Firm Profile > Hall & Wilcox > Melbourne, Australia

Data protection Tier 3

Hall & Wilcox advises public and private companies in Australia and abroad on a range of matters, including day-to-day privacy compliance, risk management, and data breaches, regulatory investigations and reporting, and internal data policies. The team also acts for local governments and non-profit organisations, as well as supporting start-ups through the firm's Frank offering. Melbourne-based partner Alison Baker heads up the practice, and regularly advises clients on internal privacy audits and matters relating to data breaches. Alison Choy Flannigan is based in Sydney and has a particular focus on the healthcare sector.

Dispute resolution: litigation Tier 3

Singled out for their ‘legal excellence’ and ‘excellent turnaround time’, Hall & Wilcox’s dispute resolution lawyers ‘care about obtaining a fair outcome’ for their client base, which includes domestic and international companies, high-net-worth individuals, government bodies, and statutory authorities. The group’s main focus is placed on corporate and commercial litigation, taken alongside its strength in alternative dispute resolution. Based in Melbourne, Graydon Dowd leads the department, which expanded its presence in Perth with the arrival of Hector West from Dentons in the summer of 2019. Kathryn Howard (Melbourne) is a go-to adviser to a number of public sector clients.

Insurance Tier 3

Hall & Wilcox handles contentious and non-contentious general and statutory insurance matters for a client base consisting of state government schemes, large corporate insurers, and leading brands. The practice regularly acts in conjunction with its colleagues in the tax, funds, wealth, superannuation, and regulatory departments. It is led out of the Sydney office: Rhett Slocombe sits at the helm of the fully integrated national insurance practice, while Matthew Curll serves as head of the general insurance and the financial services and insurance industry groups. Also of note, the team stands out for its Smarter Law solutions involving legal technology, most recently launching an additional legal case management solution.

Media and entertainment Tier 3

Hall & Wilcox is home to a dedicated sports and entertainment practice, fronted by the 'outstanding' Martin Ross in Melbourne. The client roster spans sporting organisations, corporates, governing bodies, athletes, agencies, and sponsors, both Australian and international, who rely on the team for transaction, governance, dispute, media rights, IP, and regulatory work, among other matters. Ross’ track record includes major sponsorship agreements, sporting-related M&A, and advice on rules and regulations; he operates from Melbourne alongside James Deady whose practice encompasses marketing and promotion matters, outsourcing, and IT contracts.

Labour and employment Tier 4

Hall & Wilcox combines employment advisory capabilities with an established reputation in litigation. In particular, the team has recently carved out significant niche expertise in restraint of trade matters. The national practice operates out of offices in Sydney, Brisbane, Melbourne and Perth. Practice head Karl Rozenbergs in Melbourne has deep litigation expertise, regularly dealing with clients in the financial services, aged care, manufacturing sectors and quasi-governmental bodies. Other key names in the team include Alison Baker in Melbourne and Fay Calderone in Sydney.

Real estate Tier 4

At Hall & Wilcox, Natalie Bannister is a specialist in national portfolio management, sales and acquisition, property due diligence, development approvals and the leasing of industrial, retail and commercial assets; she heads the practice from Melbourne alongside John O’Kane who thrives in relation to residential, industrial and commercial developments, frequently working on the related agreements and documentation as well as joint venture arrangements. The practice also focuses on social and affordable housing, property fund transactions, and REITs; it recently gained new partners following the arrivals of Kitty Vo and Meg Lee from Ashurst and Gadens Lawyers respectively.

Tax Tier 4

Banking and finance Tier 5

In addition to its recognised strength in property finance, Hall & Wilcox is active in corporate finance, and continues to grow in a number of areas, including social and affordable housing, acting for Chinese banks and non-bank lenders. Clients include senior and mezzanine lenders, borrowers, property funds and developers. Mark Inston heads up the team from Melbourne.

Construction Tier 5

At Hall & Wilcox, the construction department spreads its focus across transportation, hospital, health, commercial, residential property, public sector, energy and utility projects. The team is home to both front and back-end capability with its workload spanning procurement, project structuring and project delivery matters in addition to delay, liquidated damages and professional negligence disputes. Headed by Melbourne-based John O’Kane, the group is well-versed in projects across the entirety of Australia, also occasionally handling those located overseas.

Corporate and M&A Tier 5

Hall & Wilcox is active in transactions across a wide range of industries, including insurance, financial services, healthcare, and technology, advising medium-to-large companies on mid-market public and private M&A. The practice offers significant international corporate and tax expertise, with four foreign-qualified partners and foreign desks in Germany, the US, China, and South-East Asia. Key partners include section head Martin Ross, inbound investment specialist Ed Paton, and German-qualified Oliver Jankowsky and in Melbourne, US and UK desk heads Jacqui Barrett and Christopher Brown in Sydney,