Partner, Melbourne
Phone +61 3 9288 1212
Fax +61 3 9288 1567
chris.gardner@freehills.com
Current practice
Chris Gardner is a partner in the Freehills Employee Relations group.
Industry experience
Chris provides legal and strategic advice in employment and industrial relations matters including:- enterprise bargaining strategies
- business restructures
- in/out-sourcings
- labour-related sale/purchase of business issues
- labour-related litigation
- industrial disputation, and
- employment law advice/litigation.
His close association with clients has seen Chris develop a reputation for having a strong understanding of client needs and providing pragmatic, solution-orientated advice.
Chris’ industry experience is widespread. His clients operate in a range of sectors including telecommunications, logistics, local government, manufacturing, stevedoring, mining and construction.
From March 1999 to October 2000 Chris was seconded to Telstra as its Industrial and Employee Relations Counsel, where he was responsible for the management of Telstra’s industrial relations and employee relations legal matters.
Professional background
Chris holds a degree in both Bachelor of Laws and Bachelor of Economics from Monash University and is a member of the Australian Human Resources Institute and the Industrial Relations Society of Victoria.He is a contributing author to:
- The Workplace Relations Handbook (1st and 2nd editions), Butterworths, and
- An Introduction to the Industrial Relations Reforms, Butterworths (2006).
He is a regular speaker, most recently at the 11th World HR Congress in Singapore.
He features in the inaugural edition of Best Lawyers International for Labour and Employment (2008).
