Australasian Lawyer Elite Women 2021

SPECIAL REPORT

2021

Fifty women lawyers are celebrated for their professional excellence and their leadership in social change, diversity and inclusion

CONTENTS

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Feature article .............................................. 2 Methodology ................................................ 3 Elite Women 2021 ........................................ 5 Profiles .......................................................... 6

SPECIAL REPORT

BUSINESS STRATEGY

ELITE WOMEN 2021

CLEARING THE PATH TO EQUALITY PROMOTING SOCIAL change, adapting to a working environment transformed by COVID-19, and creating new models of legal practice are among the breakthroughs demonstrated by the Elite Women featured in this report.

Australasian Lawyer’s list celebrates 50 female legal professionals who have excelled throughout an unusually challenging year.

Their achievements highlight the innovative

role of women in law, and inspire others to uphold diversity, gender equality, and inclusiveness in the workplace. The initiatives of these women lawyers include introducing parental leave, organising events and workshops, and conducting training sessions for companies and senior executives around issues such as sexual harassment, bullying, discrimination, regulatory whistle blowing, and recent legislative reforms.

ELITE WOMEN BY STATE

1 Western Australia

6

Northern Territory

Queensland

South Australia

New South Wales

Victoria

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Driving change in legal practice

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A spokesperson for Ilona Meyer

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“To stand up and call out misbehaviour requires courage, particularly when you’re the only woman on a board full of men”

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Each of these Elite Women has contributed to changes in the law or in their workplace that will have a flow-on effect for future generations. Many are transforming the nature of the profession by introducing new ways of working and achieving equality and fairness in what was traditionally a maledominated profession.

From forming their own fixed-fee practice, to integrating lawyers into business

units in order to increase business understanding and collaboration, to overseeing multimillion-dollar contracts and upholding compliance and ethics, these women have demonstrated skills that have a strong impact on legislation and law practice.

Leanne Liddle, director of the Aboriginal Justice Unit for the Northern Territory Government’s Department of the AttorneyGeneral and Justice, has led an expert reference group to engage with Aboriginal organisations to promote justice initiatives in the region. Her work centres on an urgent social and legal problem because Aboriginal people comprise almost 90% of the imprisoned population and almost the entire youth detention population. Liddle worked to bring about the Northern Territory’s first Aboriginal Justice Agreement, a seven-year agreement to reduce reoffending and impris-

Aboriginal people. Within her own Aboriginal Justice Unit, she has consistently employed and mentored Aboriginal staff and created cultural safety within her team.”

Transforming the treatment of women is important to Danielle Snell, co-founder and director of Elit Lawyers by McGirr & Snell.

She started the firm from her dining room while 30 weeks pregnant to “take control of her own legal destiny by creating an innovative legal service model that reflects her values and puts clients first”. Passionate about diversity and inclusion, Snell represented high-profile clients in the second wave of the #MeToo movement.

Leading barrister Georgina Schoff, QC, compliments Danielle’s “great strategic mind” and deep knowledge of the law.

“I know her to be dedicated to issues of diversity, inclusion and equality in the legal

“Georgia has been a standout leader, working on market-leading projects and mentoring many junior female practitioners along the way” A spokesperson for Georgia Quick and Ashurst onment rates of Aboriginal Territorians, support Aboriginal leadership, and improve judicial response.

“Leanne Liddle has actively contributed to diversity in decision-making relating to justice policy through consulting with 160 Aboriginal communities across the Northern Territory,” says a spokesperson for her office.

“Her leadership has ensured that the justice sector includes the standpoints of

sector and, by her achievements, she has demonstrated that women in the profession can hold senior and diverse positions in law firms, whilst at the same time having babies and raising a family,” Schoff says.

Another Elite Woman, Rachel Besley, general counsel at Deloitte Legal & Deloitte Australia, is recognised for her contribution to mentoring young and aspiring lawyers and overturning tradition to introduce a

METHODOLOGY In August, Australasian Lawyer invited legal professionals from across the region to nominate exceptional female leaders for the inaugural Elite Women list. Nominees had to be working in a role related to the legal profession and had influenced the profession in a way that demonstrated a passion for the law.

