Hall & Wilcox makes record 46 appointments and promotions, including 10 partners
Hall & Wilcox has announced a record 46 appointments and promotions, including 10 partners. The promotions reflect continued firm growth, strong client support and a commitment to advancing and supporting the careers of people at the firm.
The new partners are David Catanese, Gemma Dehn, Daisy Duff, Julian Hammond, Kirrilee Kennedy, Kristopher Kunasingam, Joey Liu, Albert Ponte, Nick Ramsey and Mitchell Stein. The firm now has 117 partners spread across eight offices.
In addition to the new partners, the firm has appointed 15 special counsel and 15 new senior associates. Further, the firm has made six senior corporate services promotions.
Managing Partner Tony Macvean said the record number of appointments reflected Hall & Wilcox’s sustained growth and success, the support of its clients and the firm’s continued investment in its people.
‘We are delighted to be able to support the career development and progression of so many wonderful Hall & Wilcox people. All of these people have demonstrated a commitment to our purpose of enabling our clients, our people and our communities to thrive. We think that they will all be great Hall & Wilcox leaders,’ he said.
The promotions are in addition to the four lateral partners and 15 senior lawyers appointed since 1 January 2022. In addition, this year we welcomed our largest graduate and early career lawyer cohort ever – 49 in total.
Get to know our new partners and senior lawyers. All promotions are effective from 1 July 2022.
New partners
David Catanese is an expert in all aspects of employment law. He works with Government and commercial clients to resolve complex, sensitive and often high-profile industrial disputes and employment-related litigation. David is a trusted advisor to many Victorian public sector bodies and other clients in a variety of industries.
Gemma Dehn is an experienced insurance litigator, specialising in construction, financial lines and environmental insurance products. She advises domestic and international insurers on coverage and acts as defence, recovery and monitoring counsel.
Daisy Duff is an expert within the Common Law Workers’ Compensation area. She has also acted in public liability, medical negligence and CTP cases, and has experience acting in both plaintiff and defence work.
Julian Hammond is a commercial disputes and investigations lawyer with experience in complex litigation and public inquiries. Julian advises public and private companies on Environmental Social Governance (ESG)-related litigation and regulatory investigations. Julian is also a public sector specialist who acts for Commonwealth, State and local government in relation to governance, integrity and anti-corruption issues.
Kirrilee Kennedy acts on behalf of insurers in relation to catastrophic and complex personal injury claims. Kirrilee specialises in motor accident claims and deals with contentious matters involving multiple defendants, indemnity and liability disputes, complex issues of medical causation and fraud.
Kristopher Kunasingam leads the firm’s migration practice and advises on all aspects of migration to Australia, with particular emphasis on employment-related migration. He has advised a wide range of clients, including large public and international companies, as well as small-to-medium enterprises. Kristopher also has experience in assisting individuals with their migration matters, including skilled, business, investor, high net worth individuals and family visa applicants.
Joey Liu specialises in property development and property-related foreign investments. She has particular expertise in assisting local and foreign developers and investors with property acquisitions, due diligence, contract negotiations, ‘off the plan’ residential developments and land subdivisions. Joey is a native Mandarin and Cantonese speaker and has also acted for listed and private Chinese companies and ultra-high net worth investors on general property matters.
Albert Ponte has a broad commercial disputes and litigation practice, with an emphasis on construction and professional negligence disputes. He has undertaken mediator training with the Resolution Institute and enjoys participating in mediation both as a mediator and representative. He also has an interest in the education sector, acting for schools and other institutions. Albert is bilingual in Spanish and is head of Hall & Wilcox’s Spanish desk.
Nick Ramsey is an insurance specialist who has advised across many industries, including hospitality and security, sport and recreation, construction, real estate, medical, transport, logistics and manufacturing. He regularly advises on complex indemnity and personal injury matters through to property damage claims including recovery actions. Nick has also managed the litigation of many CTP, medical negligence and product liability matters.
Mitchell Stein is an experienced insurance and litigation lawyer who acts for insurers and private clients. His practice includes assisting medical and allied health practitioners with civil and disciplinary claims as well as a broader practice in the areas of public and product liability, professional indemnity and financial lines.
New special counsel
Lauren Armstrong, Taleen Bertolini, Amy Bilich, Anthony Crowe, Adam Dimac, Jennifer Douglass, George Ioannidis, Jamie Kulczycki, Sarah Latham, Vanessa Murphy, Jenny Nichols, Lauren Separovich, Brandon Silva, Marissa Skaltsounis, Ann O'Connell.
New senior associates
Jeremy Boyd, Liam Closey, Charles Friocourt, Alexandra Gillan, Angelica Huang, Neil Keene, Fiona Kim, Lucy Lu, Tessa Mitchell, Jessica Pascual, Olivia Raiman, Melissa Small, Sam Tempone, Isobel Ward, Chris Wright.
New senior corporate services promotions
Narissa Bartle (Head of Learning & Development), Therese Dinh (Senior BD & Marketing Advisor), Lauren Parrant (Senior People & Culture Advisor), Cassi Strachan (Senior Learning & Development Advisor), Beau Willis (Senior Bids & Pursuits Advisor), Kevin Yue (Senior Legal Solutions Engineer).
Hall & Wilcox is a leading independent law firm of more than 950 people, including (from 1 July 2022) over 110 partners. We service corporate, public sector and private clients, both Australian-based and those offshore doing business in Australia.