has been with Holman Webb for nearly 27 years and leads the firm’s national insurance team. Both he and Rooney, together with their team members, will be based in Hall & Wilcox’s Sydney office. Chetty, who heads up Holman Webb’s Melbourne-based insurance team, will be based in the Victorian capital alongside her team members.
The new arrivals, Hall & Wilcox said in a statement, are experienced across all general insurance lines, “with a strong market reputation”, and have expertise in public and products liability (defendant personal injury and property damage claims), professional indemnity, management liability D&O, coverage disputes and property damage recoveries.
Lawyers Weekly understands that the start date for the trio of partners, as well as the total number of team members joining them, is still being confirmed.
Speaking about the hires, Hall & Wilcox chief executive partner Graydon Dowd (pictured) said the team’s arrival confirms that the firm is a “destination for quality practices”.
“We are delighted to welcome John, Lucy, Vahini and their team. We are excited about the great opportunities for further growth that will arise from combining forces with this energetic, highly rated team,” he said.
The news follows the firm’s appointment of a former general counsel to head up its defence legal practice earlier this month, as well as its addition of a Canberra-based partner from Moray & Agnew to establish and lead its new Commonwealth government practice late last year.
It also follows the appearance of the firm’s former managing partner, Tony Macvean, on The Lawyers Weekly Show in September, in which he reflected on the need for courage and optimism, how Hall & Wilcox would continue to grow under Dowd’s leadership, and his personal reflections on having led the national practice for 17 years.
Van de Poll said: “I am pleased our team and clients will benefit from and thrive with the remarkable people at Hall & Wilcox. Their approach to embracing technology and thinking outside the square will deliver real benefits to our people and clients.”
Chetty added that she is looking forward to “working together to deliver high-quality, impactful solutions for both our clients and our people”.
Rooney noted that the firm “has a strong market reputation not only for legal excellence but also for its highly engaged teams and its commitment to its people”.
Hall & Wilcox now has over 135 partners across its eight national offices.
Jerome Doraisamy
Jerome Doraisamy is the editor of Lawyers Weekly and HR Leader. He has worked at Momentum Media as a journalist on Lawyers Weekly since February 2018, and has served as editor since March 2022. In June 2024, he also assumed the editorship of HR Leader. Jerome is also the author of The Wellness Doctrines book series, an admitted solicitor in NSW, and a board director of the Minds Count Foundation.
You can email Jerome at:
