New partner brings dual in-house and private sector development expertise
Sparke Helmore has appointed Fiona Nelson as a partner in its property team, effective 7 April.
Nelson is a senior property lawyer with experience providing commercial legal services to Australian private and public sector clients, as well as international clients. Her experience spans acquisitions and disposals across retail, commercial, industrial, health, education, seniors living, and hospitality sectors.
She has also worked on property development matters, including large-scale staged and mixed-use developments, strata and master planned communities, bulk conveyancing, retail and commercial leasing, and co-ownership arrangements. In addition, she has experience providing property and conveyancing legal services to large government entities.
Nelson previously held an in-house role as general counsel for a privately owned Australian master planned community. The firm said this experience, alongside her private practice background, has informed her understanding of operational and regulatory issues in property and planning sectors.
Nelson holds roles in industry organisations, including as a Hunter Region Committee member of the Property Council of Australia. She is a former deputy chair of the Property Council’s Hunter Future Directions Committee and a former Hunter Region Committee member of the Urban Development Institute of Australia. She has been listed in Best Lawyers in Australia for Real Property Law since 2024 and has been recognised by Chambers Asia Pacific Legal Directory and The Legal 500.
She joins Sparke Helmore alongside special counsel Morgan Cherry and associates Marcia Casabianca and Lauren King, as well as paralegals Indrani Carlin, Leesa Hammond, Erin Saunders, Catherine Carr, and Alysha Bale, along with three administrative staff. The group joins from Moray & Agnew and will be based across the firm’s Newcastle and Melbourne offices.
“Fiona is a highly regarded expert in the property sector, known for her pragmatism and commercial excellence, and we are excited that she and her outstanding team have decided to join us,” said Wayne Kaplan, national practice group leader for property environment and finance at Sparke Helmore.
Nelson said, “I am pleased to commence the next chapter of my career with Sparke Helmore. It was important for me to join a firm with a strong client focus and a clearly defined strategy for assisting clients across multiple practice areas, and I look forward to contributing to the continued success of the practice and of the firm.”
Sparke Helmore said the appointment forms part of the ongoing expansion of its national property practice.
