Melbourne, 9 February 2009: The national Workplace Relations team at Clayton Utz is in growth mode as it gears up for a busy year, with a number of promotions and lateral hires around the country and further hires anticipated.
In Sydney, Maurice Baroni has been promoted to the partnership, while in Melbourne the arrival of partner Glen Bartlett from the Perth office and the lateral hire of senior lawyer Robert French from Freehills adds further firepower to the well-respected team which includes experienced partner Dr Graham Smith.
Other recent additions to the Melbourne team include lawyers Alison Spivey and Regan Sterry. Alison has a strong Government background from her time in Canberra, while Regan's background includes roles with the AFL Players' Association, the Australian Swimmers' Association and the Professional Footballers Association.
Meanwhile in Brisbane, well-known workplace relations partner Hedy Cray has welcomed Shae McCartney from Freehills as a senior associate to the team.
The head of Clayton Utz' national Workplace Relations and Safety group, Joe Catanzariti, said the recent boost to the group's numbers was timely, with workplace relations law in Australia about to undergo another round of important reforms.
"The team is already busy advising clients on the impact of the Federal Government's Fair Work Bill on their businesses, as well as ongoing workplace related issues such as discrimination and workplace safety," he said.
"In particular, the expansion of our team in Melbourne with the arrival of Glen and Robert will add to our ability to respond to the needs of clients at a time when workplace relations issues are again coming to the fore. Other senior hires we will be announcing in Melbourne over the next few months will further enhance that ability."
Mr Bartlett said he was pleased to be part of a united team that was in growth mode and looked forward to working with other CU team members and clients across the country.
"It's an exciting time to be a workplace relations lawyer and I'm particularly pleased to be joining the Melbourne team as it enters a new era of growth."