Hall & Wilcox significantly bolsters its commercial presence and offering in Newcastle with appointment of new partner and team

Hall & Wilcox has significantly bolstered its commercial presence in Newcastle and the Hunter with the hire of a team headed by highly regarded corporate and commercial lawyer Suzie Leask.

The team includes Partner Suzie Leask, Special Counsels Erin Brown and Candice de Bressac, Senior Associate Kurt Wicklund and Lawyer Madeline Tait. The team joins Hall & Wilcox from Australian Business Lawyers and Advisers (ABLA).

Managing Partner Tony Macvean said the firm already had a strong presence in the Hunter region and the appointment of five new senior lawyers was an exciting next stage of the firm’s growth.

‘We see great opportunities in the Hunter region. We have a superb Newcastle office and practice. We started in 2015 with an insurance offering headed by Daniel Stoddart. We then built our commercial capability by our merger with Harris Wheeler in 2018, which led to Matt Smith, Katrina Reye and their team joining us. Suzie and her team joining us will be a fantastic next step in our growth and evolution,’ he said.

‘Suzie will play a leadership role in growing our corporate and commercial practice in the region, with a real focus on building our brand and reputation. Suzie will also add capability and depth to our commercial practice in NSW and nationally.’

Suzie is an experienced corporate and commercial lawyer, with expertise in corporate governance, commercial contracting, business sales and acquisitions, privacy law, IP/technology and regulatory compliance. Suzie is also an experienced director and company secretary and headed the ABLA commercial practice, acting for clients across Australia.

Erin Brown is a senior estate planning lawyer who advises privately held businesses, high net worth individuals and family groups in relation to estate and business succession planning matters. Erin will work with the firm’s band 1 national private clients practice, and lead the wills and estates practice in Newcastle.

Candice de Bressac is an experienced property lawyer. She will work closely with Partners Katrina Reye and Brendan Tobin and Special Counsel Anna Bailey as part of our highly regarded leading property and projects practice in the Hunter region.

Kurt Wicklund, a senior commercial and regulatory lawyer, and Madeline Tait, a commercial lawyer with specialist expertise in trademarks, will work with Suzie and other lawyers in our national corporate and commercial team.

Suzie said, ‘I’m delighted to be joining as a partner in Hall & Wilcox’s leading national corporate and commercial practice, and to be joined by my talented team. It’s an excellent fit, both in terms of the depth and quality of full service legal expertise, which will benefit our clients, and also people – with culture and collaboration being something that Hall & Wilcox is renowned for. The Newcastle office and the region generally is thriving. We are looking forward to being part of the firm’s continued growth and supporting businesses in the Hunter and nationally.’

Hall & Wilcox is a leading independent law firm. We have more than 1000 people, including 120+ partners, working across eight offices. We build partnerships with and service corporate, public sector and private clients, both Australian-based and those offshore doing business in Australia.