Australasian Lawyer issue 3.03

2016

MEET THE WINNERS

australasianlawyer.com.au Issue 3.3

GIVING BACK Henry Davis York managing partner Michael Greene on people, clients and technology IN-HOUSE 20 The groundbreaking GCs proving the value of in-house counsel to corporate Australasia

NEW ZEALAND REPORT NZ’s lawyers look to the year ahead

GAP IN THE MARKET Simon Burnett on the merits of litigation funding

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CONTENTS UPFRONT 04 Legal insight

Juggling work-life balance in the profession

6 Deals round-up 10 Appointments

FEATURES 32 New Zealand report New Zealand’s lawyers look to the year ahead

28 COVER STORY

GIVING BACK

22 Work in progress

12

Leading IP lawyers on key drivers of work

PEOPLE

FEATURES

TRENDING WORKPLACES

40 Gap in the market Simon Burnett on the merits of litigation funding

What’s in a fit-out?

Henry Davis York managing partner Michael Greene on people, clients and technology

INHOUSE

20

14 FEATURES

IN-HOUSE 20

The ground-breaking GCs proving the value of in-house counsel to corporate Australasia

2016

44 FEATURES

AUSTRALASIAN LAW AWARDS Meet the winners

AUSTRALASIANLAWYER.COM.AU CHECK IT OUT ONLINE www.australasianlawyer.com.au

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UPFRONT

EDITORIAL

www.australasianlawyer.com.au

Change: a permanent feature Sasha Borissenko

G

reetings, For this issue we decided to scrap the News Analysis section in favour of featuring the topical issue of law firm fit-outs (page 12). Architectextraordinaire Simon Swaney, managing director of Bates Smart, defines the current state of the legal profession beautifully, as follows:

While it may be pessimistic to suggest open-plan offices are favourable in costcutting terms, it is nonetheless interesting to see how traditional values... are falling by the wayside “What I’ve observed, firstly, is that internationals have obviously come to the foreground. Secondly, corporations that firms work for are demanding more value for money. Lawyers have moved from the trusted adviser to being corporate partners.

Then, you’ve got the expansion of in-house counsel. Lest we forget about technology and how it’s changing the way people operate in and out of the office. Law firms are subjected to greater scrutiny, and these factors have meant firms have become extremely competitive.”

While it may be pessimistic to suggest open-plan offices are favourable in costcutting terms, it is nonetheless interesting to see how traditional values around confidentiality, hierarchy, territory, and incentives to climb the ladder are falling by the wayside. Despite modern challenges around money, competition and technology, it appears there is an element of “progressiveness” within the industry that’s being welcomed, and with gusto!

Litigation funding is also coming to the foreground as a result of the current legal climate. For more information, see the interview with London-based Simon Burnett on page 40, and the New Zealand report on page 32.

And, despite the fears that the number of in-house counsel is increasing, we pay homage to some of the best in-house legal talent in Australia and New Zealand (page 14), who are truly making their mark in the industry. And that brings us to the Australasian Lawyer Awards that were held at The Star in May. To meet all the winners, check out page 44.

Thanks to the fine work of the Key Media events team, it was quite a spectacular night. Congratulations to all the winners – it was lovely to meet some of you in person.

Enjoy!

Sasha Borissenko, editor, Australasian Lawyer

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JUNE 2O16 EDITORIAL Editor Sasha Borissenko Production Editors Roslyn Meredith Hayley Barnett

CONTRIBUTOR Hannah Norton

SALES & MARKETING Sales Manager Paul Ferris Marketing and Communications Manager Lisa Narroway Traffic Coordinator Lou Gonzales

CORPORATE

ART & PRODUCTION

Chief Executive Officer Mike Shipley

Design Manager Daniel Williams

Chief Operating Officer George Walmsley

Designer Kat Vargas

Managing Director Justin Kennedy Chief Information Officer Colin Chan Human Resources Manager Julia Bookallil

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Australasian Lawyer is part of an international family of B2B publications and websites for the legal industry AUSTRALASIAN LAWYER sasha.borissenko@keymedia.com.au T +61 2 8011 3367 samantha.woodhill@keymedia.com.au T +61 2 8437 4704

NZLAWYER sasha.borissenko@keymedia.co.nz T +61 2 8011 3367 samantha.woodhill@keymedia.com.au T +61 2 8437 4704 Copyright is reserved throughout. No part of this publication can be reproduced in whole or part without the express permission of the editor. Contributions are invited, but copies of work should be kept, as Australasian Lawyer magazine can accept no responsibility for loss.

UPFRONT

STATISTICS

Juggling work-life balance in the profession A report conducted by GlobalX Legal Solutions finds that, despite working long hours, the majority of Australian lawyers are content with their work-life balance GLOBALX LEGAL Solutions survey, A Better Balance for Lawyers, investigated the attitudes of more than 130 Australian legal professionals from Queensland and Victoria. Conducted in March at Law Institute of Victoria’s annual CPD Intensive and Queensland Law Society’s annual Symposium, the participants included a mix of associates, senior associates, partners, principals and a limited amount of barristers and legal support staff.

Results show that, contrary to popular belief, most lawyers are happy, irrespective of demanding hours.

GlobalX chief executive Peter Maloney said more than 65% of participants said they regularly work overtime, with one third of those surveyed working 50 to 70 hours per week.

“It is significant to observe, however, that despite lawyers continuing to work long hours, the majority are content,” he said.

Maloney said the results were a positive reflection of the industry, which has previously been typecast as high pressure, with tough billable targets.

He said this shift in positive office dynamics can, in part, be attributed to new legal technology solutions that offer the flexibility to work from home, and help practitioners to be more productive throughout the day.

Note: According to Harvard Business Review, the term work-life balance implies that one dedicates an equal portion of time to work and life.

75%

66%

of lawyers reported having a positive work-life balance

of lawyers are working more than 40 hours per week

1 in 10 lawyers are billing more than 51 hours per week

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THE TOP 5 PRIORITIES FOR LAWYERS WHEN CHOOSING AN EMPLOYER

49% 24% 14% 13% 3% work-life balance

career progression

professional development opportunities

equal opportunity

TIPS FOR ACHIEVING WORK-LIFE BALANCE

brand status

59% bill more than 31 hours per week

Exercise

Work smarter

Time out

Networking

www.australasianlawyer.com.au

5

UPFRONT

TRANSACTIONS

DEALS ROUND-UP Allens advises on the sale of the AirportlinkM7 toll road Allens has advised the lender-appointed receivers and managers of BrisConnections on the sale of the AirportlinkM7 tollroad for A$1.87bn to the Transurban Queensland consortium.

The 6.7km AirportlinkM7 toll road, 5.7km of which is tunnel, links Brisbane’s CBD to its northern suburbs (including the Brisbane Airport) and was completed in 2012, before going into voluntary administration and receivership in 2013. The receiver-led sale process commenced in 2015.

There were several interested bidders involved in the process, with Transurban Queensland’s successful bid expanding their toll road presence in the Queensland market.

Approval for the deal was required from the Queensland State Government.

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Lead lawyer(s)

Other firms involved

Transaction

Value (A$)

Adviser

Client

Acquisition of Asciano

$9.05bn

Allens

The consortium consists of Global Infrastructure Management, LLC, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board, CIC Capital Corporation, GIC Private Limited and British Columbia Investment Management Corporation

Tom Story, Guy Alexander, Wendy Rae

AirportlinkM7

$1.87bn

Allens

BrisConnections

Kate Towey

King & Wood Mallesons, Clayton Utz

Acquisition of GE’s Australian and New Zealand commercial finance business

$1.6bn

Ashurst

Consortium comprising Bain Capital Credit, LP and Deutsche Bank Sydney branch

James Marshall, Carl Della-Bosca, Graeme Tucker

King & Wood Mallesons, Morgan Stanley, Mayne Wetherell, Herbert Smith Freehills, Kirkland & Ellis, KPMG, Deutsche Bank

Atlas Iron Limited – approval and implementation of creditors’ scheme of arrangement

US$267, 427,500

Ashurst

Atlas Iron

James Marshall and Antonella Pacitti

Sullivan & Cromwell, Gilbert + Tobin, Jones Day

Nuplex acquisition

by Allnex via scheme of arrangement

NZ$1b

Bell Gully

Nuplex Industries

Gavin Macdonald, James Cooney

Allens Linklaters Allen & Overy, Russell McVeagh

SKYCITY fully underwritten AREO

NZ$263m

Chapman Tripp First NZ Capital and Credit Suisse

Rachel Dunne, Philip Ascroft, Briar Malpas

Bell Gully, Minter Ellison, Sullivan & Cromwell, Baker & McKenzie

LP Group BV’s acquisition EUR3.7bn of a 100% shareholding in Leaseplan Corporation NV

Chapman Tripp LP Group BV

Tim Williams, Phoebe Gibbons

Linklaters

Martabe Mine LBO

US$775m

Clayton Utz

EMR Capital, Farallon Capital and partners

John Brewster, Rod Lyle

Sullivan & Cromwell HK, Milbank Tweed

WiseTech Global's IPO and ASX listing

$973.6m

Clayton Utz

WiseTech Global

Stuart Byrne, Jonathan Algar

Gilbert + Tobin, Sidley Austin, Skaddens

UPFRONT

TRANSACTIONS MAKE SURE YOUR FIRM’S WORK IS RECOGNISED To ensure your firm and its lawyers get the recognition they deserve for their fantastic work, send all your deal details to sasha.borissenko@keymedia.co.nz

Value (A$)

Adviser

Client

Investa Commercial Property Fund acquisition

$450m

DLA Piper

Investa Commercial Property Fund

Astrid Beemster

ENN Ecological Holdings acquisition of Santos Limited

US$750m

DLA Piper

ENN Ecological Holdings Co

Carolyn Dong, Lyndon Masters

Restaurant Brands New Zealand’s acquisition of 100% of shares in QSR

$82.4m

Macquarie Capital, Harmos Horton Lusk

Restaurant Brands New Zealand

Nathanael Starrenburg

AGL’s A$151m sale of 50% interest in Diamantina Power Station

$151m

Herbert Smith Freehills

AGL

Robert Merrick

Xtralis Group Holdings Ltd’s A$683m sale to Honeywell International Inc

$683m

Herbert Smith Freehills

Xtralis Group

Damien Hazard

Arrium (ongoing)

$2.8bn

KWM

A syndicate of 23 lenders

Tim Kleinberg, Ken Astridge

NBN

$1.6bn

KWM

Telstra

Cheng Lim, Nicole Heller, Rachael Lewis, Scott Budd, Renae Lattey.

Dandenong Plaza sale

by GPT Group

$197m

Mills Oakley

GPT Group

James Price

King & Wood Mallesons

Blackstone sale of Bulky Goods Centre portfolio

$219m

Mills Oakley

Blackstone

Tim L’Orange

DLA Piper

Sale of Tasman Farms

$280m

Simpson Grierson

Taranaki Investment Management, New Plymouth District Council, Tasmanian Land Company

Peter Hinton, James Hawes

K&L Gates, Clayton Utz and Hunt & Hunt

Tamaki Redevelopment Company Limited asset sale

NZ$1.63bn

Simpson Grierson

Tamaki Redevelopment Company

Peter Stubbs, Simon Vannini, Andrew Tetzlaff

Greenwood Roche Chisnall, Buddle Findlay

Advising SKY TV on its Series A investment in 90 Seconds

Conf

Wynn Williams

SKY Ventures Limited

Ash Hill

Simmonds Stewart Themis Group

Transaction

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Lead lawyer(s)

Other firms involved

Corrs Chambers Westgarth, Thomson Geer, Bell Gully

Herbert Smith Freehills (Arrium)

Herbert Smith Freehills advises Banco Santander SA on sale of the Taralga Wind Farm Herbert Smith Freehills has advised Inversiones Capital Global SA on its agreement to sell the 106.8MW Taralga Wind Farm to State Power Investment Corporation of China.

The sale of the Taralga Wind Farm follows a competitive trade sale process and caps ICG’s involvement in the Taralga project from its initial development. Herbert Smith Freehills has been involved in all stages of the project, including its construction, offtake arrangements and project financing.

The Herbert Smith Freehills team was led by partners David Ryan and Gerard Pike.

Firm Profile

NZ Commentary

REGULATING NEW ZEALAND’S FINANCIAL MARKET INFRASTRUCTURES Approximately NZ$35 billion flows through New Zealand’s retail and wholesale payment systems each day. To put this into context, New Zealand’s GDP will flow through New Zealand’s payment system in just over a week. On an annual basis, approximately NZ$8 trillion flows through New Zealand payment systems, or about a third of the United States’ GDP. To date, however, there has been very limited regulation of New Zealand’s payment and settlement systems. The Reserve Bank of New Zealand (RBNZ) has some limited powers to require operators or participants in payments systems to supply it with information and have that information audited - but very few powers to intervene if things go wrong.

The RBNZ and New Zealand Financial Markets Authority also have the power to designate settlement systems, but only if the operator of the settlement system requests it. Operators of settlement systems only tend to do this if they require legal certainty for their rules, for example, to ensure that payments cannot be unwound, because a participant becomes insolvent.

Notwithstanding, or perhaps because of, the “light touch” regulation, payment systems in New Zealand have operated safely and efficiently and have been amongst the best performing in the world.

