Sydney, 20 August 2012: Clayton Utz has taken out four awards at the inaugural Euromoney LMG Australasia Women in Business Law Awards 2012 held in Sydney on Thursday 16 August.
Clayton Utz Litigation and Dispute Resolution managing partner Brigitte Markovic was awarded Best Lawyer in Dispute Resolution, while national head of Restructuring and Insolvency Karen O'Flynn was awarded Best Lawyer in Insolvency and Restructuring.
Clayton Utz was also awarded the Best Gender Diversity Initiative by an Australasia Firm, recognising the firm's commitment to developing market-leading people practices.
The firm's high-performing Darwin office was also recognised at the awards, winning the Best Law Firm in Darwin award.
Clayton Utz Chief Executive Partner Darryl McDonough said the awards were well deserved.
"The firm is very proud of Karen's and Brigitte's achievements; they are leaders in their respective areas and have been duly recognised for their standing as outstanding professionals," he said. Brigitte recently led the Clayton Utz team that worked alongside ASIC's legal team in the James Hardie appeals while Karen advised ACT Super (the APRA appointed Acting Trustee) on the collapse of Trio Capital.
"We also have a very talented team of people in Darwin, led by partners Mark Spain, Margaret Michaels and Polat Siva. This award is great recognition for them, and reflects their market standing," said Darryl.
Darryl said the firm's award for Best Gender Diversity Initiative by an Australasia Firm was also pleasing recognition. "We continue to work hard to make Clayton Utz the firm of choice, for our people, and our clients. It is gratifying to see our efforts to continuously improve our culture and practices recognised at this level. Coming off the back of our recent CFO Capital Corporate Law Firm of the Year award win, the award is fantastic recognition."
Euromoney's Women in Business Law awards celebrate the progress in law firm gender diversity, innovation, mentoring and talent management, and the achievements of leading women lawyers. This year is the first time the awards have been held in Australia, recognising firms and women lawyers in the Australasian region.