Eight join Hall & Wilcox’s partnership

The firm promoted more than 30 lawyers in total to senior positions

By Jacqueline So

Eight have joined the partnership at Hall & Wilcox in a big wave of promotions that saw 34 lawyers elevated to senior roles.

The new partners are experts across various practice areas, including dispute resolution, financial services, property, insolvency, common law and workplace injury. Managing partner Tony Macvean said that 60% of the new partners are women, highlighting the firm’s commitment to diversity and inclusion.

Emily Kyriacou is a property law specialist who focuses on the sales and acquisitions of real estate, as well as complex, standard and stream commercial and retail leasing. Her clients include property funds, property developers and major companies like Accenture Australia Pty Ltd, Australian Unity and the Victorian Pride Centre.

She has acted for the Victorian government with regard to leasing and procurement. In addition, she has participated in tenancy, land valuation and contamination disputes that came before the VCAT, the Magistrates Court and the County Court in Victoria.

Elisa Paxton has specific expertise in common law and statutory benefits claims related to Victoria’s Accident Compensation Act 1985 and Workplace Injury Rehabilitation and Compensation Act 2014. She focuses on common law multi-defendant and liability matters.

She has appeared before the Supreme Court, Magistrates Court and County Court in litigations. She acts for WorkSafe Victoria, as well as its agents and employers.

Katherine Payne specialises in commercial litigation and insolvency, particularly corporate insolvency, the Personal Property Securities Act, contractual disputes, and building and construction litigation in an insolvency context.

She has advised insolvency practitioners, advisory accountants, financiers, national and international corporates, suppliers and manufacturers of a variety of goods and logistics suppliers.

Rebecca Shelley has advised the government, large commercial insurers and self-insured corporations on workers’ compensation matters, particularly in managing and defending various statutory and common law workplace injury claims.

She gained considerable experience through secondments with Comcare as part of its asbestos litigation team. She also has knowledge of public sector machinations, APS Code of Conduct requirements and enterprise agreement-related employment issues.

Tanya Smart specialises in insurance law, and is an accredited specialist in personal injury. She has over 20 years of experience in working with insurers and self-insured corporations in the resolution of CTP and public liability claims, counting IAG and Allianz among her clients.

She has handled complex insurance indemnity issues, dual insurance, nervous shock, compensation to relatives' claims, multi-defendant matters with cross-claims, detailed quantum calculations, and administrative law challenges to decisions of assessors of the State Insurance Regulatory Authority. She also has knowledge of UK damages regimes, having defended accidents in that jurisdiction.

John Bassilios specialises in working with fintech, blockchain/digital assets and start-ups. His clients include retail and wholesale fund managers, investment advisers, financial planners, stockbrokers, IDPS operators, managed discretionary account providers and consumer credit providers. He has much experience in capital markets, regulatory compliance, M&A and AML/CTF.

He has provided advice on managed investments schemes, AFSL and ACL licensing, disclosure requirements, ongoing compliance with regulatory requirements and establishment and development of various financial products. He has prepared disclosure documents such as financial services guides, product disclosure statements and information memoranda for clients.

Vince Battaglia is an expert in the areas of funds management and financial services, especially retail and wholesale managed investment schemes. He also has experience in handling matters involving managed investment products, securities, derivatives, non-cash payment products, superannuation products, life policies and annuities.

He counts both domestic and overseas financial services providers and fund managers among his clients. He has worked on ongoing regulatory, compliance and dispute resolution issues in the financial services sector, funds M&A, capital raisings and cross-border investments. Previously, he worked at ASIC.

David Dickens heads up Hall & Wilcox’s turnaround and corporate renewal group. He is a litigation expert with particular focus on banking and finance, restructuring and turnaround, property disputes, insolvency and general commercial disputes.

He has acted for national landlords, tenants, investors, developers, banks and lenders. He has represented clients in both mediations and arbitrations, appearing before the Supreme Court of Victoria, the Federal Court and VCAT.

Hall & Wilcox also promoted the following:

Special counsel

Catherine Blair – general insurance
Ben Cotter – property and projects
Catherine Freeman – statutory insurance
Julian Hammond – commercial dispute resolution
Clare Kerley – employment
Mark Lebbon – corporate and commercial
Joey Liu – property and projects
David Markham – commercial dispute resolution
Mitch Stein – general insurance
Bridget Wall – general insurance
Belinda Walsh – statutory insurance

Senior associates

Courtney Daunt – general insurance
Chris Forder – general insurance
Brieanna Gallagher – statutory insurance
Stephanie Gribbon – corporate and commercial
Alicia Haesslein – corporate and commercial
Travis Jackson – statutory insurance
Caitlin Malone – statutory insurance
David Mummery – corporate and commercial
Vanessa Murphy – corporate and commercial
Melissa Plavsic – general insurance
Stephanie Rocca – statutory insurance
Ella Simmons – property and projects
Nick Simpson – general insurance
Michael Suttner – commercial dispute resolution
Sining Wang – commercial dispute resolution

“We are thrilled to promote our people to ensure we are offering the best support for our clients, particularly during these challenging times,” Macvean said. “Our new senior people are great Hall & Wilcox people, with a strong focus on providing a great client experience and technical excellence. They are also industry and sector-focused, ensuring they understand how businesses are being impacted by COVID-19 and other market changes.”

The promotions took effect on 1 July.

Elisa Paxton