However, the regulation of New Zealand payment systems (and other financial market infrastructure (FMI)) is likely to change. The RBNZ has just concluded the second phase of its consultation on Oversight of Designated Financial Market Infrastructures. The proposed changes follow a global trend of prudential regulators taking a more active role in payment systems, despite the fact it was acknowledged that the world’s FMIs performed well during the global financial crisis (GFC).

Nevertheless, regulators were concerned about what could have happened if payment and settlement systems failed.

This led to the publication of Principles for Financial Market Infrastructures by the Bank for International Settlements and the International Organisation of Securities Commissions, which has provided some of the basis for reform in New Zealand.

The RBNZ’s proposed approach is to introduce a Financial Markets Infrastructure Oversight Act (or amend its own Act) which regulates systemically important payment and settlement systems only. It has identified the following systems as systemically important: • ESAS, the RBNZ’s own exchange settlement account system for interbank settlement • NZClear, the RBNZ’s own settlement system for trading securities like government bonds • High Value Clearing System, New Zealand’s wholesale payment system • Settlement Before Interchange, New Zealand’s retail payment system • NZCDC, NZX’s clearing system.

In addition, it potentially also proposes to regulate to varying degrees the following international settlement systems operating in New Zealand: • CLS Bank, which undertakes cross currency settlements between banks globally (although this is currently described as a domestic system by the RBNZ) • LCH Clearnet, which clears some swaps for New Zealand banks • ASX Clear (Futures), the ASX swap clearing business • DTCC Singapore, which holds information about all derivatives trading in New Zealand.

Each of these entities will be required by the RBNZ to be designated and, by doing this; the RBNZ will then have powers to impose standards on those entities and to oversee their rules, as well as certain powers of investigation and enforcement.

Most of these powers are modelled on powers that the RBNZ currently has in respect of banks and insurers.

In its second phase of consultation, the RBNZ has specifically sought feedback on its crisis management powers. Crisis management has been a particular focus for prudential regulators since the GFC. In this respect, the RBNZ is proposing two tiers of crisis management powers.

The first tier relates to “crisis planning”.

This will involve a requirement for designated FMIs to have both a business continuity plan and a recovery and orderly wind down plan. A recovery and orderly wind down plan outlines how a failure of the designated FMI would be managed.

The second tier of powers being suggested by the RBNZ are the powers that the RBNZ would seek to use if FMIs were to get into difficulties or to fail. These include the power to give directions, the power to appoint or remove directors and the power to appoint a statutory manager.

Submissions on RBNZ’s second round of consultation closed on 20 May 2016. Given new legislation is required to implement the changes; there should be ample time for those affected to plan for the changes.

This article was written by Simon Jensen, a banking and financial services partner based in the Wellington office of Buddle Findlay. Simon specialises in financial sector regulation, payments and clearing systems. He is the winner of the 2016 Client Choice Award for Banking (New Zealand).

Simon Jensen DDI: +64 4 462 0459 simon.jensen@buddlefindlay.com

www.buddlefindlay.com

UPFRONT

MARKET MOVEMENTS

APPOINTMENTS

Presented by

LATERAL PARTNER APPOINTMENTS NAME

PRACTICE AREA

Belinda Crosbie

Construction & commercial law

Steven Gavagna

Construction

Goodman Law Mills Oakley

Simon Huxley

Finance & projects

Allen & Overy

DLA Piper

Scott Higgins

Construction

Gadens

Mills Oakley

Scott Laycock

Construction

Gadens

Mills Oakley

Jon Ornolfsson

Oil & gas

Herbert Smith Freehills

Ashurst

Alex Regan

Finance & projects

Corrs Chambers Westgarth

DLA Piper

Helen Smith

Dispute resolution

David Stammers

Corporate/M&A/ capital markets

Ashurst

Clayton Utz

Nicholas Turner

Employment

Sidley Austin

DLA Piper

LEAVING

GOING TO

Nexus Law Group

Simpson Grierson

DLA PIPER ANNOUNCES 48 PARTNER PROMOTIONS ACROSS THE GLOBE

PARTNER PROMOTIONS

The 48 promotions are effective as of 1 January 2016 in the United States and 1 May 2016 for EMEA and Asia Pacific. The promotions were made across a wide spectrum of practice areas throughout 11 countries.

There were 18 promotions in the United States, 14 in the United Kingdom, nine across Continental Europe, five in Asia and a further two in Australia.

Of the Australian promotions, Kate Papailiou and James Morse were promoted to partner. Brisbane-based Kate covers projects, project finance and general corporate finance work, with a focus on energy and resources companies in Australia and Asia.

Meanwhile, Sydney-based James Morse is an accredited specialist in commercial litigation. He has extensive experience in commercial litigation and dispute resolution, and advises insurers, entities and individuals in matters of differing size and scope in various state/ territory and federal jurisdictions.

FIRM

LAWYERS PROMOTED

Ashurst

Ian Bolster, Mark Bradley, Rebecca Dixon, Stuart James

DLA Piper

James Morse, Kate Papailiou

Herbert Smith Freehills

Nick Baker, Brad Strahorn, Rohan Doyle, Laura Sheridan Mouton, Kristen Percy, Chris Skordas

Mills Oakley

Sam Barber, Mick Coleman

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Russell McVeagh Kylie Dunn Simpson Grierson Matt Conway, Stuart Evans, Andrew Matthews

SENIOR ASSOCIATE APPOINTMENTS FIRM

LAWYERS PROMOTED

Ashurst

Katrina Anderson, Matt Benson, Katie Brennan, Lucienne Cassidy, Paul Dimitriadis, Nick Dowse, Themo Georgiou, Liz Grey, Emmy Ko, Genovieve Lajeunesse, Ashlee Luck, Ming-Yee Ma, Libby McKillop, Srishti Natesh, Nick Perkins, Anna Reoch, Meredith Riley, Jill Robertson, Kate Robertson, Samantha Robson, Michelle Sim, Nicky Thiyavutikan, Jessica Tuffin, Kane Wishart, Jordan Wright, Louise Young

Buddle Findlay

Samantha Barrington Prowse

Clayton Utz

Laura Walton, Emily Griffiths

DLA Piper

Marnie Carroll, Elliott Cheung, Emily Christie Jane Collis, Jane Coventry, Alexandra Derham, Laura Glover, Daniella Hammond, Chloe Hillary, Sarah Horan, Lachlan Ingram, Andrew Nicholls, Andrew Ray, Alexander Samson, Alexandra Tomasini, Jennifer Tropiano

Mills Oakley

Jarrod Marchesi, Lynn Nguyen, Christopher Frankish, Edwin Fah, Emma Harnett, Megan Turner, Susan Balsemin, Vlad Vishney

Simpson Grierson

Luis Cunha

PRIVATE EQUITY SPECIALIST DAVID STAMMERS HAS RETURNED TO CLAYTON UTZ David was a partner at Clayton Utz for over a decade, having joined the firm in 2004. Most recently, he was practising at an international firm.

David has acted for major private equity funds, including Ironbridge Capital Limited, Archer Capital and Pacific Equity Partners. In 2014, he led the firm’s team in advising NYSElisted Arthur J Gallagher & Co on its acquisition of Wesfarmers’ insurance broking and premium funding operations, a deal valued at over $1 billion. David also led the Clayton Utz team that acted on the float of Eclipx Group in 2015.

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FEATURES

ANALYSIS

TRENDING WORKPLACES Amid a climate of an ever-changing industry, law firms are increasingly looking for creative ways to fit out their offices. Sasha Borissenko investigates

ARCHITECTURAL PRACTICE Bates Smart managing director Simon Swaney has been commissioned to fit out many law firms, and while open plan is the direction many are going for, this isn’t always the case.

“It must be said though that we’re not advocates for open plan, rather we’re advocates for research, strategy and finding solutions that particularly cater to our clients,” says Swaney.

“I think the future really is recognising the culture of a firm and how lawyers work, and design has to be built around that. What’s the identity of the firm, how do they work with their clients and what would an ideal workplace look like?”

to being corporate partners. Then, you’ve got the expansion of in-house counsel. Lest we forget about technology and how it’s changing the way people operate in and out of the office.

Law firms are subjected to greater scrutiny, and these factors mean firms have become extremely competitive.”

And while there’s a push to reduce practice costs, moving to open plan doesn’t necessarily have an impact on overall costs. “We are increasingly looking at how best to operate the spaces, but again a fit-out might have a big budget and there are other elements, open plan, for example, that eliminate the need to demolish and rebuild offices for those who

“I think the future really is recognising the culture of a firm and how lawyers work, and design has to be built around that. What’s the identity of the firm, how do they work with their clients and what would an ideal workplace look like?”

Simon Swaney, BATES SMART Research conducted by Bates Smart that looked at trends over the past 10 years found it’s a really tough time for the legal industry.

“What I’ve observed, firstly, is that internationals have obviously come to the foreground. Secondly, corporations that firms work for are demanding more value for money.

Lawyers have moved from the trusted adviser

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are promoted.”

In an architectural sense, there’s now more of a focus on working together, mentoring, and technology. Gone are the days of traditional hierarchical structures – with corner offices up top, while the lower tiers used to bear the brunt of having little natural light.

In the case of a recent commission with

Corrs Chambers Westgarth in Sydney, the firm had a clear 2020 vision and strategic plan, including increased mentoring of junior staff, a flatter hierarchy, the ability to collaborate effectively on specific tasks and improve communication internally.

And, after eight proposals, the firm elected to have an open-plan space with no offices for anyone within the practice. Concentrated, quiet workspaces and meeting rooms were also put in place to accommodate the need for privacy and confidentiality too, he says.

Corrs Chambers Westgarth partner Peter Calov says five years ago Corrs started looking at their premises and, with Sydney’s lease running out in the near future, a decision had to be made on whether they stayed or opted for something entirely new.

“While the business of law is traditionally slow moving, it’s certainly not the case now.

The mature legal market of legal services have had to adapt with the changing environment.

Our offices have moved forward into the future and we’re protecting our people. It’s something to be excited about.”

Hybrid open-plan offices, with a meeting room for every three people, along with more resources for facilities and amenities sufficiently fitted the bill, Calov says.

“When we started out on this journey there was nothing we could put forward as a precedent with which we were happy.

Many of the traditional open-plan models had a cost-cutting agenda. We’re opposed to having a battery/hen-type situation. We thus went to a great deal of trouble to have a space that illustrated comfort, quality and a good aesthetic, but within a pod environment.”

Open plan and utilisation of space versus traditional offices in terms of expenditure

BATES SMART WHITE PAPER: THE NEW LEGAL WORKPLACE Over the past 20 years, Bates Smart has designed more than 100,000sqm of legal workplace fit-outs. Analysis of their database of these projects highlighted three key findings: 1. Lawyers are leaving their offices 2. Lawyers are sharing space 3. A new flexible and mobile model is emerging AREA PER PERSON IN LEGAL FIRMS IS DECREASING From 2002–2013, average area per person has dropped from 24sqm pp to 18sqm pp.

It is expected this number will drop to 12sqm pp by 2017.

25 SQM PP

made no difference. “Doing this to save money was self-defeating.”

Calov refutes the claim that amenities, such as having catering available, was to encourage working 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

“Sure, our staff work incredibly hard and do long hours, but the whole purpose of a fitout was not to provide them with a hotel or hospital suite, but rather to make the time that staff are here more comfortable and exciting.”

And the response has been fantastic, he says.

“You simply need to look at staff retention and what’s said on surveys we conduct to see that.”

While there were fears around noise being detrimental to productivity, instead Calov is seeing people working in small teams, there’s a conversation flow, a reduced hierarchy and people working productively and conscientiously together.

Meanwhile, with the opportunity to start completely fresh as a result of an ending lease, Colin Biggers & Paisley decided to opt for individual offices for all fee earners. Managing partner Dunstan de Souza says surveys showed there was little appetite to move to a different model.

“While I personally like the idea of promoting more collaboration, the happiness and wellbeing of our lawyers was of paramount importance. Ultimately, we get better value from them if they’re happy and they’ll be inclined to stay here longer.”

Prima facie it might seem more logical to have fewer square metres per person, you’ve got to respect staff views, de Souza says.

As for rebuilding offices when promotions are made, it’s about common sense, de Souza says.

“Because we’re an organisation of just 400 people we’re small enough to simply go, ‘Right, you’ve been made partner but there are only small offices available – are you comfortable with that?’ Saying that, most of the offices are the same size anyway.”

And hierarchy is not a problem as many of the staff sit near each other and that’s something the firm has never valued, he says.

What’s more, ideas around personal privacy, confidentiality, one-to-one conversations and by phone are simply not conducive to an openplan situation, says de Souza.

20 15 10 2002

2013

2017

TRANSFER FROM INDIVIDUAL TO SHARED SPACE Since 2007, there has been an 18% space transfer from individually-owned to shared space.

2007 48% of space is individually owned with space allocated according to rank 2010 34% of space is individually owned and all office sizes are equal 2013 30% of space is individually owned and all workspaces are equal “We didn’t want our people to have to modify their behaviour. My role in guiding the firm is not to think about number crunching – it’s about cultural guidance. If it means we’ve had to sacrifice a slight profit, so be it. Saying that, rent is only about 10% of our total costs, unlike salaries which account for about 50%, so it really comes down to preference.”