Nominators were asked to describe the nominee’s standout professional achievements over the past 12 months, along with her contributions to diversity and inclusion and how she has given back through volunteer roles and charity work. Recommendations from managers and senior industry professionals were also taken into account.

To narrow down the list to the final 50 Elite Women, the Australasian Lawyer team reviewed all nominations, examining each individual’s meaningful contribution to the profession.

40:40:20 gender quota for the board of the professional services firm. This change means that women will account for at least 40% of the board of directors.

A spokesperson for Deloitte says Besley has played a key role in shaping the company as a “great and inclusive place for all people to work and develop rewarding careers”.

“She has worked closely with our People team to implement the necessary policies to allow employees to take parental leave – for both parents concurrently – regardless of who was the primary carer,” the spokesperson says.

Social enterprise “legal beagle” Kate Sherburn is also working to drive diversity, equity and inclusion across her workplace, developing internal policies such as genderneutral parental leave, and leave for those suffering from pregnancy loss and menstrual

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SPECIAL REPORT

BUSINESS STRATEGY

ELITE WOMEN 2021

ELITE WOMEN BY TITLE

C-Suite executives

17 Counsel

10 Partners

20 Senior associates

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symptoms. She applies her own experience to communicate new ways of working with the legal community through LinkedIn, conferences, podcasts and InView, a professional platform for in-house counsel.

“Kate is committed to sharing her experiences to help women coming through the ranks in the legal industry. She has navigated these waters, so she shares what she would have wanted to know when she was starting out,” a company spokesperson says.

Staying true to legal values and principles has been critical to Ilona Meyer, Australian general counsel of pharmaceutical company Boehringer Ingelheim. While serving on the board of a not-for-profit sporting organisation, she advocated for compliance, transparency and good governance. She launched investigations into some business dealings despite being “a volunteer director with nothing to win and everything to lose”.

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“[Ilona] and her organisation were successful in proving that a national sporting body was found to be in breach of its fiduciary duties and had acted unconscionably,” a spokesperson for her says. “[This] ensured that her state sporting organisation – and ultimately its regional member clubs – were able to [recover more than] $600,000 in funds owed to them for the development of local sporting facilities.”

“They say integrity is something you show when no one is watching. To stand up and call out misbehaviour requires courage, particularly when you’re the only woman on a board full of men that have been there for over 20 years,” says the spokesperson.

Teaching the next generation Many of the Elite Women consider mentoring as a crucial part of their work to help young people overcome workplace barriers to

promotion and flexibility. Knowledge sharing is another important duty. For some leaders, this has involved organising career-pathway programs for young women. Others have championed women for senior leadership and director roles.

Georgia Quick, a partner at Ashurst, has not only practiced in the male-dominated dispute resolution, construction, energy and resource sector. She has also been elected president of the Australian Centre for International Commercial Arbitration, the country’s leading dispute resolution body.

“Georgia has been a standout female leader, working on market-leading projects and mentoring many junior female practitioners along the way,” a spokesperson for Ashurst says.

Another awardee, former Maddocks chief executive Michelle Dixon, was recognised as a strong advocate for diversity at her firm and in the wider profession. Her role involves supporting organisations such as Women and Leadership Australia and Global Sisters. The percentage of female partners in Maddocks’ organisation more than doubled under her leadership, and more than tripled in total number.

Senior lawyer and professional coach Claire Bibby has mentored across industries as a public speaker on diversity and inclusion, wellness, high performance and women’s leadership. She is also a mentor for Layne Beachley’s Aim for the Stars Foundation.

By introducing new ways of working and succeeding in a highly demanding profession, this year’s Elite Women have shown their profound impact on their organisations and communities. They have also set a positive example and demonstrated their influence on the next generation of female lawyers.

