Firm names Geoff Borenstein as national head of industrial and employment practice
As a part of the expansion of its industrial and employment law practice in New South Wales and Queensland, Slater and Gordon appointed Tim McCauley as senior practice leader in those states, Nicola Maher-Boyle as legal counsel, and Emma Brown as an associate.
“Together with our existing NSW and Queensland team, they strengthen our capacity to support unions both locally and nationally, providing practical, strategic, and determined industrial and employment advice and advocacy,” Geoff Borenstein said in a media release.
Slater and Gordon also announced Borenstein’s appointment as national head of the industrial and employment team.
Borenstein highlighted McCauley’s, Maher-Boyle’s, and Brown’s significant experience with unions and workers across industries and services.
“They understand the movement, the pressures unions face, and what it takes to deliver real outcomes for members and their families,” Borenstein said in the media release.
The firm noted that the expansion of the practice group aims to help it support unions and their members in the two jurisdictions, support access to justice for workers across the country, and advocate for their rights in industrial protection, unfair dismissal, and workplace matters.
The three new additions are practising from Slater and Gordon’s Sydney location. The firm’s media release provided more information regarding McCauley, Maher-Boyle, Brown, and Borenstein.
Having represented unions and workers for decades, McCauley has experience relating to industrial disputes, union rules and regulations, civil penalty matters, discrimination, and sexual harassment cases.
Before joining Slater and Gordon, McCauley served as a partner at Taylor & Scott Lawyers for a decade.
For over a decade, he acted as a senior in-house lawyer for unions, including the Australian Manufacturing Workers’ Union (AMWU), the Electrical Trades Union (ETU), and UNISON (UK). He has appeared before courts and tribunals across all the country’s jurisdictions.
Maher-Boyle’s legal experience encompasses union rules and governance, bargaining, sexual harassment, discrimination, and workplace rights.
At the Australian Nursing and Midwifery Federation’s NSW branch, she headed teams of lawyers and industrial officers in public sector wage and gender undervaluation proceedings.
Maher-Boyle also worked for other unions, including the Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU), where she supported legislative reform initiatives. She has acted for unions and members before federal and state courts and tribunals.
As an advocate for gender equity, she has presented to the United Nations Working Group on Discrimination Against Women and Girls.
An industrial and employment lawyer, Brown most recently worked at the Australian Nursing and Midwifery Federation’s NSW branch, where she belonged to a team handling a case on work value and gender undervaluation.
She also worked at the Health Services Union’s (HSU) NSW, Australian Capital Territory (ACT), and Queensland branch.
She has represented unions and workers before the Fair Work Commission, the NSW Industrial Relations Commission, and anti-discrimination bodies.
Borenstein previously headed Slater and Gordon’s Victorian industrial and employment law department. His more than 25 years of legal experience include 15 years of in-house work at unions.
He has also dealt with industrial disputes concerning urgent injunctions to protect jobs, reinstatement matters, and bargaining outcomes.