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13

FEATURE

IN-HOUSE 20

INHOUSE The who’s who of inhouse counsel for 2016 THIS LIST showcases the breadth and depth of talent working in-house across Australia and New Zealand, highlighting the in-house lawyers who are ahead of the pack, working on some of the biggest business deals and managing some of the most complex legal teams.

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20 NAME

P

COMPANY

NAME

P

COMPANY

Melissa Anastasiou

15

Spark New Zealand

Rachel Launders

18

Nine Entertainment Co

Claire Bibby

15

Brookfield

Peter Lim

18

Caltex Australia

Raechelle Binny

15

National Australia Bank

Christian Paech

19

Santos

Mike Brooker

16

Foodstuffs

Adam Pell

19

New Zealand Police

Richard Dammery

16

Woolworths Group

Mark Rodgers

19

DB Schenker

Luke Facer

16

Orion Health

Kate Simcock

19

Greenpeace

Kate Fewings

17

Citi

Karen Schutte

20

Chubb Company

Katherine Grace

17

Stockland

Fiona Smith

20

Murray Goulburn

Suzanne Hillier

17

NOPSEMA

Damien Sullivan

20

Boral

Tim Knowles

18

Citic Pacific Mining Management

Pita Williams

20

QBE Australia & New Zealand

MELISSA ANASTASIOU Spark New Zealand Melissa Anastasiou graduated in law from Victoria University in 1996 and commenced her legal career at Minter Ellison Rudd Watts in Wellington.

Melissa joined Spark New Zealand in 2009 after 10 years in the United Kingdom, in both private practice and in-house legal roles at Linklaters London and then Telefonica O2 UK. Since joining Spark New Zealand, Melissa has held various roles supporting a wide range of business functions, and in 2012, she was appointed to lead the legal team in the role of general counsel.

Melissa has spent the majority of her career providing strategic and commercial legal advice across a range of business areas and, during her time at Spark New Zealand particularly, she has gained extensive experience of leading cost-driven transformation and change programmes within teams.

RAECHELLE BINNY

CLAIRE BIBBY

National Australia Bank

Brookfield

Raechelle Binny was appointed as banking products and markets general counsel at National Australia Bank in November 2015.

She leads a team of approximately 200 lawyers and paralegals who provide support to National Australia Bank’s customers in Australia, Asia, New York and London. Raechelle’s team includes legal specialists in insurance, superannuation, restructuring and recoveries, and markets and transactions. As general counsel, Raechelle sits on a number of executive risk committees and is a director of an NAB subsidiary.

Raechelle’s legal career began at Corrs Chambers Westgarth. She spent nine years at Freehills advising corporate clients in relation to commercial litigation. In October 2007, Raechelle joined National Australia Bank as team leader of the Victorian dispute resolution and recoveries team. In July 2009, she was promoted to head of dispute resolution. In that role, she was responsible for advising the NAB board and executives on complex commercial litigation and regulatory investigations. In 2013, Raechelle was seconded to the NAB corporate responsibility team, to lead the team.

Claire Bibby joined Brookfield in 2005 and occupies the position of senior vice president and general counsel. Prior to Brookfield, Claire held general counsel positions with ASX-listed property and investments companies in Sydney and Perth.

Claire’s strengths lie in driving and managing legal functions and overseeing a busy legal team, working at strategic and operational levels, while providing legal advice to executive teams and boards.

Claire is a director of numerous companies in the Brookfield business, including a non-executive directorship with the iconic Luna Park.

Claire is also a non-executive director of Marist Youth Care, an executive committee member of the NSW Divisional Committee for the Association of Corporate Counsel, an entrepreneur ambassador for Opportunity International, sits as a commissioner on the Law Society of NSW’s Futures Committee of Inquiry, is a committee member of MS Angels, a member of the Australian National Committee for UN Women, a Harvard Business Review Advisory Council member and a regular speaker on issues affecting in-house lawyers, women’s leadership skills and diversity/inclusion issues.

Claire recently won the 2016 Australasian In-House Lawyer of the Year award, is recognised in the 2016 Australian and New Zealand General Counsel Powerlist and is acknowledged by her peers in the Doyles Guide as a leading In-House Property and Real Estate lawyer.

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FEATURE

IN-HOUSE 20 RICHARD DAMMERY Woolworths Group

MIKE BROOKER Foodstuffs After nearly 20 years in private practice, including nine years as a partner at international law firm DLA Piper, Mike was offered the opportunity to set up an in-house legal team at key client Foodstuffs.

He has been in that role for nearly seven years and has shaped the legal function from its inception and been a member of the executive team for most of that period.

Foodstuffs is one of New Zealand’s largest organisations. It operates a franchised supermarket, grocery store and liquor store retail network and a wholesale network. Foodstuffs trades under some of New Zealand’s oldest and most recognised brands. The business is a co-operative owned by its members and head office provides a full range of services, including purchasing, logistics, store development, operator selection and training, marketing, IT and financial services to its members.

Mike works across the entire business providing a very wide range of services and utilising a small in-house team and a range of external providers. He is extremely passionate about the business and enjoys the huge variety and fast pace.

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Richard Dammery is the chief officer legal and corporate affairs, and the company secretary of Woolworths Group. He was appointed in September 2014.

He is also leading the team responsible for managing the sale and exit of Woolworths’ Home Improvement businesses, following the board’s decision in January 2016 to discontinue these operations.

He is a director of each of the Woolworths Group portfolio businesses. Prior to this, Richard was a senior partner of Minter Ellison Lawyers in the mergers and acquisitions group from 2008-2014, advising on public and private M&A, corporate governance, and complex projects.

He was formerly the general counsel and company secretary of Coles Group Limited (2005-07), and led the transaction teams for the sale of Myer Ltd to TPG Capital ($1.4b) and the sale of Coles Group to Wesfarmers ($20.7b).

Richard spent nearly 10 years working in the communications industry, in a range of senior legal and senior general management roles with Telstra and Telecom New Zealand.

He has been involved with a wide range of not-for-profit organisations, and is the outgoing chairman of Cambridge Australia Scholarships, the largest provider of funding for Australian postgraduate students at the University of Cambridge.

LUKE FACER Orion Health Luke Facer is the group general counsel and company secretary at Orion Health, a leading global health software company.

At Orion Health, the convergence of two rapidly evolving industries – IT and healthcare – creates an exciting and fast-paced work environment, at a company that is on the cutting edge of technical innovation for improving health outcomes.

Leading a team of professionals across New Zealand, the US and the UK, Luke heads Orion Health’s legal, assurance and information security strategies. He also takes a central role in strategic planning as a key member of the executive leadership team.

Luke led the recent IPO of Orion Health with its dual listing on the ASX and NZX, and is usually found in the middle of Orion Health’s strategic opportunities, including negotiating its recent successful partnership with US health insurance software vendor Cognizant Group. Luke was a recent finalist at both the CLANZ Law Awards and the New Zealand Law Awards for in-house lawyer of the year. He has also been recognised by Legal500 on its 2016 General Counsel Powerlist and is a member of the executive committee of the NZ Listed Companies Association.

KATE FEWINGS

KATHERINE GRACE

Citi

Stockland

Kate Fewings is general counsel and head of legal for global financial services firm Citi, which provides both institutional and retail banking businesses coverage in Australia and New Zealand.

As part of a business operating in more than 160 countries and jurisdictions, the local in-country legal team is required to be across significant global market developments in addition to those in the local market.

Kate and her exceptional team have helped steer Citi in Australia and New Zealand through a rapidly changing global finance industry, while managing the day-to-day legal needs of the business. Kate is a director of Beyond the Orphanage, a charity supporting orphaned children in Ethiopia and Nepal, a representative of Women in Banking and Finance (WiBF), and a mentor on the WiBF Mentoring for Success program.

Katherine Grace has over 15 years of legal experience specialising in the property sector. Before joining Stockland in August 2014, Katherine was general counsel and company secretary for Westfield Retail Trust. She has extensive experience in corporate, property, debt and capital markets transactions. Prior to this role, Katherine was general counsel and company secretary at Valad Property Group.

She has previously held positions in legal private practice (where she acted for a variety of corporations and financial institutions in relation to landmark developments across Australia and overseas) and at Multiplex Limited and Pacific Capital Partners.

SUZANNE HILLIER NOPSEMA Based in Perth, Suzanne is general counsel for NOPSEMA (the National Offshore Petroleum Safety and Environmental Management Authority), Australia’s first national regulator for health and safety, well integrity, and environmental management for offshore oil and gas operations, which oversees around 150 companies. Suzanne provides advice on contract and commercial issues, compliance, audit and risk, human resources and employment matters, investigations and prosecutions, environmental management and statutory interpretation. She is also the ethics officer, fraud control officer and a member of the NOPSEMA executive leadership team.

Roles in government have dominated her career. Prior to joining NOPSEMA, she managed the legal and legislative services directorate at the WA Department of Health.

She oversaw provision of legal advice to the health system and worked with the then Minister for Health and Attorney General to develop legislation for parliament. Suzanne joined the Australian Corporate Lawyers Association (ACLA), now the Association of Corporate Counsel Australia (ACC) and the peak body for Australian in-house counsel, in 2003. She held various positions, including national president and chair of the board.

Her role was pivotal when ACLA joined with the ACC and expanded the organisation’s global connections. She has continued her not-for-profit board work and is currently company secretary and a board director for HeartKids WA, a not-for-profit organisation providing support for families affected by childhood heart disease.

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FEATURE

IN-HOUSE 20 RACHEL LAUNDERS

TIM KNOWLES

Nine Entertainment Co

Citic Pacific Mining Management

Rachel Launders became general counsel and company secretary at Nine Entertainment Co Holdings Ltd in January 2015, after 13 years as a partner at Gilbert + Tobin, based in Sydney.

Since joining Nine Entertainment Co, Rachel has been a key team member on a number of substantial transactions, including the $640 million sale of the Nine Live/Ticketek business to Affinity Equity Partners, the sale of Nine’s Willoughby site, the acquisition of media rights for the National Rugby League, and Nine’s affiliation arrangements with WIN and Southern Cross Media.

At Gilbert + Tobin, Rachel’s practice encompassed a range of corporate transactions and related commercial work, across a wide range of industries. In that capacity, she acted for Nine Entertainment Co on a number of significant transactions, including a creditors scheme of arrangement to refinance Nine, the acquisition of television stations in Perth and Adelaide and the ASX listing of Nine Entertainment Co. Outside the media industry, Rachel worked on a number of complex acquisitions across the energy and resources sector, and acted for a number of industry bodies within the financial services industry, advising on corporate governance issues.

Rachel is also a director of Giant Steps, a not-for-profit school for children and young adults with autism and the ASX-listed accommodation provider, Gateway Lifestyle Group.

Tim Knowles is currently senior legal counsel for Citic Pacific Mining Management (CPM) and has been in the role since November 2011. CPM is based in Perth and manages a major iron ore investment by China’s stateowned CITIC Group in the Sino Iron Project (SIP) in WA. Tim is in charge of the legal department and responsible for advising and supporting CPM on all legal and commercial issues in relation to SIP. Prior to joining CPM, Tim was based in China from 2003 to 2011.

From August 2010 to November 2011 he managed the Minter Ellison Beijing representative office and was primarily responsible for advising Chinese companies investing into the Australian resources sector.

Between 2003 and August 2010 Tim worked as a lawyer for Allens Arthur Robinson (now Allens Linklaters) in Shanghai and Beijing and acted for local and foreign clients on their real estate and mining investments in China.

Before relocating to China, Tim was based in the Allens Bangkok office from 2001 to 2003, prior to which he worked as a lawyer in the Allens Brisbane office since January 1999. From 1996 to 1999 Tim was based in Taipei and acted as the director of the Southern Taiwan Office for the de facto British Embassy in Taiwan. Tim is a fluent Mandarin Chinese speaker.

PETER LIM Caltex Australia Peter Lim leads a multi-functional legal and corporate affairs team that includes legal, secretariat, government affairs and corporate communications. Peter reports to the managing director and CEO and serves on the Caltex executive team. He is also the company secretary of the board.

Peter’s teams have been operating at the centre of a corporate transformation that has seen Caltex achieve an average shareholder return of 24% per annum over the past five years. That transformation has included the $270 million conversion of Caltex’s Kurnell Refinery in Sydney into the largest fuel import terminal in the southern hemisphere, and the development of Caltex’s new trading and shipping operations in Singapore from the ground up. This Singapore operation has been ramped up to enable stand-alone capabilities, following Chevron selling down its $4.7 billion stake in the company in March 2015, setting a record for the largest single block trade in Australian history.

The Australian company’s legal team was recognised in May when it was named Australian In-house Legal Team of the Year at the annual Australasian Law Awards 2016. The national recognition followed a transformational year for the organisation, which successfully executed major operational and structural changes thanks to the integral leadership role played by the legal team.

Lim joined Caltex in June 2006 after working as general counsel for P&O Ports following a successful career in private practice. Initially working in Caltex’s legal team, Peter accepted the role of assistant general counsel in 2009 and was then appointed general counsel and company secretary in 2011.

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CHRISTIAN PAECH

MARK RODGERS

Santos

DB Schenker

Christian Paech is general counsel at Santos Limited and is responsible for managing the legal function and advising the board and management on legal matters affecting the company’s operations across a variety of commercial and regulatory landscapes in Australasia.

Prior to joining Santos, Christian spent 10 years in private practice, including at Ashurst’s London office and at Herbert Smith Freehillls in Melbourne specialising in M&A and corporate law.

Christian has spent over a decade advising in the oil and gas industry and in the pursuit of a team of true industry experts, he has designed and implemented a framework to develop the Santos legal team in 11 legal core competencies mapped to the strategic objectives of the business. This has created a team of highly skilled technical experts who provide the majority of legal services required by the company in-house.

During his time at Santos, Christian has led teams advising on major transactions, including the company’s major LNG Projects in PNG and Gladstone and the 2015 $3bn rights issue and placement.

Christian also has a keen interest in promoting diversity in the workplace and is currently a member of the SA Chiefs for gender equity, a committee whose goal is to actively advance gender equity across all sectors.

Overlaying an international legal education with a decade of blue chip corporate experience, Mark has proven himself as a strong in-house counsel, driving a commercially-focused legal team for DM Schenker in Australia and New Zealand.

Heading up the department since 2010, Mark manages legal, regulatory, insurance and claims issues for the German transport and logistics provider in Sydney.

Working with a diverse customer base, including oil and gas producers, consumer electronic manufacturers and large scale industrial companies, the range of issues managed by Mark and his team vary from multi-jurisdictional cargo disputes and subrogated recoveries to hundred million dollar logistics supply agreements.

With tens of thousands of individual shipments each day, the complexities of managing the legal affairs of a transport business such as DB Schenker necessitates the development of a strong commercial and practical awareness within a legal team – something that Mark has fostered and promoted within his ranks.

Previously working with the Danish multinational AP-Møller Maersk, both in Sydney and Copenhagen, Mark compliments his transport and logistics experience with oil and gas and maritime expertise. Leveraging this diverse industry experience and sharp business acumen, Mark and his team continue to add value to the strategic goals of DB Schenker.

ADAM PELL

KATE SIMCOCK

New Zealand Police

Greenpeace

Adam Pell graduated from Waikato University with an LLB and obtained a Masters (First Class Honours) degree in law the following year.

Since graduating, Adam has practised law in taxation, criminal and civil all over New Zealand, while based in Auckland. He is the Waikato police prosecution liaison for CIB and Child Protection teams. He is a Waikato BOP Law Society council member, and the ILANZ convener for the Waikato region. He is the only prosecutor in the New Zealand Police mentoring programme.

Part of his role with the Law Society was to facilitate Continuing Professional Development (CPD) hours for the local profession, and he has since taken on a new role, bringing more in-house private and public sector lawyers into the Law Society.

For the past year, Kate Simcock has filled the boots of the newly created in-house lawyer role at Greenpeace New Zealand, where she is responsible for managing Greenpeace litigation, doing legal checks and balances on any outgoing work, and liaising with internal and external counsel from around the world on Greenpeace’s international work. When she gets a moment, she likes to keep things interesting by also working as a campaigner across several Greenpeace projects.

Formerly an external lawyer for Greenpeace, Kate has represented the organisation in the New Zealand courts for the past seven years, including in the Supreme Court on Greenpeace’s application for charitable status. Before moving in-house, Kate worked as a solicitor for Auckland-based litigation firm LeeSalmonLong.

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COVER FEATURE

IN-HOUSE 20 KAREN SCHUTTE Chubb Company

FIONA SMITH Murray Goulburn As chief operating officer of Murray Goulburn, Fiona Smith’s broad portfolio includes accountability for legal, company secretariat, strategy, corporate affairs, investor relations, risk, and health and safety. Fiona joined Murray Goulburn in 2012 as the organisation’s first ever in-house lawyer and created a corporate governance framework within six months of commencement.

In 2015, Fiona led Murray Goulburn’s design and implementation of its new capital structure involving the establishment of a unit trust that listed on the ASX and successfully raised $500m.

As a member of the executive team, Fiona is a key driver of Murray Goulburn’s transformative growth and value creation strategy that aims to insulate commodity market volatility to deliver a more stable milk price. Her focus is on the provision of risk-based, pragmatic advice that supports the commercial drivers of the company.

After commencing her career as a litigator, Fiona transitioned to in-house positions, including roles as the company secretary/general counsel for GPU GasNet Australia and the deputy company secretary at BHP Billiton. She holds a bachelor of science and bachelor of law from the Australian National University and a graduate diploma in applied corporate governance. Fiona is also a fellow of the Governance Institute of Australia.

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Playing a key role in the integration of the ACE and Chubb insurance companies, Karen Schutte is looking after the Australian legal requirements within the biggest acquisition in the global general insurance industry.

She joined ACE Insurance Ltd, now a Chubb Company, in 2013 where she works closely with business stakeholders to package products and structure legal arrangements to accommodate client needs in effective and compliant ways. Karen was drawn to a career in law by her strong sense of fairness, ethical responsibility and enjoyment of problem solving. Volunteering at one of the community legal centres gives her great satisfaction, as does continuous learning and development.

In the early stages of her career, she served as a state prosecutor in South Africa before becoming a lawyer, working in a small partnership. Her first in-house legal role was at an international insurance brokerage firm in Johannesburg. In 2004, after gaining admission as a legal practitioner in NSW, she moved to Sydney with her husband and daughters.

DAMIEN SULLIVAN Boral Damien started his career as a graduate lawyer in 1997 at what is now Norton Rose Fulbright. Just before the Sydney Olympics he made the move to Skadden Arps’ Sydney office, then to the Corporate Finance practice of Skadden’s New York office early in 2001. It was mid-2004 when a client, Panavision, offered Damien the opportunity to join them as assistant general counsel in Los Angeles. Damien became acting general counsel of Panavision in January 2005, then VP/general counsel from July 2005 and was EVP/general counsel when he resigned in June 2007.

On returning to Australia in July 2007, Damien took up a role as senior legal counsel in the Babcock & Brown Group legal team. He resigned from that position in April 2009 to join Boral where he has been since that time in various legal roles, culminating in an appointment as group general counsel in June 2013.

Damien is committed to fostering an engaging and rewarding team culture.

PITA WILLIAMS QBE Australia & New Zealand Pita Williams is general counsel of QBE’s Australia and New Zealand operations and has helped guide the insurer through significant growth and business transformation over the past 13 years.

Leading a team of 22 legal and compliance professionals at QBE, Pita’s role as general counsel provides her with a unique insight into the operations of the company, and she has played a key role in managing financial crime, dispute resolution, technical training and professional indemnity claims.

While beginning her career with a focus on intellectual property and IT, Pita has developed a deep knowledge of insurance and financial services law. She has seen considerable changes in the insurance environment, including demutualisation and consolidation, challenger entrants, and an increasing focus on legislative change and regulator oversight.

FEATURE

INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY

WORK IN PROGRESS Australia IP lawyers talk to Hannah Norton about the key drivers of work and their predictions for the year ahead

AS IS the case with other practice areas, it’s a busy time for Australia’s intellectual property lawyers.

“The key drivers have been IP owners wanting to protect their IP in a cost-effective and time-efficient manner, increased fee pressure from in-house counsel, and clients more frequently seeking legal advice

local – spanning a diverse range of sectors and technology areas.

“We’ve seen a lot of growth in the SME sector in both Australia and New Zealand, particularly from companies looking to expand through export,” the pair say.

“China is a huge magnet for many of our clients right now and we’ve seen

“The key drivers have been IP owners wanting to protect their IP in a costeffective and time-efficient manner, increased fee pressure from in-house counsel, and clients more frequently seeking legal advice in-house” Shannon Platt, SPARKE HELMORE in-house,” says Sparke Helmore’s National Head of IPT, Shannon Platt.

Meanwhile, Joe Seisdedos and Blair Beven, Sydney-based partners at AJ Park, say the firm is fortunate to have a balanced portfolio of clients – both international and

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a significant uplift in both IP protection and enforcement activity in the Greater China region as a result.”

IP strategy services is another area of growth for the firm, the pair say.

“We’re seeing increased demand from

boards and business owners looking to raise the IP quotient within their organisations as a driver of competitive advantage.”

And while China certainly presents some opportunities, it also presents hurdles for IP lawyers.

Two key challenges Platt identifies include “online counterfeiting and enforcement in China and the Asia region”.

Seisdedos and Beven also note a number of key constraints.

“Efforts to harmonise the patent

profession across Australia and New Zealand, both in terms of how patent attorney qualifications are regulated and the operation of the patent system itself, will have an impact on us all.

“We’re working our way through the implications of these changes.”

Steady growth in both A J Park’s Australian and New Zealand operations means the firm is being kept on its toes with ongoing recruitment needs, the pair says.

“For some positions, we’re searching as

“Efforts to harmonise the patent profession across Australia and New Zealand, both in terms of how patent attorney qualifications are regulated and the operation of the patent system itself, will have an impact on us all” Joe Seisdedos, AJ PARK www.australasianlawyer.com.au

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FEATURE

INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY “Looking through an IP lens that draws on proprietary and public data can provide insights and decision-support that may not have been as accessible in the past” Blair Beven, AJ PARK DOES THE TRANS-PACIFIC PARTNERSHIP AGREEMENT (TPP) MANDATE CHANGE TO AUSTRALIAN IP LAW? A media release from Australian Minister for Trade and Investment, Andrew Robb, dated 6 October 2015 stated: “In regard to intellectual property, TPP will not require any changes to Australia’s patent system and copyright regime.”

But Fisher Adams Kelly Callinans reviewed Chapter 18 of the TPP to determine whether Australia’s current IP laws are consistent with the TPP. TTP CHAPTER 18 ITEM

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HEADING

RELEVANT PROVISIONS

COMMENTS

18.46 (Section F: Patents & Undisclosed Test or Other Data; Subsection A: General Patents)

Patent Term Adjustment for Patent Office Delays

Measures for adjusting the term of a patent to compensate for unreasonable delays in patent issuance.

The Australian-United States Free Trade Agreement (AUSFTA), in effect since 2004, includes a similar obligation on Australia. However, the AU Patents Act has not yet been amended to enable such patent term adjustments.

18.52 (Section F: Patents and Undisclosed Test or Other Data; Subsection C: Measures Relating to Pharmaceutical Products)

Biologics

Adequate market protection associated with obtaining first marketing approval for a biologic, including a minimum eight-year term of data exclusivity, or a five-year term combined with other measures.

During US-AU negotiations, it was accepted that the five-year term of data exclusivity under AU law provided acceptable protection when combined with the strength of protection offered by the AU patent system for biological inventions. But, these negotiations took place prior to the decision in D’arcy V Myriad Genetics Inc & Anor [2015] HCA 35, which excludes nucleic acids with naturally occurring sequences from patentability under AU law.

18.55 (Section G: Industrial Designs)

Protection

Adequate and effective protection of industrial designs.

There is ambiguity under AU design law as to whether Graphical-User Interfaces (GUIs) are appropriate subject matter for design registration.

A 1995 Australian Law Reform Commission (ALRC) report indicated that GUIs should not be protectable by design, after which the current Designs Act 2003 (Cth) was drafted. Recently, however, a 2015 Advisory Council on Intellectual Property report has called for GUIs to be protected.

18.77 (Section I: Enforcement)

Criminal Procedures and Penalties

Criminal procedures and penalties available for unauthorised commercial use of a label or packaging to which a trademark has been applied.

While AU trademark legislation criminalises various acts involving the application of counterfeit marks to goods, it remains unclear whether existing criminal offences cover labels or packing, as distinct from ‘goods’ alone.

18.78 (Section I: Enforcement)

Trade Secrets

Criminal procedures and penalties for trade secret theft.

Currently, there are no criminal statutes in Australia concerning trade secret theft. Rather, actions concerning the misappropriation of trade secrets are limited to civil claims for breach of confidence. New criminal statutes regarding trade secret theft would need to address relevant defences to trade secret theft, regarding, for example, whistleblowers and journalists.

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FEATURE

INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY far afield as Canada, the UK and Europe to attract the right calibre of talent.”

The sheer pace of change within some of the sectors in which our clients are operating is both a challenge and an opportunity, they say.

“This applies particularly to the hightech sector where the best IP strategy may need to be geared more toward rapid commercialisation rather than protection of registrable IP rights.”

“Larger corporates will remain price and budget-conscious and appear to be going more regularly to market to ensure they’re still getting best value for money from their providers.

“We’re predicting a similar trajectory for IP law firms as we saw a few years ago in the accounting sector with the big four – for example, the emergence of a handful of large, truly global firms and lots of small, boutique operators chipping away at aspects of a full-service firm’s offering.”

Looking ahead Platt’s predictions for the year ahead include “continued price pressure and, as a result, a greater need for innovative solutions”, while Seisdedos and Beven see an increased emphasis on data and analytics.

Changing landscape The implementation of the site blocking provisions for ISPs [s 115A of the Copyright Act 1968 (Cth)] will test technical ability to block access to websites primarily operating

“We’re predicting a similar trajectory for IP law firms as we saw a few years ago in the accounting sector with the big four – for example, the emergence of a handful of large, truly global firms and lots of small, boutique operators chipping away at aspects of a full-service firm’s offering” Joe Seisdedos and Blair Beven, AJ PARK “More and more of our clients are interested in maximising the value of their IP portfolios by taking a more holistic view of the IP landscape as it relates to their business,” they say.