2021 Alexandra Tighe Partner Holding Redlich Phone: 03 9321 9997 Email: alexandra.tighe@holdingredlich.com Website: holdingredlich.com Alina Kaye Partner The Workplace - Employment Lawyers Phone: 02 8999 3300 Email: alina@theworkplace.com.au Website: theworkplace.com.au Carol Grimshaw Principal lawyer Grimshaw Legal Phone: 04 5077 8633 Email: carol@grimshawlegal.com.au Website: grimshawlegal.com.au Carolyn Chudleigh Partner and global head of construction HFW Phone: 02 9320 4600 Email: carolyn.chudleigh@hfw.com Website: hfw.com Alicia Albury Partner Maddocks Andrea Michaels Managing director NDA Law Angela Cooney National practice director, criminal law Armstrong Legal Angie Coleman General counsel and company secretary Springfield City Group Belinda Winter Partner Cooper Grace Ward Lawyers Bree Knoester Principal and founder Brave Legal Diane Barker, PhD General counsel and director of governance Australian Catholic University Carly Stebbing Founder and principal Resolution 123 Catherine Dunlop Partner Maddocks Catherine Henry Principal Catherine Henry Lawyers Cilla Robinson Partner Clayton Utz Claire Bibby Founder and managing director Claire Bibby Clare Eves National special counsel, medical law Shine Lawyers

Catherine Wilkinson Workplace national practice group leader and partner Sparke Helmore Lawyers Phone: 02 4924 7212 Email: catherine.Wilkinson@sparke.com.au Website: sparke.com.au Georgia Quick Partner Ashurst Phone: 02 9258 6141 Email: georgia.quick@ashurst.com Website: ashurst.com Ilona Meyer Head of legal and compliance Boehringer Ingelheim Phone: 02 8875 8627 Email: ilona.meyer@boehringer-ingelheim.com Website: boehringer-ingelheim.com.au

Jo Zaharopoulos Senior legal counsel Probe Group Website: probegroup.com.au Sarah Morton-Ramwell Global pro bono partner Ashurst Phone: 02 9258 6321 Email: sarah.morton-ramwell@ashurst.com Website: ashurst.com Sarah Ross-Smith Partner Ashurst Phone: 02 6234 4040 Email: sarah.ross-smith@ashurst.com Website: ashurst.com

Jodie Masson Partner Massons Phone: 02 8923 0900 Email: property@massons.com Website: massons.com

Marguerite Picard Collaborative lawyer and mediator Melca

Danielle Snell Co-founder and director Elit Lawyers by McGirr & Snell

Meryem Apak Principal barrister and solicitor Melbourne Lawyers & Mediators

Debra Parker Director Parker Coles Curtis

Michaela Moloney Partner K&L Gates

Emma Covacevich Deputy chief executive partner, clients and markets Clayton Utz

Michelle Dixon Partner Maddocks

Fay Calderone Partner Hall & Wilcox

Nikki Robinson Partner in charge – Sydney Clayton Utz

Frances Drummond Global head of intellectual property Norton Rose Fulbright

Paula Robinson Director Ailier

Genevieve Collins Chief executive partner Lander & Rogers

Rachel Besley Legal practitioner director, Deloitte Legal Partner, Deloitte Australia Deloitte Legal and Deloitte Australia

Ilona Strong Partner Hall & Wilcox Kate Sherburn Legal beagle (in-house counsel) Who Gives A Crap Katrina Reye Partner Hall & Wilcox Kelly Crawford Associate principal Arup Kiri-Ana Libbesson Senior legal counsel Settlement Services International Leanne Liddle Director, Aboriginal justice unit Department of the Attorney-General and Justice, Northern Territory Government

Melanie Thomas Legal counsel Telstra

Rebekah Lovely Special counsel Revolution Law Ria Manguray Legal counsel Tourism Australia Ruveni Kelleher Partner Johnson Winter & Slattery Samantha Daly Partner Johnson Winter & Slattery Shanti Berggren Deputy general counsel Optus Sonja Stewart Chief executive officer NSW Law Society

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SPECIAL REPORT

BUSINESS STRATEGY

ELITE WOMEN 2021 CAROL GRIMSHAW Principal lawyer Grimshaw Legal

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arol Grimshaw, a seasoned legal practitioner with over 25 years of experience, is a board member/director of the Australasian Cyber Law Institute (ACLI) and chair of its electronic wills and online witnessing committee (EWOWC). With insight, tenacity, and generosity, she has gone above and beyond in her professional and volunteer roles.

The EWOWC leader participated in the creation of permanent electronic signing and witnessing laws in Victoria. She also drafted a submission for the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet’s modernising business communications project.

