Home grown talent promoted to 29 new leadership positions at Maurice Blackburn
27 June 2013The promotions are in a range of practice areas - class actions, medical negligence, road trauma, asbestos, work injuries, and wills disputes cementing the firm as a leader in these specialist areas.
Senior appointments bring the total number of principals to 42, 17 of whom are women. The promotions have been made in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Canberra, Sunshine Coast, Cairns and suburban and regional offices of Frankston, Dandenong and Reservoir.
Maurice Blackburn CEO Greg Tucker said the firm was continuing its pattern of sustained growth and was looking to expand further over the next 12 months. Staffing levels have continued to climb with the number of employees rising by 12 percent from 639 in 2011 to 779 at 1 July, 2013.
"The firm is continuing to grow at a fast rate and this is organic growth, not via acquisitions," said Mr Tucker.
"The new round of promotions across several practice and geographic areas is home-grown talent - people who have honed their specialist knowledge and skills as plaintiff lawyers with us over the years and who are strongly committed to the firm's social justice principles."
"The performance of some of our newer offices in QLD, Canberra and Perth has been outstanding," said Mr Tucker.
Asbestos litigation specialist Theodora Ahilas, has also been appointed national head of asbestos department following the departure of Andrew Dimsey who is planning to go to the Victorian Bar. Theodora, has been the asbestos principal for NSW/ACT since 2004 and is the 2012 NSW Justice medal winner.
"Theodora is just one example of a senior lawyer who still deals directly with clients. This is what distinguishes Maurice Blackburn in the plaintiff law category senior lawyers manage files while leading teams and it is this personalised approach that clients appreciate.
Our latest client survey reveals very high satisfaction rates with our service. Similarly our latest staff survey results show a staff engagement level of 74 percent which far exceeds most law firms and is in the top 10 percent of all employers as measured by AON Hewitt," said Mr Tucker.
The following staff have received promotions.
To Principal
Sarah Atkinson - Sunshine Coast/QLD medical negligence
Salvatore Giandinoto - Greensborough, work injuries
Canda Glanville - Frankston, road injuries
Dimi Ioannou - Melbourne, public liability
Walter Hawkins - Canberra, practice leader
To Special Counsel
Richard Ryan - Sydney, class actions
To national practice leader
Theodora Ahilas - Sydney,asbestos
To Senior Associate
Tom Ballantyne - Melbourne, medical negligence
Vavaa Mawuli - Brisbane, class actions
Tanya Straguszi - Cairns, work injuries and road injuries
Lee Taylor - Melbourne, class actions
Jonathan Walsh - Sydney, asbestos
To Associate
David Barnden - Sydney, class actions
Sean Behringer - Sydney, asbestos
Enrico Burgio - Melbourne, industrial
Travis Fewster - Frankston, work injuries
Kerry Ann Smith - Melbourne, wills disputes
Min Guo - Melbourne, class actions
Emily Hart - Melbourne, medical negligence
Melissa Knapic - Reservoir, road injuries
Alice Lau - Melbourne, road injuries
Joelle Matar - Sydney, medical negligence
Oscar McLaren - Sydney, class actions
Sarah Millen - Dandenong, road injuries
Jason Mills - Cairns, work injuries and road injuries
Narelle Neagle - Melbourne, wills disputes
Divya Pahwa - Sydney, medical negligence
Sarah Vallance - Brisbane, medical negligence
Paul Watson - Brisbane, superannuation and insurance
Anna Williams - Sydney, class actions
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