“They want to be able to answer questions about their innovation strategy, competitors and markets.

“Looking through an IP lens that draws on proprietary and public data can provide insights and decision-support that may not have been as accessible in the past.”

They also see growing demand for bundled service offerings for a fixed fee, particularly for start-ups and earlystage businesses.

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to infringe copyright, Platt says.

“It will be interesting to see how this section will be implemented by the courts to address infringement.”

Meanwhile, Seisdedos and Beven say the IP aspects of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) agreement will bring changes around copyright, patent term extensions, data exclusivity, geographical indications, and the enforcement of copyright and trademarks at the border (particularly in New Zealand).

“The Australian Productivity Commission’s draft report is recommending sweeping changes to the patent system, as well as to the systems for protecting

trademarks, copyright, plant varieties and designs in Australia. We’ll be keeping a watchful eye on how that plays out in the ensuing months.

“Legislation requiring plain packaging for tobacco products is expected to become part of New Zealand law by the end of 2016. Australia already mandates plain packaging for tobacco. Other governments are under pressure from health advocates to implement similar regimes.”

Meanwhile, in April, the Productivity Commission released a draft report on IP arrangements, which included a chapter dedicated to pharmaceutical patent reform – Pharmaceuticals – getting the right policy prescription, say Dr Jessica Chadbourne and Dr Martin O’Brien of Spruson & Ferguson.

“Australian law provides for extensions of patent term (EoT) of up to five years for certain patents relating to pharmaceutical substances where goods containing those substances are included on the Australian Register of Therapeutic Goods (ARTG), and where the time or ‘delay’ between filing a patent application and listing of the goods on the ARTG is more than five years,” the pair said in a recently-released report.

“Chapter nine of the Productivity Commission Draft Report, Pharmaceuticals – getting the right policy prescription, provides the Commission’s view on the current arrangements for EoTs and protection of clinical data submitted in the process of obtaining regulatory approval, identifying deficiencies in most of the arrangements and therefore proposing recommendations for reform.”

The draft recommendations point to a number of significant reforms for pharmaceutical patents, some of which, if legislated, will impact upon the effective patent term for innovators, the pair says.

The Productivity Commission accepted submissions on the report until 3 June and will hand the report to the Australian Government in August, after the Australian Federal election on 2 July.

IT INSIGHTS

It’s a big, bad world out there: 5 IT Security Principles Every Firm Must Know It’s time for us all to roll up our sleeves and understand that IT Security is now everyone’s job, writes Damian Huon, legal technology specialist & CEO of Huon IT. There’s a lot of hype in the media around the growing risks of IT Security - and unfortunately, most of it’s true.

Not a week passes that we don’t see another cyber-security horror story in the news… and they’re only the high-profile ones we actually hear about. Breaches happen every second around the world, to businesses both big and small. The cliché that ‘no one is safe’ has never rung truer.

And the costs of these breaches – both financial and to reputation - are soaring.

There is simply no longer an excuse for being unprepared. A focused IT security strategy is now a bare-minimum requirement for any modern firm.

Here are five simple tips to strengthen your firm’s IT security strategy: 1) MAKE IT A BUSINESS (NOT AN IT) ISSUE IT security is a business-wide issue that deserves business-wide attention.

Far beyond the sole responsibility of your IT team, raising the profile of security amongst senior leadership across all departments is a must. Make it a top-down priority so that it filters into every facet of your firm.

LITMUS TEST - HOW HEALTHY IS MY FIRM’S APPROACH TO IT SECURITY? The quickest way I assess a business’ attitude to IT Security is via one simple question; ‘Is IT Security a permanent recurring agenda item at your partner meetings?’

If yes, your firm has at least acknowledged the importance of IT security as a business issue.

If no, you might have deficiencies in security risk awareness and responsiveness.

2) CREATE A SECURITY AWARE CULTURE Even with the latest and greatest technology safeguards in place, the ‘human factor’ still leaves your firm at risk.

Cyber criminals are very creative and often quite convincing; tricking users into clicking dangerous links, unintentionally downloading malware, or accidentally releasing their password.

All staff should be educated on password and log in safety, how to recognize suspicious emails and websites (and what to do with them), and generally encouraged to exercise ‘healthy paranoia’ when it comes to IT security.

Then after training, go one step further – test them. There are ‘fake scam’ phishing emails which can be safely sent to your team to assess how they respond.

Going forward, cyber security awareness should also become a standard part of every employee induction process, too.

3) GET INDEPENDENT SECURITY AUDITS ONCE A YEAR The world of IT security isn’t static – it is ever changing, and so must be your security strategy.

To check you’re still on the right path, annual security audits should become as routine as EOFY planning.

There are countless options on the market, but two core reviews every firm should undertake are: • Network Penetration Testing – this looks from the outside, in. By mimicking attack patterns, any web-facing elements of your network (IP addresses, websites and infrastructure) are put to the test to identify exposures.

These audits will provide insights into any weaknesses and recommend opportunities for improvement, so that you can balance your investments versus what risks you can afford to take.

4) DO YOUR HOMEWORK ON ADAPTIVE MARKET LEADERS While I always preach caution around bleeding-edge technology, when it comes to security, you want to select established vendors that stay ahead of the game.

IT security isn’t an exact science and there’s no single formula that will work for every firm. There’s so many technologies on the market, the choice can be overwhelming.

And the reality is that in a few months, the threat landscape will change yet again. So it’s important to select security vendors that invest heavily in research and development, and that are forward planning. Ask probing questions around the vendor’s technology roadmap and frequency of updates, so that your investment will stay up to date longer in this fast paced world.

5) FINALLY, ALWAYS PREPARE FOR THE WORST The world of cyber crime is advancing at an alarming rate and you should never become complacent. Even with state-of-the-art security defenses in place, you’re still very much at risk of an attack.

Your IT department should have best practice protocols in place, including incident response management, roll back or issue isolation, clear escalation channels and appropriate reporting so that any issues are visible to senior management. This should be well rehearsed both internally and with any third parties.

DAMIAN HUON Damian Huon is CEO of Huon IT, an IT consultancy firm specialising in strategic technologies for legal firms.

• Vulnerability Assessment – this looks internally to identify risks inside your network, including all core infrastructure, end user security, and access controls.

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PEOPLE

MICHAEL GREENE

GIVING BACK Henry Davis York managing partner Michael Greene has been in the role for just 18 months, but he’s driving the firm with a philosophy around people, clients and technology

WITH AN interest in history and politics, Michael chose a career in law because he learned that law was greatly important in shaping society and the world in which we live. Being a very people-focused person also helped his decision insofar as he wished to be in a fast-paced environment with much variety.

“I’ve got a low boredom threshold and I like to be around people,” says Michael. “I saw that in the law I could have a career that would be intellectually stimulating and allow

brand and profile in the financial services sector, but we’ve now got a very strong presence and profile in the government sector, and a growing infrastructure practice, and I’m very proud of that.”

Michael found government work very rewarding, due to the nature of the work, the people involved and the tangible outcomes that come to fruition.

“I see our people getting a real buzz out of delivering services to the likes of the NSW Police Force and Transport for NSW.

“I’ve got a low boredom threshold and I like to be around people. I saw that in the law I could have a career that would be intellectually stimulating and allow me to engage with a wide range of people” me to engage with a wide range of people.

I’ve always been most comfortable in a team environment situation. Even after 23 years at Henry Davis York I love coming to work. I love the people I work with. It’s very rewarding.”

Leading both the firm’s dispute resolution practice and its government sector practice, Michael played an important role in formulating and driving the firm’s government presence, which now accounts for more than a quarter of the firm’s entire revenue.

“The firm historically had a very strong

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It’s great to actually see a piece of transport infrastructure we have helped bring to fruition through our involvement, for example.”

Michael specialised in advising and appearing for government clients in statutory inquiries, including several significant ICAC inquiries, a judicial inquiry, a special commission of inquiry, several Royal Commission case studies, and a large number of coronial inquests.

In fact, one of the most significant tasks of his career was representing the New South

BALANCING PRESSURE IN AN INCREASINGLY DEMANDING INDUSTRY “We all know there are issues with alcohol, substance abuse and mental illness, particularly within the legal profession. Our firm has been touched by the tragic consequences of mental illness in the past,” says Michael.

In the wake of a lawyer’s tragic death by suicide, Henry York Davis has made wellbeing a serious priority, whether that’s discounted gym/yoga memberships, or providing an environment where people can safely reach out for support, he says.

With law being a very demanding profession, leaders have a greater responsibility to ensure all staff are coping.

“We are not a business that unnecessarily drives people to perform to the edge. It’s our core responsibility as leaders of the firm to make sure that we have the right level of resources to ensure everyone has a fair and balanced workload. It’s also our responsibility to be aware of the signs of burnout, to ensure everyone’s taking breaks, their leave.

“Sure, sometimes you have to knuckle down and get on with it, but when you can have a break, you must do so.” Michael believes it is important that he models this approach to his colleagues.

Although Michael takes pride in his ability to be on call much of the time, he’ll take time off to holiday in a “summery location” with his family once a year. Alternatively, he greatly enjoys actively watching his children play sport over the weekends.

“Even if I’m on call, I make sure to have breaks to step away from the office to catch a breath and manage my wellbeing. Otherwise, I think it’s important to have a regular exercise regime, it helps me maintain the pace that’s dictated by my role. But I wouldn’t have it any other way.”

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PEOPLE

MICHAEL GREENE “The firm has been good to me over the 23 years where I’ve had a number of different practices, clients, opportunities and leadership roles, and I wanted to give something back. Now my mandate is to drive and protect the firm’s interests” CAREER TIMELINE Minter Ellison September 1989–May 1993 Lawyer Henry Davis York July 1995–June 1996 Senior associate Henry Davis York July 1997–December 1998 Senior associate Henry Davis York December 1998–Present Partner Henry Davis York 2004 Leader – Government Sector Group Henry Davis York 2012–Present Board member

Henry Davis York May 1993–June 1995 Lawyer Church & Grace June 1996–June 1997 Senior associate Henry Davis York December 1998–November 2014 Client Relationship Partner – Roads and Traffic Authority (RTA) Henry Davis York 2004–2007 Board member Henry Davis York July 2007–October 2012 Leader – Commercial Disputes Practice Group Henry Davis York November 2014–Present Managing partner

Current External Appointments: WORKPLACE GENDER EQUALITY AGENCY (WGEA) Gender Pay Equity Ambassador Public voice and advocate for gender pay equity, encouraging other business leaders to address this issue within their organisations.

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STREETWORK LIMITED Director Charitable organisation working with at-risk youth.

D-SPORT INC (2004-2006) Independent board member Organisation-managed government funding for sporting and community organisations for people with a disability.

Wales Police Force in relation to the Special Commission of Inquiry into matters relating to the police investigation of certain sexual abuse allegations in the Catholic Diocese of Maitland-Newcastle, and in relation to the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse.

From government to managing partner Being a member of the Henry Davis York board for a number of years, Michael was elected to the position of managing partner in 2014, a role for which he had been preparing for some time, he says.

“I certainly felt I had something to contribute. The firm has been good to me over the 23 years where I’ve had a number of different practices, clients, opportunities and leadership roles, and I wanted to give something back. Now my mandate is to drive and protect the firm’s interests, and there’s no greater way than being managing partner in order to influence and shape the firm’s future direction.”

After 18 months in the role, Michael’s mandate is clients, people, partners, and the future.

A typical day might include engaging with colleagues, strategic planning, spending both informal and formal time with the partners, and meeting with clients, he says.

“It’s the personal interactions with clients and our people that’s so important. I like to spend time walking around the firm for example – “walkabout time” is even pencilled into my diary. I want to be a champion and role model of teamwork and collaboration across the firm. It’s important to ask for and share feedback as we can always do better. It’s about being visible and available.”

Michael was very pleased and proud of the recent internal engagement surveys which found the firm’s staff seeing partners living and breathing the firm’s values of excellence, teamwork and collaboration,

integrity and quality.

“The survey showed we have a highly engaged workforce, to a degree well above standard legal industry and business benchmarks, and that our people believe in both the partners and the vision and strategy for the firm.

“It’s very rewarding and affirming to get this feedback. We simply have to continue this positive trajectory.

“My aim is to shape the firm and to leave it in a better position than when I started in this role, in what would be described as a challenging market.”

A challenging market There’s never been a time where legal services have been so competitive – whether offshore or onshore, he says, for example.

“We have to be completely on our game – we can’t rely on past history or past success. Instead, we must meet and

exceed expectations and the demands of our sophisticated clients.”

The in-house legal teams and businesses Henry Davis York serves and supports quite rightly expect a very high service standard,

cyber security, employing new computer infrastructure that allows mobility with all staff in and out of the office, or hiring a new chief information officer, Michael hopes to tackle these modern day challenges with gusto.

“My aim is to shape the firm and to leave it in a better position than when I started in this role, in what would be described as a challenging market” which is getting significantly higher every year, he says.

