Freehills announces the appointment of Mark Rigotti as Managing Partner, Clients and Growth
12 December 2007Freehills Announces the Appointment of Mark Rigotti as Managing Partner, Clients and Growth
Freehills’ Chief Executive Officer, Gavin Bell, announced today the appointment of Mark Rigotti to the position of Managing Partner, responsible for Clients and Growth.
The appointment becomes effective on 1 January 2008 and follows the recent departure of Mike Ferraro (who previously held the position), who has taken up the Chief Legal Counsel role with one of the firm’s major clients, BHP Billiton.
In making the announcement, Mr Bell said Mark’s appointment followed a review of the firm’s management function, and a comprehensive selection process that considered a number of exceptional internal candidates for the role.
'Following Mike Ferraro’s departure, we took the opportunity to review Freehills’ senior management function, in particular the CEO and managing partner roles, to ensure they are structured in alignment with the firm’s strategic business goals and are best positioned to address the current and future challenges and opportunities facing the firm,' Mr. Bell said.
'I am delighted to announce that the decision has been taken to fill the Managing Partner, Clients and Growth position with Mark Rigotti, a senior Freehills partner and a high calibre individual whose primary focus will be on the firm’s clients and growth strategy which are key to our success,' he continued.
Mr. Bell went on to say; 'Mark has a detailed knowledge of many of the firm’s clients and the industries in which they operate and is very well qualified to guide and drive the various client initiatives and manage the firm’s increasingly complex and important conflict role.'
Mark is currently the Practice Group Head for Freehills’ Corporate group; prior to that he was the Practice Group Head of the firm’s Banking group. He will transition into the new management role in the new year following the appointment of a new Practice Group Head for the Corporate group.
In addition to Mark’s appointment, Freehills has announced the appointment of John McKenna to a newly created role as Chief Risk Officer and General Counsel of the firm.
Mr Bell said the firm’s recent review process identified the growing need for a senior resource to centrally oversee the firm’s approach to risk management.
'John’s position is a new one for the firm; it is consistent with trends we are seeing amongst our clients across a range of industries where risk is being addressed and managed more centrally and on a ‘whole of enterprise’ basis.
'John is eminently qualified to carry out this role; he has an in-depth knowledge of the firm’s operations and is a highly respected and experienced lawyer,' Mr. Bell continued.
The Chief Risk Officer and General Counsel role will involve managing the risk function across the entire firm as well as acting as Freehills’ General Counsel. John will transition into the new role in coming months.
Background information
Mark Rigotti
Prior to his new management role, Mark was the head of Freehills’ national Corporate group and, in this capacity, was responsible for the management and development of the firm's largest practice group. Together with its market leading mergers and acquisitions and equity capital markets teams, the group has over 270 partners and solicitors, with significant industry specialisations in the energy and resources, private equity, managed funds, superannuation, financial services, technology, media and communications sectors.
Before leading the firm’s Corporate group, Mark was the head of the firm’s Banking & Finance group. Prior to this, Mark ran a leading corporate, capital markets and fundraising practice for 15 years spanning Australia and the United Kingdom.
He regularly provides commentary to the media and in business forums on industry trends and legal developments in the Australian corporate and capital markets areas.
Mark holds Bachelor of Arts, Bachelor of Laws (Honours) and Masters of Laws degrees from the University of Sydney and a Diploma from the Securities Institute of Australia. He is a member of the Finance and Treasury Association.
John McKenna
John McKenna is a partner in the Banking and Finance practice in Freehills’ Melbourne o ffice.
John's practice involves acting for both the borrower and lenders in relation to a broad range of finance transactions. He has extensive experience in project finance, acquisition finance, structured finance and large-scale corporate lending.
Some of the more notable projects in which John has been involved include:
acting for Intergen in connection with the financing of the Island Power natural gas fired turbine power station in Singapore;
acting for Hastings in relation to the financing for the Ballarat Thames Water acquisition;
acting for ANZ and SunTrust Bank in relation to the acquisition financing of terminal facilities in Australia and New Zealand;
acting for ANZ and Societe Generale in relation to the financing of the Royal Agricultural Showgrounds redevelopment project;
acting for the Mitcham Frankston Motorway Consortium in relation to its bid for the Mitcham Frankston Freeway Concession;
acting for CityLink Melbourne Limited in relation to financing of the City Link Extension Project and Exhibition Street Extension Project;
acting for the Transurban Group in relation to the refinancing of various senior debt facilities and the negotiation of subordinated debt facilities.
John is a contributing author to the Laws of Australia Legal Encyclopaedia and has a strong working knowledge of the principles of constitutional and public law.
He graduated from the University of Melbourne with Bachelor of Laws (with Honours) and Bachelor of Commerce degrees and has subsequently completed his Master of Laws degree.
John is a Senior Fellow, Facility of Law, University of Melbourne and teaches in its post graduate law program.
Public Affairs Manager
arriarne.kemp-bishop@freehills.com 
+61 3 9288 1119+61 414 311 331
Public Affairs Assistant Manager
jeremy.hyman@freehills.com+61 2 9322 4957+61 448 390 798
