Special counsel joins Sydney-based team of lawyers with experience at global financial institutions
Baker McKenzie is continuing to attract talent from financial behemoths, this time appointing a new special counsel from Westpac.
Melissa Carmody has joined the firm in Sydney, where she was most recently a part of Westpac’s global derivative reform legal team focused on variation margin and gross margin following the implementation of various global regulatory regimes relating to derivatives.
“Melissa is a fantastic addition to our team in bolstering our capacity to meet increasing client demand in both debt and equity capital markets,” said Baker McKenzie partner Duncan McGrath.
He said her global experience gained in London, Dubai and Sydney, in private practice and in-house at Westpac and at Bank of America Merrill Lynch, ensures that she can provide practical and commercial advice to clients.
Carmody was formerly an associate Norton Rose Fulbright in London. She was also a vice president at investment bank Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein, a legal and compliance officer at Numis Securities, and senior legal counsel at Al Tayer Group.
Ben McLaughlin, who leads the Australian corporate team at Baker McKenzie, said Carmody joins an expanding team that recently added Lauren Magraith and Caroline Tait from J.P. Morgan; Antony Rumboll from UBS; Duncan McGrath, who was Gilbert + Tobin’s debt capital markets head; and Paul Anderson from elite Wall Street law firm Sherman & Sterling.
“Our clients have called for us to have deeper industry experience, and we have answered that call. We have built a team of people with hands-on financial institutions market practice,” McLaughlin said.
Carmody said that Baker McKenzie’s market-leading reputation and quality of clients and matters drew her to the firm.