“There’s also the demands of modern business and modern technology that is causing a huge disruption in the market.”

Henry Davis York has effectively made future thinking and strategy a great part of its focus. Whether it’s talking to clients to understand their issues, improving

“When I sit down with a significant client and they say they see our services as a seamless extension of their business and their in-house team, we know we’re doing something right.

It means we know their business, we serve their interests as if they were our own and we are achieving our stated purpose – delivering outcomes that matter to our clients, our people and the community.”

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CITY REPORT

NEW ZEALAND

LOOKIN’ GOOD New Zealand law firms remain optimistic about the rest of 2016, with many of the country’s leading law firms reporting a stellar first half of the year. Hannah Norton reports

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IT HAS been a great start to the year for New Zealand law firms, with a number of the top tiers remaining optimistic with their outlook.

“The firm had a good year in 2015 and has had a very strong start to 2016,” says Chapman Tripp’s chief executive partner Andrew Poole.

“Two highlights so far are winning the IFLR Asia NZ National Law Firm of the Year award for the second consecutive year and being named New Zealand Deal Team of the Year in the Australasian Law Awards.”

His sentiments are echoed by Peter Chemis, national chairman of Buddle Findlay.

“2015 was a very busy and successful year for Buddle Findlay and that has continued into the early part of 2016. We’ve experienced our busiest first five months ever, including the so-called holiday month of January.”

Russell McVeagh has also observed a continuation of a high level of work flowing in.

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CITY REPORT

NEW ZEALAND “Our observation is there is far more confidence in the market. All of our practice groups continue to be busy,” says CEO Gary McDiarmid.

So what’s driving this work?

“The main activity drivers are M&A – where we are leading the market in terms of deal volumes – infrastructure investment and major construction projects, and activity in the commercial property/development sector,” Poole says.

“These include the Auckland City Rail Loop, two Roads of National Significance, the Tauranga social housing transaction and proposed convention centres for Christchurch and Auckland.

work as “overall a greater level of corporate activity from our clients”.

“Also, financial and economic regulation remains a key area of focus, with issuers starting to implement the FMCA regulations from last year. In the financial services industry, all participants are facing higher levels of regulation, and with this comes the challenge of keeping abreast of developments and managing their businesses accordingly,” he says.

“We continue to receive instructions on a wide range of disputes involving everything from securities law to health and safety, and construction law to trusts, and have recently been particularly active in some high profile tax litigation. In addition, we are seeing

“With tourism now the fastest growing sector... there’s increasing visibility of Chinese investors... which will have an ongoing positive impact on business” Gary McDiarmid, RUSSELL MCVEAGH “We also advised on the competition and debt financing components for Z’s acquisition of Chevron and we are currently advising NZ Post on its sell-down of KiwiBank to the New Zealand Super Fund and ACC, and on the establishment of the new organisation to oversee the remaining stages of the Christchurch recovery.”

Cathy Quinn, chair of Minter Ellison Rudd Watts, also notes a high volume of work.

“To list some of the work: the Tegel IPO, the Diligent merger with Insight and subsequent delisting, ongoing work to effect completion of the Z Energy Chevron deal, working on the project financing of Auckland Prison, helping Macquarie sell its New Zealand private wealth business to a local consortium, and advising on a key anchor project for the Central Christchurch rebuild, as well as representing major insurance clients.”

McDiarmid sums up Russell McVeagh’s

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ongoing activity in the class action and privacy law areas.

“Naturally, clients continue to keep a close eye on the economy, and information technology law has the potential to impact businesses.”

Commercial disputes also remain a key driver of work for Chapman Tripp, with the firm continuing to act on the largest and longest running disputes before the New Zealand courts by both claim size and volume, Poole says.

“One long-running and high-profile representation is the firm’s role acting for the Earthquake Commission in several hundred court proceedings arising from the Canterbury earthquakes.”

The firm’s domestic and international arbitration practices are also having an exceptionally busy year, he says.

“Chapman Tripp is unique among New Zealand firms in offering dedicated

international arbitration expertise and is the only New Zealand firm recognised in the Global Arbitration Review 100 guide to the world’s leading arbitration firms.

“While much of our dispute resolution work must remain out of the public eye, the firm has been involved in some novel cases this year, including successfully representing the Republic of Kazakhstan against Mega Limited in High Court proceedings concerning an alleged hack of the Republic’s Government computer systems.”

Quinn says new laws coming into force in New Zealand in the past couple of years are seeing leading experts developing new market practice, in areas such as equity capital markets, health and safety, investment funds and construction.

“Clients want more value for money from all their advisers and we deliver on this premise. I put our success down to strategy.

“The firm has been clear about where, in terms of sectors and practice areas, it wants to focus, and it’s really paying off. Our clients are very happy with our performance and referring more and more work to us.”

Meanwhile, Buddle Findlay is busy working on some large commercial transactions and infrastructure projects in Auckland and Wellington, while continuing to be heavily involved in post-earthquake recovery work in Christchurch.

“Local government has been another active area for us, all over the country, and our significant central government project work continues,” Chemis says.

“We operate in a broad range of specialist areas with our clients spanning the private, public and local government sectors. It is normal for some of those areas and sectors to be busy while others are quiet, which leaves us on an even keel as a whole. The unusual thing about the last year – particularly the last six months – is that every area of our business has had very strong workflows.”

Key opportunities Chapman Tripp expects strong activity in the aged care, telecoms, primary products and energy sectors and solid investment interest

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CITY REPORT

NEW ZEALAND from private equity funds, particularly Australian, and from China, Poole says.

“We are also expecting continued growth in secondary capital raisings after a buoyant year last year and some action around block trades as a number of major shareholders come off escrow.”

McDiarmid notes environmental and planning issues are having a significant impact on many of Russell McVeagh’s clients at present.

“For example, we are currently advising over 50 clients on the Auckland Unitary Plan process. Property and planning issues will continue to have a major impact, and planning processes currently underway are expected to continue.

“Auckland in particular, is experiencing a real estate boom across all real estate sectors.”

In addition, the TPP is going to impact

areas including patents/IP, overseas investment, and possibly disputes, he says.

“With tourism now the fastest growing sector in New Zealand, there’s also increasing visibility of Chinese investors and customers in this market, which will have an ongoing positive impact on business,” says McDiarmid.

Quinn says Auckland’s need to grow is obviously putting intense pressure on infrastructure leading to a large pipeline around construction and project finance.

“We’re also seeing a lot of activity in the M&A market – clients are interested in acquisitions and joint ventures with other businesses to meet their objectives. The volatility in the market is creating a lot of opportunity for clients that can move quickly and who need robust advice.”

New Zealand is increasingly becoming an attractive place to do business, she says.

“Through our international connections and the reputation we have built over the last three decades, the firm has a number of blue chip international clients – particularly in China, America and Australia – who we are helping to invest in New Zealand businesses or set up here,” says Quinn.

Chemis also touches on the corporate/ commercial activity and infrastructure developments in Auckland and Wellington.

“Our decades-long presence in Christchurch is another opportunity for us. We are well established and there has been a lot of work for Buddle Findlay in the post-earthquake period. As Christchurch continues its recovery, the nature of the work that is required is changing and we are well placed to adapt to that and help our clients.”

The firm has a very strong national

WHAT ARE YOUR EXPECTATIONS/PREDICTIONS FOR THE REST OF THE YEAR? “In terms of transactions, we are expecting a continuation of the trends which have marked the first half of the year. We are also expecting an intensification of residential development and construction as the uptick in building consents flows through to the next phase. The Government has an ambitious social housing programme, which it is just beginning to roll out so we would expect more activity in that area as well.”

Andrew Poole, Chapman Tripp

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“We expect the New Zealand legal market to continue to be strong for 2016, underpinned by a strong domestic economy and significant inflows of people and resources from offshore. The slowdown in the dairy sector will have its impact, but it is more than offset by optimism in sectors like tourism, the primary sector generally, infrastructure development and housing.

The Auckland market is likely to remain strong, driven by residential and commercial activity and large infrastructure projects. A number of infrastructure projects are also planned or underway in the Wellington region. Central and local government projects will continue. The momentum of the Christchurch rebuild will be evident but slowing, while the primary sector and tourism will continue to grow.”

Peter Chemis, Buddle Findlay

“Key influencers on the economy will be the impact of the new TPP agreement, the fluctuating New Zealand dollar affecting business confidence and regulatory change, such as continued implementation of the Financial Markets Conduct Act and the ComCom review on pricing. The New Zealand Government is also reviewing its laws in the telecommunications, IT, media and entertainment sectors, which could have a big impact on businesses. I think we are likely to see continued class action activity (more properly called the ‘representative proceeding’ in New Zealand).

Gary McDiarmid, Russell McVeagh

presence in advising local government and that continues to gain momentum, he says.

“Central government is another key area of focus and opportunity. We continue to work on a variety of significant projects, for example in economic regulation, social expenditure and reform, and procurement – particularly IT – and this shows no sign of slowing down. We are excited to be involved in some of the Government’s innovative social investment initiatives.”

Key challenges But opportunity rarely comes without challenges.

“The challenges this year are much as they have been over the last few years – a highly competitive market, which will punish complacency but will reward agility, innovation, sector knowledge, commercial

practicality and a strong customer focus,” Poole says.

“Our effort as a firm is to ensure that we deliver across all of those fronts.”

McDiarmid echoes his sentiments. “[There is] nothing new in reality – an ongoing competitive market, staying on top of regulations.

“We continue to stay close to our clients, listen to their concerns and focus more on finding ways to add value and continuing to work collaboratively with our skilled and knowledgeable clients.”

New Zealand is facing some challenges with regulatory approval processes, Quinn says.

“Clients need advisers who are well placed to provide strategic and practical advice.

“While we are seeing plenty of opportunity in the New Zealand market, clients

“Class action lawyers and litigation funders alike are benefiting from increased certainty as the jurisprudence develops, making the decision to invest in a class action easier to make.

Further, as the litigation funding market acquires more depth and sophistication (both on and offshore), and as New Zealand investors and consumers develop greater familiarity with this form of litigation, class actions appear set to become an increasingly important feature of the New Zealand litigation landscape. We also expect to see more interplay between civil class actions and the activity of regulators in New Zealand, as we’ve seen overseas.

There may be increased litigation activity by regulators more generally in the coming year with a number of relatively new legal standards out there (for example, those dealing with unfair contract terms) and our regulators might be keen to pursue cases in court to increase accountability and certainty in the market.”

consistently expect more value for money.

Our firm’s innovative approach has been very well received in this regard.”

A challenge for any successful Kiwi business is recruiting the best and brightest people that fit the culture, she adds.

“We’ve been in recruitment mode for about a year and we’re finding great new talent, but are always on the lookout for more.

This expansion also equals new opportunities for our existing people – it gives them room to grow their careers with us.”

Chemis has similar views.

“It’s always a challenge when you have to replace good people. The number of solicitors heading off on their [overseas experience] is on an upswing again and, while we attract excellent new graduates, we’re beginning to find that it’s getting harder to fill those vacancies as they arise.”

“The pipeline of work from clients is strong and it’s shaping up to keep being a busy year. Our market leading experience in areas like equity capital markets, health and safety, investment funds, litigation and construction will continue to position us at the top of the list as trusted advisers to our clients. It’s great to see clients so active – it shows there is a real desire from Kiwi businesses to succeed, do things better and differently. It’s very satisfying to have conversations about how to make the most of opportunities, embrace technological change, grow or change shape. We’re being vocal about what it means to be a great corporate citizen and this is becoming more of a priority for New Zealand business. We have some great leaders in this country who are doing some great things to help others. Champions of Change is one example, and at Minter Ellison Rudd Watts we are keeping up the pace on addressing gender diversity with our own people – we’re leading by example.”

Cathy Quinn, Minter Ellison Rudd Watts

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XXXXXXXX

NEW ZEALAND

LEADING LAWYERS New MinterEllisonRuddWatts CEO Mike Schubert is passionate about leadership. The firm is already a leader. His mandate is to take the brand, and practice, into a whole new class of its own.

MIKE SCHUBERT is personable, engaging and quietly spoken. An accountant by trade he is known in the market for his understated and pragmatic style of thinking.

So when he says that he’s out to ‘take on’ the opposition the language, and sentiment, might seem somewhat out of character.

The fact is Mike is all business about his new role heading the MinterEllisonRuddWatts (MERW) brand in New Zealand. He comes to the firm after 28 years (in a wide variety of roles) with accounting heavyweight PwC. In his time there he saw that practice move from being part of the ‘pack’ to become arguably the sector’s leader. He’s out to replicate this scenario with his new firm.

Instilling a professional services mindset is his primary aim. This is creating the ‘head space’ to help both clients, and people within the firm, deal with complex and difficult issues that are part of day-to-day realities.

The orientation will continue to have a legal focus but be attuned to the bigger ‘picture’ and overall contributors to pressing business problems. The journey will start by getting around the practice and getting a good feel for the people and the capabilities of what he believes is clearly a very good firm.

“Diverse ideas are needed to address a client need or problem. Any viable solution must deal with the inherent complexities. We will bring not just a lawyer but an entire legal firm to the table and will engage with others if that is appropriate and needed.”

He believes the firm’s current mindset of Listen, Care, Deliver is in synch with the professional services approach.

