Talented three to join Freehills partnership
20 November 2007Freehills announced the appointment of three talented new partners today. The new partners are with three different practice areas across the firm, in three different states, and are comprised of one woman and two men.
The appointment of Michelle Fox, Simon Reed and Simon Taskunas to Freehills’ partnership has been driven by the firm’s robust growth strategy and the identified needs of clients across key regions, sectors and industries.
In making the announcement, Freehills’ Chief Executive Officer, Gavin Bell, said that the new partners are a strong representation of the enormous depth of talent at the firm, and commented that each individual will bring new ideas and fresh perspectives to “help us continually challenge ourselves to improve our clients’ experiences.”
“These new partners are exceptional, bringing strong leadership skills and a real commitment to delivering innovative and cost-effective solutions for our clients,” said Mr Bell.
“Importantly, they also display highly developed technical expertise and the ability to listen and communicate effectively with clients and other team members, and they have a passion for assisting Freehills’ clients in making decisions that are important to their businesses,” he continued.
Mr Bell also said that strong commercial acumen is what sets Freehills apart from its top-tier competitors, and that rewarding people who display these skills is paramount in ensuring a strong career development focus within the firm.
Michelle Fox is based in Sydney in Freehills’ Litigation practice; Simon Taskunas, from the firm’s Projects group, was seconded to the firm’s Singapore office in July 2006 to help drive the firm’s offshore strategy and service the increasingly diverse needs of clients in that region, and Simon Reed will return to the Perth office from a secondment with Freehills’ Corporate group in Melbourne.
Mr Bell was optimistic when discussing the firm’s growth prospects, saying that that Freehills has enjoyed a solid year and is well positioned to continue achieving success into 2008.
“While success can be measured in several different ways, the outstanding quality of our clients and the work we are doing with them, coupled with the exceptional quality of the talented people we have at Freehills, underpins the confidence I have in the firm to continue achieving success,” said Mr Bell.
The new partners’ appointments will become effective from 1 January 2008.
Background Information
Photographs of the new partners are available upon request. Please email Megan Williams.
Freehills’ new partners’ professional snapshots
Michelle Fox
Michelle has been a member of Freehills’ Litigation Group and Insurance Solutions practice since 2004. She specialises in insurance and reinsurance, acting for both corporate insureds, and select insurers and reinsurers.
Michelle began representing insurers in complex coverage litigation in the US in 1996. Following her time in the US, she represented insurers, reinsurers and Lloyd’s syndicates in complex, multi-party proceedings in London. It is Michelle’s outstanding breadth and depth of experience in these three jurisdictions (US, the UK, and now Australia), that gives her a unique knowledge and understanding of the global insurance market.
Michelle is admitted in New South Wales, the State and Federal Courts of Massachusetts, and is qualified as a Solicitor Advocate in England and Wales. Michelle has been a member of the American Bar Association since 1997. She was a member of the Chartered Insurance Institute from 2001 to 2004 and a member of the London Market Marine Under 35’s Committee from June 1999 to June 2001.
Simon Reed
Simon Reed is a member of Freehills’ Corporate Mergers & Acquisitions group. Simon joined Freehills in 1997 and returned to Freehills’ Corporate group in 2002 after 2 years with London law firm Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer. Simon has also recently completed a secondment with the Australian Takeovers Panel.
Simon’s extensive areas of expertise encompasses advising clients on equity fundraising, public company takeovers, private company M&A, venture capital transactions, corporate reconstructions and general compliance and corporate matters.
Simon holds the degrees of Bachelor of Laws with honours and Bachelor of Economics from the University of Western Australia. Simon also holds a Graduate Diploma of Applied Finance & Investment (corporate finance major) from the Securities Institute.
Simon Taskunas
Simon Taskunas is a member of the firm’s Projects team. Simon has acquired wide commercial experience from working on projects throughout the Asia-Pacific region. He was seconded to the Freehills Singapore office during 2000-2002, and has been permanently based there since 2006.
He advises international clients in all aspects of commercial projects within the corporate real estate, infrastructure, and resources sectors.
Simon graduated from the University of Tasmania with a combined degree of Bachelor of Commerce and Bachelor of Laws and a Graduate Certificate of Legal Practice in 1994. He was first admitted to practice as a Practitioner of the Supreme Court of Tasmania in 1995. He was subsequently entered on the Roll of Practitioners for the Federal and High Courts of Australia, and admitted as a Barrister and Solicitor of the Supreme Court of Western Australia.
Simon is a Member of the Australian Chamber of Commerce (Singapore), the Malaysia-Australia Business Council, and the Law Society of Western Australia.
Freehills has recently been awarded the following industry accolades:
Australian Law Firm of the Year 2007 – Chambers Global Awards 2007
Australian Deal of the Year 2007: Telstra 3 – Australasian Legal Business Magazine
M&A Deal of the Year 2007: Suncorp-Metway/Promina – CFO Magazine
Law Firm of the Year 2006 – INSTO Magazine
Best Financial Law Firm 2006 – FinanceAsia Magazine
Public Affairs Manager
arriarne.kemp-bishop@freehills.com
+61 3 9288 1119+61 414 311 331
