The firm also celebrated its 34th year of offering pro bono services
Gilbert + Tobin (G+T) has grown its partnership by a whopping 14 in its latest promotions round.
According to managing partner Danny Gilbert, the historic promotions cycle “reflects our confidence in the future of our firm and our capacity to continue to grow our market share in core areas.”
The new partners are as follows:
- Tom Brett – disputes and investigations (employment), Sydney
- Elizabeth Cameron – corporate advisory, Sydney
- Judy Hsu – corporate advisory, Sydney
- Jeremy Jose – competition and regulation, Melbourne
- Nicholas Lazarou – banking and projects, Sydney
- Andrew Low – competition and regulation, Sydney
- Tanya Macdonald – competition and regulation, Sydney
- Chris Morse – corporate advisory, Sydney
- Peter Munro – disputes and investigations, Sydney
- Aparna Nanayakkara – disputes and investigations, Sydney
- Anna Smyth – IP, Sydney
- Rebecca Spigelman – disputes and investigations, Sydney
- Patrick Tydde – disputes and investigations, Perth
- Liana Witt – competition and regulation, Sydney
The firm also elevated the following 10 lawyers to special counsel:
- Jen Bradley – technology and digital, Sydney
- Vanessa Farago-Diener – IP, Sydney
- Elizabeth Hilliard – disputes and investigations, Melbourne
- Sam Jaffray – corporate advisory, Sydney
- Haidee Leung – competition and regulation, Sydney
- Teodor Lomaca – banking and projects, Sydney
- Sarah Lynch – competition and regulation, Sydney
- Rebecca Smith – IP, Sydney
- Luke Standen – technology and digital, Sydney
- Alexandra Whitby – disputes and investigations, Sydney
“We are excited to be making these promotions of such talented lawyers and great people, reflecting the depth and breadth of the market leading competition team in Australia,” G+T competition and regulation group head Elizabeth Avery said. “The group fosters a culture of excellence and collaboration, with deep capabilities to service our clients on the most complex and significant matters. The added bench strength represented in these promotions will continue to facilitate that.”
Milestone pro bono anniversary
Last week, the firm also held a special event at its Sydney branch to commemorate 34 years of offering pro bono services. The festivities also highlighted the 25th anniversary of the launch of G+T’s dedicated pro bono practice – a milestone celebration that was delayed due to the COVID-19 restrictions last year.
Both current and former staff attended the celebration, along with clients, universities, government agencies, barristers, and community legal and advocacy centres. Partner Michelle Hannon, who co-leads the pro bono group alongside partner Anne Cregan, said it was fitting to include clients and supporters in the festivities.
“I am immensely proud to play a part in a firm that is well-known and respected for its pro bono contribution. We’ve worked hard to demonstrate that a corporate law firm such as ours can support individuals in matters that transform their day to day lives. Giving back is part of our DNA, witnessed by the generous contribution in time and expertise volunteered by our lawyers,” Hannon said.
Gilbert added that pro bono access to justice had been part of the firm’s objectives since its day one.
“Since the early days when Tony Tobin and I started the practice, we have always wanted to make a contribution to people who either can’t financially access the legal system or are locked out of it. We recognised the privileged position we were in and wanted to give back to the community legal sector,” he said. “Pro bono has been deeply embedded in our culture since that first day 34 years ago and it was a very proud moment in 1996, when this evolved into the establishment of a dedicated pro bono practice.”