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Leaders like to work with like minded people and businesses. That is what the MERW brand will represent.

Consistency and culture “There are 40 very talented and experienced ‘leaders’ here among the firm’s partners. My job is simply to be their leader and help guide their combined abilities to take us forward.

“This is not a case of being first among equals but rather to be so far in front of the competition that we have a category all of our own. Leaders attract special people and that will apply to both clients and those joining our firm. We want to be known for the quality of advice we provide and the outcomes we achieve with our clients.

“It’s all about developing the best behaviours among partners and people. Where the culture is aligned, where team work flourishes, and where values are consistent. From there strategy and execution will fall into place.”

To begin with Mike is talking to clients and undertaking what he calls a ‘brand index’. This will help to identify the points of differentiation he wants to develop.

We want to be known as the lawyers that understand business. Our focus will be on client satisfaction and we will spend time talking to them and finding out their view of us.”

Part of this exercise is also to identify where areas of opportunity and growth exist.

Mike believes a 21st Century professional service provider must understand how IT can both define, and refine, operations. Some in the legal fraternity, he says, believe their world will continue to operate in the same way.

Evidence is this is clearly not the case.

“Accounting practices have a strong understanding of how technology can be both a contributor and also disruptor to an operation. Most legal firms haven’t really come to grips with this as yet. We want to own the legal technology sector and the possibility exists to become the legal equivalent of Xero.”

Sharp legal minds “A number of services within a practice portfolio lend themselves to automation.

There will always be a need for sharp legal minds but harnessing technological advantage, and innovation, is what a leading firm must achieve.

“We plan to embrace that change and meet it head on. This is much broader than just being on top of innovations provided by

well which helps to get things done.

“I got a taste of being part of some very major business deals that changed my world view. It was exciting to be in the action one day and then seeing it in the headlines the next. I wouldn’t have had that opportunity anywhere else.”

Much as he loved the professional services environment his ‘biggest thrill’ was to move from an advisory role where he was telling others what to do, to actually doing it.

A tap on the shoulder from MERW Chair Cathy Quinn set the wheels of change in motion. The accountant-as-head-of-a-legalpractice model is fairly new territory for New Zealand. There was a positive precedent on the other side of the Tasman where, in 2014, MinterEllison appointed accountant Tony Harrington as CEO. Coincidentally he also came from the PwC fold.

Even from an outside perspective Mike liked what he saw in the MERW world.

“They struck me as a young, dynamic firm going through good years, moving forward and essentially doing all the right things. social media. We’re looking at a total ICT engagement.”

There is, says Mike, the prospect of developing what he calls ‘virtual chambers’ allowing people the freedom to work from home, or other places, but still belong to the firm and brand. Again, technological innovation allows this scenario to evolve.

“A number of our partners have been involved in IP and ICT start-ups so they understand the terrain and where new thinking can be applied. MERW already has a reputation for providing the legal input around digital strategies. This is an area where we need to be on the same page as our clients.”

MERW, he says, also must have the capabilities, and nimbleness to work in a global economy.

“We need to be able to go where our clients have their operations or are planning to expand into. Alliances and allegiances will permit us to provide legal advice and direction that is consistent and seamless.”

The road Down Under Canadian-born, and having lived and

“Heard the one about the accountant who took the reins at a legal firm?” Mike got ribbed by some about leading a legal firm but he’s totally serious about the business opportunities on offer. worked in Switzerland, Mike has no trouble understanding the need to engage globally.

His move here was originally planned to be a two-year stint and sabbatical from PwC Canada. The country of choice needed to be English speaking. He eschewed the prospect of England and had to decide between Australia and New Zealand. Canada’s loss became New Zealand’s gain. Nearly three decades later he still loves New Zealand and the professional challenges it offers.

“New Zealand is a great place to do business.

It’s small enough that you can influence decision making and not have to contend with masses of red tape. The innovation spirit is something that is attractive. Members of the business community tend to know each other

They have been very much a leader in the industry, not only for the roles it won or the clients who choose to work with them, but also around their work on diversity, their charitable initiatives, and the achievements of their highly talented staff.

“The opportunity to take MERW to the next stage got me really excited. It will be interesting work and creating a legacy is an engaging proposition.”

Mike is a responsible steward, and adamant MERW will be in a stronger and better place when he leaves. Taking other legal pretenders out of the coveted top spot might sound ambitious but his quiet confidence makes one think Mike Schubert will get the job done.

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PROFILE

SIMON BURNETT

GAP IN THE MARKET After six years at Gilbert + Tobin Simon Burnett moved to London to work in a magic circle firm, before completing an MBA. Now, he’s taking on litigation funding. Sasha Borissenko reports

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LONDON-BASED Balance Legal Capital LLP co-founder Simon Burnett is the oldest of four children raised by a single mum in Sydney.

“My mum is the hardest working person I’ve ever known,” says Simon. “When the going got tough in private practice I would think about my mum regularly working on her catering business through the night then looking after four children during the day, and would immediately stop feeling sorry for myself. I don’t know how she managed it.”

She would encourage all four siblings to be actively involved in everything, particularly

sport, and it was his love of competitive sports, and the influence of people he met through various sporting teams, that prompted Simon to pursue a career in the law.

“Junior sport provided me with some of my richest and most enduring friendships.

I was drawn to litigation because, like sport, it is about competition, strategy and teamwork.”

In 2011, after six years working as a litigator for Gilbert + Tobin in Sydney, Simon decided to do the “typical Aussie/ Kiwi thing” by moving to London to work at Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer LLP.

While it was a fantastic two years at Freshfields, Simon wanted to see what else was out there before committing to a life in a law firm. He won a place on the MBA program at London Business School.

“I was always interested in business and the commercial drivers of my clients.

I started my MBA with an open mind about what I might do next, however, perhaps for my sins, I was quickly drawn back to the legal sector and developed a particular interest in the ‘business of law’ and the changes affecting the industry.

“Legal practice hasn’t changed much in the last 100 years but, currently, the combination

“Junior sport provided me with some of my richest and most enduring friendships. I was drawn to litigation because, like sport, it is about competition, strategy and teamwork” It was an exciting time for a litigator to come to London, he says. The Lord Justice Leveson phone-hacking inquiry was in full swing and Russian oligarchs were fighting multi-billion pound disputes in the London High Court. Leading UK firms were in need of experienced litigators. The first case Simon worked on at Freshfields was the high profile dispute between the late Boris Berezovsky and Roman Abramovich.

“Working in London made me realise what a strong foundation Gilbert + Tobin had given me. The smaller teams and fast pace meant that I got lots of responsibility and experience early in my career, including on several large trials. This made adjusting to the demands of working in a large international firm easier. I sense the general view in London is still that Aussie and Kiwi lawyers fit in well in UK firms because they are generally hard working, resilient and don’t take themselves too seriously.”

of client sensitivity to price and traditional billing methods, lawyers demanding greater flexibility and control over their careers, and technology that can do routine legal work more cheaply and accurately, has placed the industry in a state of flux. The traditional law firm model has to adapt or die.”

Seeing a gap in the market, while completing his MBA, Simon provided consultancy services to international law firms on innovation in the legal sector, particularly alternative models for delivering legal services.

Balance Legal Capital LLP In early 2015, Simon was introduced to Robert Rothkopf, a disputes lawyer who had just left Herbert Smith Freehills to start a litigation fund. Simon agreed to assist Rob in preparing the business plan and only a few months later, Balance Legal Capital was born. The firm, which advises a private

CAREER TIMELINE

2000–2004 Studies Economics and Law at the University of Sydney

2005–2011 Lawyer at Gilbert + Tobin Lawyers, Sydney

2008 Studies Master of Laws at the University of New South Wales

2011–2013 Lawyer at Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer LLP, London

2014–2015 Consultant to international law firms on alternative models for delivering legal services

2009–2011 Lawyer and migration agent (part time), Refugee Advice and Casework Service, Sydney

2013–2015 Studies Master of Business Administration at London Business School

2015 Co-founds Balance Legal Capital LLP, a London-based litigation finance firm

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PROFILE

SIMON BURNETT

“I sense the general view in London is still that Aussie and Kiwi lawyers fit in well in UK firms because they are generally hard working, resilient and don’t take themselves too seriously” fund on investments in commercial litigation and arbitration, now comprises four full-time litigators and is chaired by Lord David Gold, former senior partner of Herbert Smith.

According to Simon, the use of third party funding is on the rise.

“Third party litigation finance is a nascent industry in the UK but, increasingly, lawyers and their clients are seeing the benefits of using it to fund their disputes. Third party funding levels the playing field, allowing companies of all sizes to access the courts if they have a good claim.

“Even companies that traditionally fund their own lawyers are turning to litigation finance in order to use their capital for other projects, while still pursuing worthwhile claims. In both cases, third party funding allows the company to shift the financial risks associated with the dispute to a third party in exchange for a portion of a future recovery that is contingent upon success in the case.”

One of the main criticisms of third party funding is that it is expensive. However, according to Simon, the cost of the funding reflects the risks the funder is taking.

“Our funding is non-recourse, so if ultimately there is no recovery in the case, we lose our investment and the claimant owes us nothing. Litigation is inherently risky and we are usually asked to assess a case at a very early stage. If the matter goes to trial, much depends on the performance of key witnesses and the attitude of the man or woman in the wig. Third party funders need terms that enable the returns they make on winning cases to cover the losses they incur when cases lose.

“Increased competition in the UK has resulted in more flexible funding terms for clients than those we have observed in the Australian context where funders still tend

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to insist on taking up to 50% of any recovery.

My sense is that this will change. Last month, we met with a partner from a leading Sydney firm on his visit to London to meet with funders, because he wants his clients to be able to access better funding terms from UK funders for Australian cases.”

Bucking the trend Litigation finance is an industry that still gets a bad rap in many parts of the world, Simon says. Singapore and Hong Kong are still considering whether to create an exception to the ancient doctrines of champerty and maintenance that prohibit third party funding. The High Court of Ireland rejected third party funding in a test case decided in

April 2016.

“There’s still a perception out there that funders are going around drumming up frivolous cases that should never be brought to court. It is in fact the opposite. We only invest in meritorious cases because these are the cases that are most likely to be settled or decided favourably, therefore delivering us a return. In fact, funders provide a further filter for unmeritorious cases because our due diligence leads to increased rigor and objectivity in assessing issues, thereby weeding out bad cases at an early stage.”

Where to from here?

It is early days but we are tracking well, Simon says. Balance is in its second year, has

BEREZOVSKY V ABRAMOVICH

The High Court case of Berezovsky v Abramovich was heard by Lady Justice Gloster over four months in 2011 and 2012. In the proceedings, Berezovsky claimed damages in excess of £5bn for alleged losses caused by alleged intimidation by Abramovich, which resulted in him being forced to sell his interest in Sibneft – a Russian oil company – at a substantial undervalue. Berezovsky also claimed that Abramovich was in breach of contract and/or trust when he sold a shareholding in RusAl – a Russian aluminum company – to another oligarch, Oleg Deripaska.

Lady Justice Gloster handed down her judgment on 31 August 2012, finding Berezovsky to be an “unimpressive, and inherently unreliable, witness” and dismissing his claims. The case was reported in the media as being the biggest, and most expensive, private court case in British legal history.

Berezovsky was found hanged at his residence in March 2013. In March 2014, the coroner, following an inquest into his death, returned an open verdict on the cause of his death, due to conflicting evidence.

doubled the size of its team and is receiving strong support from the legal community in the UK and Australia.

“This is still a business that is fundamentally about relationships. About a quarter of our time is spent meeting with lawyers and building these relationships.

The rest of our time is divided between assessing cases, preparing funding offers and the documentation that goes with them, and, of course, dealing with the challenges of running an early stage business, such as fixing a jammed printer!

“We take lots of personal satisfaction in what we do. As in our old roles, we still attend high level meetings and think about complicated issues on significant

cases, but now we also have the agility of a small organisation. We can have an idea on a Monday and implement it on the Wednesday, which would never happen in

“I have a 20-month-old boy, Freddy, and another baby on the way in late July. My partner and I are close to our families. Some of my happiest memories are of playing

“There’s still a perception out there that funders are going around drumming up frivolous cases that should never be brought to court. It is, in fact, the opposite” a big organisation. We often ride our bikes to meetings around London.”

Long term, Simon hopes to return to Australia, but London is home for the foreseeable future, he says.

cricket with my brothers in my backyard in Sydney all year round. I want to give our children the same experiences. I guess we’ll just have to make Balance a truly international business!”

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2016

THE WHO’S WHO of the legal profession came together on Thursday 19 May to celebrate the achievements of the industry’s best. A record crowd of 600 legal industry leaders gathered at The Star Sydney for the annual Australasian Law Awards, proudly supported by event partner FTI Consulting.

Building on weeks of anticipation, 30 award winners were announced on the night, showcasing the outstanding achievements of top firms, in-house teams and dealmakers across Australia and New Zealand. The black-tie event, hosted by journalist and author Peter FitzSimons, was an evening of true celebration. Australasian Lawyer and FTI Consulting congratulate all of this year’s award winners. Read on to find out who they are

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AUSTRALASIAN LAW AWARDS WINNERS 2016 CORPORATE CITIZEN FIRM OFTHE YEAR

SALVOS LEGAL & SALVOS LEGAL HUMANITARIAN

“This is the second year that we’ve won this award, which is really rather special,” said Colonel Geanette Seymour. This was one of two awards Salvos Legal picked up this year.

