Freehills’ Women in Business networking forum was established in 1994 by Stephanie Pursley, former partner, after she attended the Women's Trade Forum in Singapore.

Since then, the network has grown to over 1000 women in business, who represent industries as diverse as banking, telecommunications, retail, publishing, government, law and the judiciary.

Women in Business aims to foster networks among women at all stages in their professional careers, by providing:

• opportunities for senior business women from diverse organisations and industries to meet one another and exchange views and experiences
• a comfortable environment for women who are up-and-coming in their field to meet senior women in business, and
• opportunities for Freehills women partners and solicitors to meet women clients of the firm.

Freehills' Women in Business forum hosts seminars, workshops and entertainment functions and facilitates networking through one-to-one introductions.

2008

Thursday 17 April 2008 – ‘Dressed for Success’

On Thursday 17 April 2008 approximately 100 Freehills hosts and their clients gathered at Freehills in Melbourne for the first Women in Business event of the year – ‘Dressed for Success’.

The focus of this event was to raise awareness of and collect clothing donations for Fitted for Work. A volunteer based organisation, Fitted for Work offers business clothing, presentation and interview skills as well as resume advice, building self confidence and assisting women on their path to self sufficiency. The Women in Business team were delighted to have received many boxes and bags of donated business clothing for this worthy cause.

As part of the event, image consultant Helen Robinett provided a light-hearted and colourful presentation that detailed how to:

• collapse the time frame to create the best impression with prospective clients
• become skilled in how to gain influence with clients and your superiors in the business through visual impact
• discover the most common areas of sabotage and how to avoid it
• learn how to ‘look like a leader’, and
• understand what ‘business casual’ really means and how to get it right.

Helen’s presentation even included a number of Freehills hosts as ‘models’ for the evening and many great pieces of advice that were the talking point of the evening.

2007

22 November 2007 — On air with Lisa Leong

The Melbourne office celebrated the end of the year with a cocktail party and a spectacularly entertaining and inspiring presentation by Freehills alumni Lisa Leong. On the night we were joined by Big Brothers Big Sisters Australia to raise awareness of their mentoring programs.

Over 130 guests were treated to a live and interactive Freehills style radio show as our guest presenter took a break from her daily breakfast show on the ABC Eyre Peninsula and West Coast. Over the course of the evening, guests tuned in to short segments in which Lisa detailed her journey from life as an Intellectual Property Lawyer in Melbourne and London, to her break into the world of radio in London (reached through incredible amounts of persistence, dedication and pre-dawn cups of coffee!) then her return to Australia and her continued successes in the world of radio presenting.

If the levels of laughter were a measure of success, we owe a big thank you to Lisa for her preparation and enthusiastic performance which wrapped up our final event for 2007.

Lisa Leong ‘on air’		Kate Jenkins, Lisa Leong and Elizabeth Levinson

October/November 2007 — A passion for pink

Sydney launched the 2007 Pink Ribbon series with a breakfast on Tuesday 23 October. Around 85 guests heard from Ros Kelly, Chair of the National Breast Cancer Foundation. Ros spoke openly of her experience with breast cancer and emphasised the importance of having strong support networks in place to assist those diagnosed with the disease.

Freehills alumni and chief executive officer of the committee for Melbourne, Sally Capp, addressed over 90 guests at the Melbourne Pink Ribbon breakfast on Wednesday 24 October. Sally gave a personal anecdote of the life of John Ilhan, an inspirational business man and friend, who tragically passed away on October 23. Sally also discussed her involvement with the National Breast Cancer Foundation in her role as Trustee.

The Brisbane office hosted a Pink Ribbon lunch on Wednesday 24 October, where approximately 60 guests enjoyed a lively and inspirational speech delivered by 2006 Queenslander and Australian of the Year, Professor Ian Frazer. Dr Frazer discussed his efforts in developing the recently-released cervical cancer vaccine and his significant contributions to biomedical research reinforcing the commitment we may all make towards translating research knowledge into real benefits for women.

On Wednesday 7 November Jane Mouritz, 2001 Outstanding Rural Leader of the Year, presented at the Perth Pink Ribbon breakfast to a group of 50 guests. Jane shared the journey that has seen her become an ambassador for rural western Australia and receive an Australian Centenary medal for services to rural communications. Jane discussed her continued work in identifying and communicating the changing needs of her home town Hyden, and the wider West Australian rural community, to the government.

The annual Pink Ribbon series is organised as part of the Freehills’ National Women in Business program. Funds are raised for the National Breast Cancer Foundation, with all donations gift-matched by the Freehills Community Program.

