Law Squared Elevates In-House Expertise with Strategic Senior Hires

/ Australia, Press Releases / / By

Law Squared Takes New Lawyers

Melbourne, Australia – In what remains a tight market, Law Squared has bucked the legal talent trend by onboarding a multitude of senior legal professionals during the first month of the new financial year. Dispersed across the firm’s Melbourne, Sydney, and Brisbane offices, these appointments reinforce the firm’s reputation as an ‘in-house specialist’, with a hiring strategy focused on attracting legal talent directly from senior in-house roles, including General Counsel (GC) positions.

Among the firm’s new starters from in-house roles are:

  • Joanna Brand – Non-Executive Director of Powerlink Queensland and former General Counsel and Company Secretary.
  • Hannah Kane – Formerly a Corporate Lawyer at Australian Red Cross Lifeblood.
  • Tess Hauser – Formerly Regional Head of Legal and Company Secretary at Pepperstone.
  • Sean Sim – Formerly Legal Counsel at VicForests.

The firm has also added to its Disputes + Litigation practice with the appointment of Gerard Maxted who joins from Nicholas Ryan Lawyers.

Law Squared Founder and Director, Demetrio Zema, says the strategic hiring round is a significant boost to the firm’s promise to bridge the gap between legal expertise and commercial impact. “We’ve invested in hiring experienced in-house lawyers who bring strong commercial acumen, ensuring we provide the actionable, pragmatic, and legal insights needed to support business stakeholders,” explains Demetrio.

Demetrio considers the hiring round not just as a boost to resources and capability, but as validation of the firm’s model and ethos, explaining: “It’s rare for in-house lawyers to return to private practice. As a profession, we ought to be more alarmed by the talent drain that’s perpetuated by toxic ways of working. We’re proud to upend this trend and entice some exceptional legal talent back to private practice with our distinctive employee value proposition and commitment to doing law differently.”

From a client perspective, the new hires align closely with Law Squared’s core client base which is primarily comprised of large corporate, not-for-profit and multinational in-house legal teams. While the new team members will also support the firm’s Corporate + Commercial and Energy + Infrastructure clients with ad hoc and project-based matters, all will play key roles in servicing the firm’s Law Squared as a Service (LSaaS) engagements.

A scalable, monthly fixed-cost alternative to conventional legal secondee or contractor models, the LSaaS model was designed specifically for in-house teams to help manage the overflow of legal work, cover short or long-term resourcing gaps, access specialist legal skills, and/or deliver internal or external projects.

Rising demand for the unique service offering correlates with a persistent shortage of legal candidates, increasing expectations on the function, headcount freezes and growing awareness of psychosocial hazards: “Recruitment is unlikely to be a quick or practical fix,” says Demetrio.  “GCs are looking for innovative, cost-effective ways to access legal support during peak periods or to solve short- term resourcing gaps, without sacrificing impact, or risking burnout in their team.”

Among those new starters making an immediate impact is Joanna Brand, who brings over 25 years of legal and governance experience, including GC and Company Secretary roles with Nasdaq-listed Iris Energy, ME Bank, ASX-listed Billabong International, and Epic Energy, and serving for Qantas as Chief Legal Counsel of Jetstar Airways and for Senex Energy as Acting General Counsel. She has also been involved in projects including PNG LNG and QCLNG.

On her appointment, Joanna commented: “In-house expectations, ways of working, and priorities are totally different from private practice. Most conventional external legal providers don’t truly understand that, let alone have the specialist in-house skills to deliver. As an experienced former GC, I can see enormous value for in-house legal teams in being able to access the skills and experience of a dedicated team of in-house specialists at Law Squared, rather than relying on a single secondee or contractor, while at the same time having total cost certainty.”

Joanna and the other new starters join other recent ‘in-house specialist’ hires, including LSaaS Coordinator Georgie Gane who was formerly General Counsel and Company Secretary at Pepperstone, and Global Community Lead, Rohan Bilimoria, formerly with Lawyers on Demand and who is also the legal entrepreneur behind the global in-house legal community, Law Ninjas.

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About Law Squared

An innovative, compelling alternative to traditional law firms, Law Squared is trusted by General Counsels and business leaders to bridge the gap between legal expertise and commercial impact.

