Appointments

Congratulations to Ben Cotter, Bridget Mangan, Jacqueline McGrath, Vanessa Murphy and Nicole Tumiati, appointed Partners from 1 July 2023.

We announced a record 48 new senior appointments and promotions, including five partners, 11 special counsel, 24 senior associates and eight senior corporate services promotions, effective from 1 July 2023. These appointments and promotions reflect our focus on providing the best possible client service, as well as our commitment to enabling our clients, our people and our communities to thrive.

Our new partners talk about why they are excited to be appointed to the Hall & Wilcox partnership.

New Partners as at 1 July 2023

Ben Cotter

Partner

Property & Projects

‘I really enjoy guiding clients through their projects and working with them to solve any problems that arise along the way. As a construction lawyer, there is usually a tangible end product that my work contributes to. It is nice to drive past a completed project and know that I played some part in it.’

Bridget Mangan

Partner

Insurance

‘I genuinely enjoy working with our clients to achieve quality litigated outcomes.’

Jacqueline McGrath

Partner

Tax

Vanessa Murphy

Partner

Corporate & Commercial

‘I really enjoy having the opportunity to work with clients to realise their objectives. I also think that being a lawyer is often more “creative” than people realise. I love the challenge of coming up with novel solutions to navigate complex issues or structures.’

Nicole Tumiati

Partner

Corporate & Commercial

‘I am highly motivated by the challenges of transactional work. There is nothing more satisfying than helping clients close a deal.’

New Special Counsel as at 1 July 2023

Sam Baring

Special Counsel

Private Clients

James Fielding

Special Counsel

Insurance

Chris Forder

Special Counsel

General Insurance

Alexandra Gallagher

Special Counsel

Employment & Workplace Relations

Holly Lillico

Special Counsel

Insurance

Victoria Ng

Special Counsel

Statutory Insurance

Rebecca Pickering

Special Counsel

Property & Projects

Kathryn Sharpe

Special Counsel

Commercial Dispute Resolution

Elizabeth Vorbach

Special Counsel

Commercial Dispute Resolution

Sining Wang

Special Counsel

Commercial Dispute Resolution

Melissa Zen

Special Counsel

Statutory Insurance

New Senior Associates as at 1 July 2023

Casey Bombara

Senior Associate

Private Clients

Grace Bowran-Burge

Senior Associate

Statutory Insurance

Victoria Cai

Senior Associate

Property & Projects

Rhonda Carson

Senior Associate

Insurance

Sonia Cheung

Senior Associate

Statutory Insurance

Grace Collis

Senior Associate

Insurance

Eloise Cotchett

Senior Associate

Statutory Insurance

Katt Faapito

Senior Associate

Statutory Insurance

Jake Fogo

Senior Associate

Statutory Insurance

Kaitlin Greer

Senior Associate

Commercial Dispute Resolution

Olivia Hunt

Senior Associate

Private Clients

Gabrielle Joffe

Senior Associate

Employment & Workplace Relations

Marianna Kirchmann

Senior Associate

General Insurance

Sophie Lee

Senior Associate

Statutory Insurance

Adrian Lee

Senior Associate

Commercial Dispute Resolution

Kendall Messer

Senior Associate

General Insurance

Dan Poole

Senior Associate

Pro Bono

Charlie Renney

Senior Associate

Banking & Financial Services

Natalie Russell

Senior Associate

Statutory Insurance

Shyla Sivanas

Senior Associate

Statutory Insurance

Katherine Teague

Senior Associate

Statutory Insurance

Paul Todd

Senior Associate

Property & Projects

Todd Waugh

Senior Associate

General Insurance

Lucy Wilcox

Senior Associate

Property & Projects

New corporate services promotions as at 1 July 2023

Deborah Berry
Risk Manager

Briele Heath
Head of Commercial Business Development

Sonja Johnstone
Senior Workflow Developer/Analyst

Kate Price
Head of Markets

Pious Thomas
Director – Technology

Yvette Woodward
Head of Knowledge

Salil Chitre
Information Security Manager

Frances Morgan
Document Support Manager

New appointments January 2023

Partner as at 1 January 2023

Bridget Wall

Partner

Insurance

‘I love solving problems for my clients and working at Hall & Wilcox with great people.’

New appointments July 2022

Partners as at 1 July 2022

David Catanese

Partner

Employment & Workplace Relations

‘I love being a lawyer because it’s challenging every day. Being a lawyer is like a game of chess every day: there’s an outcome you need to identify and work out a way to achieve that. It’s engaging intellectually and it’s a whole heap of fun.’

