In-house Leaders: Hats off to Australia’s premier in-house counsel

The verdict is in and the best in-house counsel in Australia are recognised in Australasian Lawyer’s inaugural In-house Leaders list.

Thirty-three leading lawyers from across the country stand above the rest for demonstrating leadership and commitment to innovation, efficiency, and creativity to achieve excellent results and meet the needs of their organisations.

This year’s In-house Leaders, selected from nominations from across the profession, all have proven track records of achievement throughout their careers to date.

“It was great to see such a strong response to our call for entries, which made it a real challenge to whittle down the list,” said Key Media Managing Director - APAC Justin Kennedy. “These in-house counsel come from a diverse array of businesses across Australia. What they all share in common is a commitment to excellence in fulfilling the unique needs of their organisation.”

Sorted alphabetically by company, the 2019 In-house Leaders are:

• Erin Scarrow – Accenture; Senior manager
• Adam Lister – AEG Ogden; Group general counsel
• Michael Tropea – AIA Australia; General counsel and company secretary (Australia and New Zealand)
• Richard Bell – Aristocrat; Corporate general counsel and group company secretary
• Elaine Leong – The Benevolent Society; Group general counsel and group company secretary
• Kieran Chute – Bunnings Group; Legal counsel
• Shannon Landers – Cotton On Group; Group legal manager
• Jorden Lam – HESTA Super Fund; General counsel and GM commercial affairs
• Nik Andersen – Ixom; General counsel and company secretary
• Tim McDonald – Lendlease; Head of legal
• Anna Lozynski – L’Oreal Australia & New Zealand; General counsel
• Ben Willis – Nova Entertainment; Head of legal
• Charles Cho – NSW Treasury; General counsel
• Gabrielle Hirsch - Olivia Newton-John Cancer Research Institute (ONJCRI); Legal counsel
• Ray Pagliano – Optus; Senior corporate counsel
• Malcolm Haack – Orica; Group general counsel
• Katrina Gowans – Origin Energy; National legal transformation lead
• Marnie Manning – Smile Solutions Group; Group general counsel
• Cesilia Kim – Snowy Hydro; Group executive corporate and regulatory affairs, legal and procurement
• Angie Coleman – Springfield City Group; General counsel and company secretary
• Philip Ware – Stanwell Corporation; General counsel
• Denisha Anbu – Sydney Water Corporation; General counsel and corporate secretary
• James Nguyen – TEG Pty Ltd; Head of legal
• Verity White – Telstra; Legal counsel and automation coach
• Paula Edwards-Moffat – Tesla Motors Australia; Senior legal counsel
• James Couche and Nicholas Sedgwick – Thales Australia; Vice president – legal and contracts and general counsel – legal and contracts
• Ria Manguray – Tourism Australia; Legal counsel
• Nathan Lanthois – Transdev Australasia; Chief legal and commercial officer
• Julie Galligan – Transurban; Group general counsel
• Lachlan Pfeiffer – Viva Energy Australia; General counsel and company secretary
• Vicki Robinson – Wesfarmers Limited; General manager – legal (corporate)
• Paul Gregory – WesTrac; Senior legal counsel