Samantha Mangwana will head up the workplace behaviour and culture company's strategy offering
byrne∙dean has appointed Shine Lawyers’ former national head of employment Samantha Mangwana to lead its strategy offering.
In the new role, Mangwana will collaborate with global companies to offer an independent and objective perspective on their workplace cultures, suggest improvements, and manage the implementation of the recommendations. She will work out of London and Sydney initially.
During her time at Shine Lawyers, Mangwana advised on contentious workplace disputes, high-value severance negotiations, and the management of smooth exits. Her clients included employees, executives, partners, and organisations. She has handled high-profile discrimination and whistleblowing cases, especially within the legal and financial sectors.
She was also previously a partner at CM Murray and at Slater & Gordon Lawyers in the UK. As a solicitor at Russell Jones & Walker, she represented the Fawcett Society in a landmark judicial review challenge to the UK government’s national budget on the grounds of gender discrimination.
“Sam’s insights and creative solutions can expand what we offer clients on the strategy side; not only UK-based clients, but Australian and global organisations – and on all areas of workplace dynamics; things like creating a genuine speak-up culture, improving how we approach conflict in teams, and rebalancing senior teams,” byrne·dean co-founder and chief executive Matt Dean said.
Mangwana has spoken about employment and discrimination law matters on media outlets such as BBC, the Financial Times, The Guardian, and Wall Street Journal.
“My motivation in this career has been to achieve change, helping workplaces to be kinder and fairer places where people can realise their potential. The problem with litigation is that it can’t do that because it is after the fact. Even where successful, the problem has already happened, with bright, talented individuals losing their careers,” said Mangwana. “I’m energised about diving deep into specific challenges, one workplace at a time, to achieve meaningful, tangible change.”
