70 rise to senior roles at Clayton Utz

Clayton Utz has boosted 70 lawyers to senior roles in its latest promotions round.

The firm welcomed 20 new special counsel and 50 senior associates whose elevations will bolster 13 practice areas.

“Our partners congratulate each of our colleagues on achieving this milestone. We admire their dedication to their work and their clients, their confidence in themselves, our firm and what we and our profession have to offer, and their contribution to the firm's success,” CEP Bruce Cooper said.

He added that he was pleased to see the wealth of legal talent becoming successes across Clayton Utz’s offices in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth and Canberra.

The promotions took effect on 1 July.

The full list of promoted lawyers are as follows:

Special counsel

Kate Allison – corporate, M&A and capital markets, Melbourne
Mark Brady – environment and planning, Sydney
Roxana Carrion – commercial litigation, Sydney
Ben Cosentino – corporate, M&A and capital markets, Sydney
Armin Fazely – corporate, M&A and capital markets, Perth
Yvette Fenton – commercial litigation, Perth
Sam Fiddian – commercial litigation, Perth
Amy Granger – workplace relations, employment and safety, Melbourne
Lisa Hornsby – real estate, Melbourne
Sean Kelly – major projects and construction, Melbourne
Steven Mackay – corporate, M&A and capital markets, Sydney
Claire McKenzie – major projects and construction, Melbourne
Sian-lee Ooi – competition, Sydney
Johan Pietersz – corporate, M&A and capital markets, Sydney
Romany Sloan – corporate, M&A and capital markets, Sydney
Carla Tomeo – major projects and construction, Melbourne
Amy Toohey – workplace relations, employment and safety, Perth
Michael Tuohey – major projects and construction, Melbourne
Louisa Wu – tax, Sydney
Shigeki Yamaura – corporate, M&A and capital markets, Brisbane

Senior associates

Tom Cottrell – major projects and construction, Brisbane
Ebony Creek – workplace relations, employment and safety, Perth
Esther Dwyer – major projects and construction, Sydney
Mathew Fenwick – tax - Sydney
Tess Fernan – pro bono - Sydney
Melissa Ferreira – restructuring and insolvency, Perth
Laura Forman – workplace relations, employment and safety, Brisbane
Alex Griffiths – workplace relations, employment and safety, Perth
Lucy Groenewegen – commercial litigation, Melbourne
Alexis Hall – major projects and construction, Perth
Karina Hanrahan – commercial litigation, Perth
Nick Harding – commercial litigation, Brisbane
Amy Hayes – competition, Sydney
Lycia Hayes – public sector, Sydney
Sam Higgs – corporate, M&A and capital markets, Brisbane
Charlotte Inglis – major projects and construction, Sydney
Zoe Johnson – major projects and construction, Sydney
Sarah Jones – major projects and construction, Canberra
Jordana Komesaroff – restructuring and insolvency, Melbourne
Nina Krys – commercial litigation, Melbourne
Bec Lemish – major projects and construction, Melbourne
William Maher – commercial litigation, Sydney
Deborah Mak – public sector, Canberra
Sarah Martine – IP and technology, Melbourne
Charisse Matthews – workplace relations, employment and safety, Canberra
Nicole Mazurek – banking and financial services, Sydney
Madeleine McCloy – restructuring and insolvency, Sydney
Melanie McComb – major projects and construction, Brisbane
Caitlin McJannett – environment and planning, Sydney
Andrew McNair – commercial litigation, Melbourne
James McNicol Smith – major projects and construction, Melbourne
Angus Milne – banking and financial services, Melbourne
Isabelle Minnett – public sector, Melbourne
Jennifer Mougan – workplace relations, employment and safety, Brisbane
Caitlin Oxley – major projects and construction, Sydney
Theodore Pasialis – tax, Sydney
Laura Peck – commercial litigation, Sydney
Gabe Perrottet – restructuring and insolvency, Sydney
David Purvis – public sector, Canberra
Dilip Ramaswamy – commercial litigation, Sydney
Christabel Richards-Neville – commercial litigation, Sydney
Paul Shin – competition, Sydney
David Taylor – commercial litigation, Sydney
Francesca Teng – IP and technology, Sydney
Helen Verbovetski – major projects and construction, Melbourne
Amy Watson – real estate, Melbourne
Nicholas West-Foy – workplace relations, employment and safety, Canberra
Sam Weston – public sector, Brisbane
Patrick Williams – workplace relations, employment and safety, Perth
Francis Yuan – corporate, M&A and capital markets, Sydney

Over the past month, the firm’s teams have also been involved in some significant transactions. The competition group guided Woolworths Group on securing ACCC approval for the company’s acquisition of a 65% interest in PFD Food Services Pty Limited, while the corporate team advised Indonesian integrated energy company PT Indika Energy TBK on its proposed scheme-of-arrangement takeover of ASX lister Nusantara Resources Limited.

The major projects and construction group also teamed up with the public sector and IP and tech teams to assist the NSW Department of Customer Service on a recent transaction involving a suite of tailored contracts associated with the Building Assurance Solution platform being piloted by the state government. The firm said that the platform, which uses a blockchain solution to monitor the provenance of a building beyond basic compliance, was a “game changer” for the industry.

"This matter builds on Clayton Utz's impressive track record in the emerging infra-tech space and yet again demonstrates our ability to support clients on first-of-a-kind projects through truly cross-practice and cross-sector collaboration," tech partner Ken Saurajen said.

Saurajen worked together with major projects partner Lina Fischer and public sector senior associate Monique Azzopardi on the deal.