DLA Phillips Fox announces new partners

DLA Phillips Fox is pleased to announce the appointment of three new partners.

Chief Executive Tony Crawford congratulated the new appointees saying: "Each of our new partners have demonstrated excellence in their area of practice and are respected for their expertise by clients and colleagues. I congratulate them all on this achievement, and wish them a long and successful career with our firm."

The new partners are:

Joanna Apostolopolous
Litigation and Dispute Resolution
Sydney

Joanna is a general litigation lawyer with nearly two decades experience advising on issues of indemnity, common law industrial claims, statutory debt recovery, general liability claims and statutory liability claims including CTP.

Joanna leads our specialist Section 151Z Recovery Unit. She acts exclusively for insurers both in-house and as an external panel lawyer, providing legal services in the area of claims litigation and dispute resolution to major corporate clients.
 
Joanna is committed to client service excellence and has a strategic focus on claims outcomes, working closely with her clients to maximise early returns. She provides regular training and conducts seminars on strategies to enhance outcomes for both insurer clients and policy holders.

Nicolas Patrick
Pro Bono
Sydney

Nicolas leads our pro bono practice across our eight offices.  He has experience with managing a number of law reform and access to justice projects such as the Women's Domestic Violence Court Assistance Scheme, the Tenants Advice Service, the Homeless Persons' Legal Clinics and a specialist credit and debt service.

Nicolas recently helped to establish the National Pro Bono Professional Indemnity Insurance Scheme which will provide free insurance for in-house and government lawyers wishing to undertake pro bono work.

Simon Billing
Workplace Relations, Employment and Safety
Perth

Simon has more than 20 years experience in Occupational Health and Safety (OH&S), workplace relations and employment issues affecting a range of industries, including mining and engineering and associated industries.

Simon has an extensive background representing and providing advice to mining and resource companies. He has also held a range of senior positions in the mining and resources industry in Western Australia, New South Wales and Victoria.

The new appointments will take effect on 1 July, 2009. 

In addition to the new partner appointments, DLA Phillips Fox has also made the following promotions:

Special Counsel
Megan Knight, Australian Government, Canberra

Senior Associates
Alex Manos,  Workplace Relations, Employment & Safety, Melbourne
Anne Buchanan, Litigation & Dispute Resolution, Auckland
Ben Schokman, Pro Bono, Melbourne
Gemma Stabler, Litigation & Dispute Resolution, Perth
Greg Tobin, Property, Infrastructure & Development, Melbourne
Janelle Barron, Litigation & Dispute Resolution, Melbourne
Jessica Dickerson, Australian Government, Canberra
Joel Shaw, Corporate, Brisbane
Kate Gregory, Corporate, Perth
Katherine Hooper, Australian Government, Sydney
Sara van den Hoogen, Corporate, Perth
Veena Bedekar, Australian Government, Canberra

For more information contact:

Clare Buttner
Media Relations Consultant
+61 2 9286 8400
clare.buttner@dlaphillipsfox.com