Hall & Wilcox announces 13 senior appointments

Hall & Wilcox is delighted to announce 13 new senior appointments, effective 1 January 2022. The appointments and promotions are part of an interim 1 January promotion round, and reflect the firm’s continued growth and success.

The appointments follow the firm’s record promotion of 36 senior lawyers in July 2021, and 10 lateral partner appointments in 2021.

Kathy Melville has been appointed as a partner. Kathy is part of the firm’s Western Australian insurance litigation team.

Jeanette Lui and Toniel Paton have been promoted to special counsel. Jeanette is part of the firm’s banking practice, and Toniel part of the firm’s insurance litigation practice.

Alicia Bray, Natasha Curry, Lauren Handreck, Matt Hughes, Jessica Kamleh, Lucy Kelcey, Jessica Luker, Jeremy Roby, Mona Sukkar and Joy-Yi Zhao have been promoted to senior associate.

Managing Partner Tony Macvean said the high number of out-of-cycle appointments reflected the firm’s national growth, strong client support, market demand and high performance across the business.

‘We have a great cohort of people coming through. They have a passion for serving our clients and providing a great experience, they are energetic and enthusiastic, they practise Smarter Law and they participate in pro bono and community projects,’ he said.

‘We are thrilled to recognise and reward the talented people who work here. Our people are committed to providing first rate advice and an excellent client experience.’

Kathy Melville has over 20 years’ advocacy experience, and over 15 years’ experience in defending and managing workers’ compensation and common law claims in Western Australia. Kathy acts for and advises insurers and employers.

Jeanette Lui is an experienced banking lawyer, specialising in advising borrowers and financial institutions on bilateral and syndicated financing. She also has experience in advising Australian and international lenders and corporate borrowers on a range of banking and finance transactions, including real estate, projects and infrastructure.

Toniel Paton has close to 15 years’ experience advising on construction and building disputes, complex litigation, property damage claims and first-party insurance disputes. Her practice focuses on general insurance advice and litigation. She advises her clients on public and product liability, policy interpretation and indemnity disputes, property damage claims, and recoveries and insurance fraud.

Alicia Bray has a broad range of experience in intellectual property law (with a particular focus on trade marks and copyright), commercial contracting, consumer law and privacy matters. Alicia acts for clients across various industries, including technology, media and entertainment, sports, public sector, travel, hospitality, automotive, wildlife, health and wellbeing and financial services.

Natasha Curry is an insurance lawyer who specialises in property damage, large loss recoveries, indemnity disputes, fraud, construction and professional indemnity. She has extensive experience in motor vehicle litigation claims ranging from private, motor fleet and heavy haulage vehicles.

Lauren Handreck’s general insurance and government practice is focused primarily on public liability claims. She has a keen interest in personal injury claims involving torts and intentional torts and statutory interpretation. Lauren also has extensive experience in property damage recovery and defence litigation.

Matt Hughes is a solicitor-advocate who specialises in town planning and environment law. Matt’s experience includes land acquisition and compensation, roads, water law, restrictive covenants (removal and compliance), statutory interpretation and other property law related matters.

Jessica Kamleh has experience in all areas of employment law and industrial relations, from enterprise agreement drafting and modern award interpretation to industrial disputes and drafting high-level advice.

Lucy Kelsey is an insurance and litigation lawyer. She manages personal injury and property damage claims under common law and statutory schemes in Queensland. She advises various major and international insurers, large corporate insureds, clubs and mutuals and transport operators.

Jessica Luker is an experienced employment lawyer, providing commercial and strategic advice in all areas of employment law and industrial relations. Her areas of expertise include restraints of trade, regulatory compliance and underpayment investigations, unfair dismissal and adverse action claims, enterprise bargaining and bargaining disputes.

Jeremy Roby specialises in commercial litigation and dispute resolution, with a particular focus on insolvency and restructuring, contract, corporations, financial services and regulatory investigations.

Mona Sukkar is a financial services lawyer, experienced in advising clients on a broad range of matters, including the establishment and operation of managed investment schemes, Australian financial services licensing and compliance requirements and disclosure requirements.

Joy-Yi Zhao has experience working across a broad range of corporate and commercial matters for clients from a range of industries, in both the public and private sector. Joy’s practice involves private mergers and acquisitions transactions, corporate structuring, restructures, corporate governance, capital raises and joint ventures.