Whether acting as an extension of your in-house legal team, or working on ad hoc or project based legal work, we prioritise client success over billable hours via our exclusively fixed-fee approach. We are a full-service commercial firm, with specialities in Employment + Workplace Relations, Disputes + Litigation, Privacy + Cyber, Energy + Infrastructure and Digital + Innovation.

With offices in Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane, Auckland and London, Law Squared is an effective proposition large listed and unlisted businesses, not-for-profits and those in-house legal teams seeking local or multi-jurisdictional support.

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LITTLER APPOINTS NEW LEADERSHIP TO ITS ‘OHANA AFFINITY GROUP AND SOAR PROGRAM

/ Press Releases / August 8, 2024 / By

(August 7, 2024) – Littler, the world’s largest employment and labor law practice representing management, has selected Devjani H. Mishra (Shareholder, New York) and Nicole S. LeFave (Shareholder, Austin) to lead its ‘Ohana affinity group and SOAR Program, respectively.

Mishra joins ‘Ohana co-chairs Edward H. Chyun (Shareholder, Cleveland) and Judy M. Iriye (Shareholder, Honolulu), succeeding Danielle K. Herring (Shareholder, Houston), who is stepping down to focus on her active practice and other firm leadership responsibilities, including her positions on the firm’s Board of Directors and Inclusion, Equity & Diversity (IE&D) Council. Herring’s invaluable contributions and tenure to ‘Ohana, in addition to her dedication and efforts, have been instrumental to the incredible growth and success of the group.

The firm’s ‘Ohana affinity group is open to attorneys of Asian, Middle Eastern, North African and Pacific Islander descent and their allies. The group is focused on providing an inclusive community of support for attorneys from diverse backgrounds through professional development and mentorship initiatives, as well as offering a forum for members to connect on a personal level.

Filling a vacant slot, LeFave will help lead the SOAR Program alongside Joon Hwang (Shareholder, Tysons Corner), who has been influential in this program over the last three years. The firm’s SOAR Program aims to support newly hired associates, who have joined established affinity groups, in finding their footing and excelling professionally. Additionally, SOAR connects well-established attorney mentors with new attorney mentees to help them achieve their goals at Littler.​​

“Devjani and Nicole have been strong advocates for the advancement of IE&D through their involvement within the firm and in the legal profession,” said Erin Webber, Littler’s managing director and president, and Paul Bateman, chief inclusion, equity & diversity officer, in a joint statement. “We are excited for them to take on their new roles and look forward to their contributions as we continue to build on Littler’s various IE&D initiatives designed to promote career development and networking opportunities across the firm and the profession at large.”

Devjani Mishra is an experienced advisor and litigator with more 25 years of in-house and outside counsel experience, with a particular focus on workplace accommodations and equal employment opportunity policies. Mishra has supported IE&D efforts at Littler through her involvement with ‘Ohana and is a frequent speaker on IE&D and EEO topics at national, state and local bar associations. Mishra earned her J.D, from Columbia University School of Law, where she was a Harlan Fiske Stone Scholar, and her B.A., with distinction, from Yale University.

Nicole LeFave concentrates her practice on defending employers in complex wage and hour, class and collective action litigation, and counseling employers on all aspects of wage and hour compliance. As a liaison for Littler’s Women’s Leadership Initiative and an active member of ‘Ohana, LeFave is a frequent advocate for the advancement of IE&D inside and outside the firm. She is a founding member of the League of Lady Lawyers, and also serves as a pro bono liaison – with the aim of increasing access to justice by advising local nonprofits on employment law matters. LeFave earned her J.D., with honors, from the University of Texas School of Law and her B.A., with honors, from the University of Texas, Austin.

For a comprehensive overview of Littler’s ongoing programming and initiatives, check out the firm’s 2023 Inclusion, Equity and Diversity Annual Report.

About Littler

With more than 1,800 labor and employment attorneys in offices around the world, Littler provides workplace solutions that are local, everywhere. Our diverse global team and proprietary technology foster a culture that celebrates original thinking, delivering groundbreaking innovation that prepares employers for what’s happening today, and what’s likely to happen tomorrow. For more information, visit www.littler.com.

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