Gemma Dehn

Partner

General Insurance

‘I enjoy that no day is the same. Law is challenging, it tests my brain and I get to work with interesting and amazing people from different walks of life.’

Daisy Duff

Partner

Statutory Insurance

‘The investigation and problem solving involved in my work is what appeals to me the most. I have a fundamental desire to find the answer to every problem.’

Julian Hammond

Partner

Commercial Dispute Resolution

‘One of the great joys and challenges of my job is to fix complex problems. I find it immensely satisfying and rewarding to assist our clients to navigate and solve issues and to help them succeed.’

Kirrilee Kennedy

Partner

Statutory Insurance

‘What I love about the law is that it’s constantly evolving. As lawyers, we can play a part in how the law evolves and that’s really exciting for me.’

Kristopher Kunasingam

Partner

Employment & Workplace Relations

‘In the area I practice in, it involves a lot of individuals. For me the ultimate reward is when each case closes with a positive outcome and it allows someone to create a new life here in Australia.’

Joey Liu

Partner

Property & Projects

‘The best career advice I ever received is to believe in yourself. Since I arrived in Australia when I was 15, I have built up a foundation to be able to work in a career that I really love and to be able to help people.’

Albert Ponte

Partner

Commercial Dispute Resolution

‘I love the problem solving aspect of the law. I enjoy picking apart a problem, plotting a course out and finding a solution.’

Nick Ramsey

Partner

General Insurance

‘Every new file brings new challenges and requires me to investigate and review different elements. I enjoy the challenge of finding out what was previously unknown.’

Mitchell Stein

Partner

General Insurance

‘The best career advice I’ve received is to provide practical resolutions for our clients. Getting a workable, amicable solution for matters and disputes is something that appeals to me as a lawyer.’

Special Counsel as at 1 July 2022

Lauren Armstrong

Special Counsel

Statutory Insurance

Taleen Bertolini

Special Counsel

Insurance

Amy Bilich

Special Counsel

Insurance

Anthony Crowe

Special Counsel

Statutory Insurance

Adam Dimac

Special Counsel

Tax

Jennifer Douglass

Special Counsel

Statutory Insurance

George Ioannidis

Special Counsel

General Insurance

Jamie Kulczycki

Special Counsel

Statutory Insurance

Sarah Latham

Special Counsel

Insurance

Vanessa Murphy

Special Counsel

Corporate & Commercial

Jenny Nichols

Special Counsel

Statutory Insurance

Lauren Separovich

Special Counsel

Commercial Dispute Resolution

Brandon Silva

Special Counsel

Insurance

Marissa Skaltsounis

Special Counsel

General Insurance

Ann Watson

Special Counsel

Commercial Dispute Resolution

Senior Associates as at 1 July 2022

Jeremy Boyd

Senior Associate

Statutory Insurance

Liam Closey

Senior Associate

Corporate & Commercial

Charles Friocourt

Senior Associate

Statutory Insurance

Alexandra Gillan

Senior Associate

General Insurance

Angelica Huang

Senior Associate

Banking & Finance

Neil Keene

Senior Associate

Insurance

Fiona Kim

Senior Associate

Statutory Insurance

Lucy Lu

Senior Associate

Banking & Finance

Tessa Mitchell

Senior Associate

General Insurance

Jessica Pascual

Senior Associate

Commercial Dispute Resolution

Olivia Raiman

Senior Associate

Statutory Insurance

Melissa Small

Senior Associate

Employment & Workplace Relations

Sam Tempone

Senior Associate

General Insurance

Isobel Ward

Senior Associate

Statutory Insurance

Chris Wright

Senior Associate

Corporate & Commercial

Senior corporate services promotions as at 1 July 2022

Narissa Bartle
Head of Learning & Development

Therese Dinh
Senior Business Development & Marketing Advisor

Lauren Parrant
Senior People & Culture Advisor

Cassi Strachan
Senior Learning & Development Advisor

Beau Willis
Senior Bids & Pursuits Advisor

Kevin Yue
Senior Legal Solutions Engineer

New appointments January 2022

Partners as at 1 January 2022

Kathy Melville

Partner

Insurance

‘The technicalities arising in this area of work are always interesting and never boring.’