JLT EMPLOYEE HEALTH & WELLBEING AWARD

HIVE LEGAL PTY LTD

“We are very committed at Hive to providing a flexible and healthy workplace for our employees,” said Ella Cannon, an associate lawyer at the firm. “This [award] is really good recognition of the hard work the principals of the firm have put in.”

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EMPLOYMENT LAW SPECIALIST FIRM OF THE YEAR

AIG INSURANCE SPECIALIST FIRM OF THE YEAR

HARMERS WORKPLACE LAWYERS

SPARKE HELMORE LAWYERS

The Harmers team are no strangers to the winners’ podium in this category, having won this award several times in previous years.

So how do they keep the momentum going?

Executive counsel and team leader Jenny Inness put it down to passion for this area of law. “It’s one of the core values for our firm – strive to do worthwhile work day in, day out – and I think that really holds us in good stead,” she said.

Over half of Sparke Helmore’s lawyers work in the insurance practice. “This is a wonderful validation of a lot of hard work by a lot of people in the firm,” said national managing partner Philip Salem. “We’re truly national and we’ve been doing this for 134 years.”

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IP SPECIALIST FIRM OF THE YEAR

GRIFFITH HACK

SCARLIS PRINGLE LAW FIRM LEADER OF THE YEAR

SUE KENCH

KING & WOOD MALLESONS

Griffith Hack has won this category in consecutive years, an achievement that firm principal Derek Baigent puts down to the depth of their service offering in this practice area. “We have adjunct services that other people can’t offer – we bring an integrated approach in that we can bring everything from the valuation side to the patent attorney side to the legal side… and I think that’s unmatched in the Australian space amongst our competitors,” said Baigent.

The first and only female managing partner of a top-tier firm in Australia, Sue Kench has led King & Wood Mallesons through a year of growth in both market share and profit.

INTERNATIONAL FIRM OF THE YEAR

STATE/REGIONAL FIRM OF THE YEAR

HERBERT SMITH FREEHILLS

CARTER NEWELL LAWYERS

With 24 offices around the world following its global merger, Herbert Smith Freehills has worked on numerous complex cross-border deals and disputes over the past year.

Carter Newell has continued to grow and expand its practice during 2015, acting for private Queensland companies as well as ASX 200 companies in its key practice areas.

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AUSTRALASIAN LAW AWARDS WINNERS 2016 FTI CONSULTING AUSTRALIAN BOUTIQUE FIRM OF THE YEAR

AUSTRALIAN LAW FIRM OF THE YEAR (UP TO 100 LAWYERS)

KEYPOINT LAW

SALVOS LEGAL & SALVOS LEGAL HUMANITARIAN

Keypoint Law has experienced a successful year of growth in Australia, pursuing a law firm model inherited from the UK. CEO Warren Kalinko said the award was “recognition of the innovation we’re bringing into the Australian market”.

This revolutionary firm, wholly owned by the Salvation Army, achieved consecutive wins in two categories.

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HUON IT AUSTRALIAN LAW FIRM OF THE YEAR (100–500 LAWYERS)

FTI CONSULTING AUSTRALIAN LARGE LAW FIRM OF THE YEAR

GILBERT + TOBIN

CLAYTON UTZ

Gilbert + Tobin achieved a second consecutive win in this category, following another strong year working on marketshaping transactions.

In 2015 Clayton Utz achieved the milestone of 500,000 hours of pro bono legal work since the firm formalised its Pro Bono practice in 1997 – a first for an Australian firm – in what was a year of growth and change for the firm.

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GILBERT + TOBIN INVESTMENT BANK IN-HOUSE TEAM OF THE YEAR

UBS AG, AUSTRALIA BRANCH

The UBS in-house legal team supported the business through several significant deals in 2015, spanning ECM, M&A and DCM. AWARD SPONSOR

SPARKE HELMORE LAWYERS INSURANCE IN-HOUSE TEAM OF THE YEAR

BANKING & FINANCIAL SERVICES IN-HOUSE TEAM OF THE YEAR

QBE INSURANCE (AUSTRALIA) LTD

NATIONAL AUSTRALIA BANK

A customer-centric focus is what sets the QBE team apart, according to national claims manager Ilona Horvath. “We have a team of 12 people, and I think for the entire team and the wider partners who we work with [this award] is a real testament to all the work we’ve done over the last 12–18 months.”

“We’ve had a massive year of deals,” said NAB’s Richard Speak. In addition to involvement in domestic transactions, the NAB in-house legal team has also worked on the complex demerger of subsidiary Clydesdale Bank in the UK. “We work hard, we play hard – everyone will be really proud,” Speak said.

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AUSTRALASIAN LAW AWARDS WINNERS 2016 FTI CONSULTING AUSTRALIAN IN-HOUSE LAWYER OF THE YEAR

RUSSELL MCVEAGH NZ IN-HOUSE TEAM OF THE YEAR

CLAIRE BIBBY

FONTERRA CO-OPERATIVE GROUP LTD

“I couldn’t do what I do if I didn’t have a wonderful group of young lawyers working for me and external counsel that support me,” said Brookfield Property Partners’ general counsel about her win. “It’s really quite humbling [to win]. It’s 20-odd years of really slogging it hard! So it’s a wonderful acknowledgement.”

The Fonterra in-house legal team provides support to New Zealand’s largest company, which has diverse international operations and sells dairy ingredients and products into over 140 markets.

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BROOKFIELD

CLAYTON UTZ AUSTRALIAN IN-HOUSE TEAM OF THE YEAR

CALTEX AUSTRALIA LTD

Business partnership is the focus of the legal team at Caltex, which underwent a transformational company-wide review in 2015.

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DEBT MARKET DEAL OF THE YEAR

WAREHOUSE SECURITISATION OF GE ASSETS

ENERGY & RESOURCES DEAL OF THE YEAR

TRANSGRID PRIVATISATION

The largest securitisation in Australia last year, this transaction was noted for its complexity and innovative structure.

“These are the transactions you look for,” said Allens partner John Grieg. So what was particularly special about this deal? “The speed, the size – we managed to get it through quickly,” he said.

EQUITY MARKET DEAL OF THE YEAR

M&A DEAL OF THE YEAR

MYOB IPO

NSW ELECTRICITY NETWORKS ACQUISITION OF TRANSGRID

MYOB’s relisting on the ASX after a few years of private ownership was one of the big deals of the past 12 months. “It was a complex transaction with international aspects,” said Clayton Utz partner Stuart Byrne. “It’s been a really good experience for the company [MYOB], and it’s obviously very popular with investors,” he said.

The deal’s size and complexity made it stand out, said Allens partner Kate Towey. Of the firm’s role in the transaction: “It’s great recognition. There’s a huge amount of hard work that the whole team at the firm have been doing for a number of years, and it’s still ongoing, so it really is very significant for them.”

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AUSTRALASIAN LAW AWARDS WINNERS 2016 INTERNATIONAL DEAL OF THE YEAR

YORK CAPITAL MANAGEMENT/ PEPPER ACQUISITION OF PRIME CREDIT

ATLAS IRON RESTRUCTURE

“We helped our clients make a significant acquisition in Asia, and I think it was the first of its kind,” said King & Wood Mallesons partner Anne-Marie Neagle.

“From our firm’s perspective, we like to focus on what we call AQ, or ‘Asia intelligence’, and I think this deal is a great demonstration of our ability to bring clients into the Asian markets.”

The unique structure and cooperation between the parties involved set this deal apart, said Ashurst partner Murray Wheater. “[This award] is recognition of firms representing a range of creditors and other stakeholders coming together, coming up with a novel structure and making it work. It’s great to be a part of that,” he said.

AUSTRALIAN DEAL OF THE YEAR

PROPERTY, INFRASTRUCTURE & PROJECTS DEAL OF THE YEAR

NSW ELECTRICITY NETWORKS ACQUISITION OF TRANSGRID

“It’s good to see a deal like this, which has had all sorts of complexities and political aspects to it, nominated in a couple of categories tonight,” said Herbert Smith Freehills partner Simon Haddy. “It’s a great marker of the sort of work we do – the large, complex deals where we can work very closely with clients and achieve a good result in a very competitive process.”

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INSOLVENCY & RESTRUCTURING DEAL OF THE YEAR

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WESTCONNEX STAGE 2

“The special thing was that [this deal] brought so many skills together across so many different firms, and what really helped was that everybody worked together to achieve the clients’ objectives,” said Ashurst partner Angus Foley.

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AUSTRALIAN DEAL TEAM OF THE YEAR

NZ DEAL TEAM OF THE YEAR

HERBERT SMITH FREEHILLS – M&A

CHAPMAN TRIPP – CORPORATE & COMMERCIAL

Herbert Smith Freehills’ M&A team advised on more deals in Australia and New Zealand in 2015 than any other firm, including several key transactions that were nominated for this year’s awards.

The corporate and commercial team advised on many of the market’s most significant corporate deals in 2015, spanning M&A, ECM and private equity.

AUSTRALIAN DEALMAKER OF THE YEAR

NZ DEALMAKER OF THE YEAR

PHILIPPA STONE, HERBERT SMITH FREEHILLS

PIP GREENWOOD, RUSSELL MCVEAGH

Despite Herbert Smith Freehills featuring in several nominated deals at this year’s event, partner Philippa Stone was “surprised” to win this category. “It’s great for me,” she said. “We get the deals because we’ve got a great team and great clients.”

A senior partner and board member of Russell McVeagh, Pip Greenwood was also a finalist in the Westpac Women of Influence Awards 2015.

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AUSTRALASIAN LAW AWARDS WINNERS 2016 EVENT PARTNER

FTI Consulting, Inc. is a global business advisory firm dedicated to helping organisations protect and enhance enterprise value in an increasingly complex legal, regulatory and economic environment. FTI Consulting professionals, who are located in all major business centres throughout the world, work closely with clients to anticipate, illuminate and overcome complex business challenges in areas such as investigations, litigation, mergers and acquisitions, regulatory issues, reputation management and restructuring.

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Clayton Utz is a leader in legal services, with a uniquely independent culture.

Our success reflects our focus on our two key assets: our people and our clients.

We celebrate diversity and we're passionate about access to justice – having performed over 500,000 pro bono hours since 1997.

CONTACT: Rob Cutler, Chief Executive Partner E: rcutler@claytonutz.com T: 02 9353 4104 W: www.claytonutz.com

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Gilbert + Tobin is a leading independent corporate law firm and a key player in the Australian legal market. From our Sydney, Melbourne and Perth offices, we provide innovative, relevant and commercial legal solutions to major corporate and government clients across Australia and internationally, particularly in the Asia-Pacific region.

CONTACT: Sydney office P: +61 2 9263 4000 E: info@gtlaw.com.au W: www.gtlaw.com.au

Russell McVeagh is an award-winning firm with an established history of excellence.

We represent leading corporations, financial institutions, state-owned enterprises, government entities and multinational companies on their most complex, challenging and high-profile transactions. Russell McVeagh is committed to understanding our clients and providing commercially focused solutions.

CONTACT: Gary McDiarmid, Chief Executive Officer P: +64 9 367 8091 E: gary.mcdiarmid@russellmcveagh.com W: www.russellmcveagh.com

Huon IT are industry-renowned Legal Technology Specialists, with a focus on providing strategy, cloud, IT management, systems integration and 24/7 support to law firms with offices in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane.

Established in 1989, Huon IT has long-term partnerships with firms across Australia. Working alongside both upper management and technical departments within their clients’ organisations, Huon IT helps to align technology systems with executive vision to maximise business performance.

CONTACT: Damian Huon, Chief Executive Officer T: 1300 HUON IT (4866 48) E: dhuon@huonit.com.au W: www.huonit.com.au

Scarlis Pringle was established in 1995 as a boutique Australian Legal Executive Search and Consulting firm.

Scarlis Pringle has completed over 250 Senior Legal Search assignments and various consulting assignments for leading Australian and international law firms, and for major corporates.

Today Scarlis Pringle has a unique comprehensive insight into the changing Australian legal market and the issues that concern law firms and their partners. Scarlis Pringle builds long-term strategic relationships with its key clients.

CONTACT: Steven Scarlis, Managing Director P: 02 9222 9000 E: sscarlis@scarlispringle.com.au W: www.scarlispringle.com.au

JLT is a wholly owned subsidiary of Jardine Lloyd Thompson Group, one of the world’s largest providers of insurance, risk and employee benefits related advice.

With 20 offices across Australia and more than 1,200 staff, JLT provides flexible, efficient and quality solutions to our clients.

CONTACT: Neil Robinson, National Manager – Life T: 0429 216 560 E: neil.robinson@jlta.com.au W: www.jlta.com.au

Sparke Helmore Lawyers is a firm of 600 people working from nine offices across Australia, serving the needs of the insurance, government, financial services, mining, construction and property sectors. Our expertise spans corporate and commercial to construction, workplace to insurance, IP to IPOs, mining to manufacturing, and property to procurement.

CONTACT: T: +61 2 9373 3555 E: info@sparke.com.au W: www.sparke.com.au

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