As director of ACLI, Grimshaw produced, revised, and submitted the Institute’s submissions on strengthening Australia’s cybersecurity regulations. She also created a free CPD space for the succession law profession to hear directly from the Registrar of Probates, Supreme Court of Victoria, about the impact of COVID-19 on applications and the Court, through webinars and town hall events.

Another key achievement was the foundation of the “Dear Sirs” Project Facebook group and LinkedIn page to encourage equality in the legal profession and provide lawyers with the space to discuss sexism.

Passionate about helping others, Grimshaw is a member of the LIV Referral Service, engages in pro bono work, and mentors others in the profession.

GEORGIA QUICK Partner Ashurst

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eorgia Quick has been an industry veteran for 25 years and a new-generation senior female partner in the male-dominated practice areas of dispute resolution, construction, energy, and resource.

In June 2020, she was appointed joint client relationship partner for Ashurst’s client account with the NSW government. This reflects the significant work she has been undertaking, particularly for transport, where she been providing advice on most of the significant infrastructure projects, including the Sydney Light Rail, WestConnex, Sydney Metro, and Western Harbour Tunnel.

In addition to working on market-leading projects, Quick also mentors many junior female leaders and champions diversity initiatives. Women account for approximately half of her team at Ashurst, and recently, she promoted two deserving female lawyers to the role of senior associate. Initiatives supported by Quick include the Sydney Women’s Initiative for Mentoring Committee that runs events to inspire, inform, and provide networking opportunities.

Quick was recently voted president of the Australian Centre for International Commercial Arbitration (ACICA), the country’s leading international arbitration body. At ACICA, Quick goes the extra mile to engage and support her team members amid challenging times. She also participates in activities to increase the diversity of its arbitrator panel and is a vocal advocate of equitable briefing initiatives.

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SARAH MORTON-RAMWELL Global pro bono partner Ashurst

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n her role as global pro bono and social impact partner at Ashurst, Sarah MortonRamwell drives meaningful change every day by instilling a shared sense of purpose and cultivating connected leadership aligned with the firm’s vision and values.

Under her charge, Ashurst volunteers have taken on projects in citizenship and displacement, including assisting clients to prepare for their asylum application interviews in Lesvos and Samos in Greece, family reunification applications from Greece to the UK, and research and policy work on pathways to protection through family reunification rights.

Ashurst implemented its Modern Slavery Action Plan to help in efforts to eradicate all forms of modern slavery, and its Law Reform Project to support community legal centres and not-for-profits with legal analysis on issues of exclusion, injustice, and unfairness.

Ramwell’s team has engaged in projects to address structural disadvantages faced by women, girls, and the LGBTI+ community. A key component of their work has been supporting a legal service that provides free, confidential legal advice to people who have financial problems due to domestic abuse in an intimate partner relationship. Ashurst has also supported ABCN’s Focus Program, which provides young women with essential leadership skills.

Ramwell is an Ashurst Committed to Change Partner, a Sydney Women’s Network Partner, and a Social Mobility & Inclusion Partner. She also sits on the Arise Fund Leadership Circle of Action Aid Australia.

SARAH ROSS-SMITH Partner Ashurst

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arah Ross-Smith is a trusted adviser to governments, particularly in relation to Commonwealth agencies for whom she has worked for more than two decades.

During her career, Ross-Smith has played a key role in some of Australia’s largest and most complex capital equipment acquisition procurements, privatisations, and the conduct of competitive tendering processes, with expertise in Commonwealth financial accountability requirements.

Over the past year, Ross-Smith has acted for the Department of Defence on a number of complex, high-value materiel acquisition and sustainment projects across the land, aviation, and maritime domains. This included acquisition and support of combat reconnaissance and infantry fighting vehicles valued at more than A$10bn. She has also advised Commonwealth agencies and NGOs on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

A champion of diversity and inclusion, Ross-Smith mentors junior female practitioners and actively participates in Ashurst’s reverse mentoring program, which focuses on a range of D&I perspectives, including gender, caring responsibilities, ethnicity, culture and faith, and LGBTI inclusion. She is also an Ashurst Global Disability & Wellbeing Strand Champion and an advocate for people with multiple sclerosis.

“I know there is a vast reservoir of enormously talented women lawyers and to be recognised in this way is a huge honour for me,” Ross-Smith says.

“Everything I have achieved in my career has been as part of a team.”

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2021

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