Special Counsel as at 1 January 2022

Jeanette Lui

Special Counsel

Banking & Financial Services

Toniel Paton

Special Counsel

General Insurance

Senior Associates as at 1 January 2022

Alicia Bray

Senior Associate

Corporate and Commercial

Natasha Curry

Senior Associate

General Insurance

Lauren Handreck

Senior Associate

General Insurance

Matt Hughes

Senior Associate

Property and Projects

Jessica Kamleh

Senior Associate

Employment

Lucy Kelsey

Senior Associate

General Insurance

Jessica Luker

Senior Associate

Employment

Jeremy Roby

Senior Associate

Commercial Dispute Resolution

Mona Sukkar

Senior Associate

Banking & Financial Services

Joy-Yi Zhao

Senior Associate

Corporate and Commercial

New appointments 2021

Partners as at 1 July 2021

Clare Campbell

Partner

Insurance

‘I love being a trusted advisor to clients and developing the next generation of lawyers through mentorship.’

Sauming Chan

Partner

Insurance

‘As a litigation lawyer, there is little that is more satisfying than the thrill of the win, particularly after all the hard work that goes to securing that victory!’

Jim Koutsokostas

Partner

Tax

‘I love getting into the rabbit warren that is the tax law to solve an issue – and solving it!’

Special Counsel as at 1 July 2021

Anna Bailey

Special Counsel

Property & Projects

Katarina Bilandzic

Special Counsel

General Insurance

James Bull

Special Counsel

Corporate & Commercial

Barbara Casado

Special Counsel

Statutory Insurance

Daisy Duff

Special Counsel

Statutory Insurance

Angie Gimisis

Special Counsel

Insurance

Jennifer Kildea

Special Counsel

General Insurance

Stephen Lott

Special Counsel

Statutory Insurance

Tina Lung

Special Counsel

General Insurance

Hannah Peddie

Special Counsel

General Insurance

Adam Shaw

Special Counsel

Statutory Insurance

Senior Associates as at 1 July 2021

Matthew Barter

Senior Associate

Statutory Insurance

Todd Bromwich

Senior Associate

Tax

Nhu-Thuy Dinh

Senior Associate

Employment & Workplace Relations

Erin Doyle

Senior Associate

General Insurance

Kelsey Essex

Senior Associate

Commercial Dispute Resolution

Cameron Forsyth

Senior Associate

Commercial Dispute Resolution

Rachel Giudicatti

Senior Associate

Commercial Dispute Resolution

Renelyn Green

Senior Associate

Statutory Insurance

Jasmine Koh

Senior Associate

Corporate & Commercial

Alexandra Lane

Senior Associate

Commercial Dispute Resolution

Hilary Lee

Senior Associate

General Insurance

Veronica Lee

Senior Associate

Employment & Workplace Relations

Ellie McGrory

Senior Associate

Insurance

Bronwyn Nevin

Senior Associate

Insurance

Juliet O’Brien

Senior Associate

Private Clients

Matthew Peterson

Senior Associate

Employment & Workplace Relations

Simon Quenby

Senior Associate

Insurance

Freya Soding

Senior Associate

Insurance

Holly Stevens

Senior Associate

Statutory Insurance

Holly Turner

Senior Associate

General Insurance

New appointments 2020

Partners as at 1 July 2020

John Bassilios

Partner

Banking and Financial Services

‘Helping clients achieve their goals with practical and commercial legal advice. I love helping my clients and seeing them succeed.’

Vince Battaglia

Partner

Banking & Financial Services

‘I love helping clients develop successful investment products in a highly complex and regulated industry.’

David Dickens

Partner

Commercial Dispute Resolution

‘I love working closely with clients and guiding the legal strategy through what is often a pivotal point in the company or organisation’s existence. I love delving deep, to really learn and understand a client’s business and industry. This helps ensure I deliver targeted, practical advice for clients, but it also makes the work very interesting.’

Emily Kyriacou

Partner

Property & Projects

‘I am passionate about developing great relationships with the clients I work for. I take time to get to know our clients, their business and their industry so that I can deliver a legal product for them that meets their particular needs.’

Elisa Paxton

Partner

Statutory Insurance

‘I like to think of myself as a proactive and tenacious litigator. I love delving into the key issues of a case, being investigative and uncovering evidence to obtain the best possible outcome for my client.’

Katherine Payne

Partner

Commercial Dispute Resolution

‘I love problem solving, and particularly working with other people to achieve a strong strategic outcome. I also love the combination of commercial practicality and intellectual challenge which is inherent in insolvency and commercial disputes.’

Rebecca Shelley

Partner

Statutory Insurance

‘I love solving problems for my clients. Helping them to find a solution to sometimes seemingly intractable situations, which can involve some lateral thinking, is extremely satisfying.’