23 July 2007 — A conversation with Catherine Walter

Freehills’ Melbourne office hosted Catherine Walter at a lunch event held on 23 July 2007. Over 120 guests heard Cathy share some of her thoughts on the role of women in business and, in particular, the role of women lawyers.

Cathy referred to a number of useful resources including studies, websites and books, a list of which can be found by clicking here, together with some other resources mentioned by others during the lunch.

A lively conversation with Cathy followed her formal remarks, where attendees asked Cathy interesting and challenging questions on a diverse range of topics. Some questions dealt with taking advantage of career opportunities when they present themselves, how to know if a person was ready for a position on a board, how to get the most out of a mentoring relationship, including being a 'good mentee' and the different workforce being fashioned by 'extreme careers' (that is, deadline-driven jobs where employees work for more than 60 hours a week) and the impact of generation Y on the workforce.

23 May 2007 — Chilled out with the taste of Russia

On Wednesday 23 May, invited guests to Freehills’ Perth office enjoyed an evening of all things Russian. Guests immersed themselves in a wonderland of Russian-inspired flavours and entertainment to celebrate the arrival of winter. The event, hosted by our senior associates, provided an opportunity for women at all stages in their career to meet one another and exchange views and experiences in an informal environment.

16 May 2007 — An evening with The Australian Ballet …

A Women in Business cocktail event for senior associates was held in Sydney on 16 May. One of the aims of Women in Business is to create a fun and stimulating environment in which our female professionals can meet their clients and associates. To help achieve this environment, we themed the event ‘an evening with The Australian Ballet’ and set the room up with pink tulips, a gorgeous, bejewelled pink tutu and five other opulent costumes from The Australian Ballet’s recent production of Don Quixote. In addition to displaying the costumes, David McAllister, Artistic Director of The Australian Ballet, and Barbara Langely, Wardrobe Store Manager, spoke briefly about the costumes and gave us some background to the company. And all the while, Rudolf Nureyev’s production of Don Quixote was playing on the large screen.

David and Barbara were extremely interesting speakers. David spoke about the history of the company and Barbara spoke about the challenges of managing a wardrobe that houses 45 years of costumes from ballets. She also entertained us with stories of wardrobe malfunctions on stage—from a female dancer becoming hooked to her male dancing partner when the medals he was wearing caught her costume and of the child dancer who raced on stage to meet his ‘mother’ but was slowed down by the black rubber thongs he had forgotten to take off in the wings!

As part of a very successful evening, two clients received tickets to the opening night and cocktail party for Bodytorque, the Australian Ballet’s newest production in Sydney.

Nicole Bamforth, Director, Knowledge Management
Annette Bain, Executive Director, Freehills Foundation
Katrina Banks-Smith, Partner, Litigation
Mary Boittier, Special Counsel, Corporate
Priscilla Bryans, Partner, Corporate
Louise Capon, Partner, Communications, Media & Technology
Melanie Cave, Partner, Infrastructure Projects
Sarrah Coffey, Partner, Private Infrastructure Investment
Michelle Cole, Partner, Litigation
Marnie Costello, Special Counsel, Projects
Melita Cottrell, Partner, Banking & Finance
Julie Couch, Partner, Property & Environment
Joanne Crew, Partner, Energy & Resources and Infrastructure
Geraldine Dann, Special Counsel, Employee Relations
Celia Davies, Partner, Patents & Trade Marks
Rebecca Davies, Partner and Board Member, Litigation
Emma de Carle, Partner, Banking & Finance
Frances Drummond, Partner, Patents & Trade Marks
Sarah Dunn, Partner, Litigation
Kathryn Everett, Partner, Intellectual Property
Kathleen Farrell, Consultant, Corporate
Michelle Fox, Partner, Litigation
Fiona Gardiner-Hill, Partner, Corporate
Sue Gilchrist, Partner, Intellectual Property
Joanna Glynn, Partner, Employee Relations
Alix Grice, Special Counsel, Banking & Finance
Natalie Gullifer, Partner, Corporate
Wendy Gwyn, Partner, Banking & Finance
Peggy Haines, Partner, Banking & Finance
Kate Hart-Smith, Special Counsel, Banking & Finance
Erica Hartley, Partner, Employee Relations
Jane Hodder, Partner, Energy & Resources and Infrastructure
Tessa Hoser, Partner, Banking & Finance (Securitisation)
Kate Jenkins, Partner, Employee Relations
Sarah Kenny, Partner, Communications & Technology
Alison Legge, Consultant, Litigation
Selina Lightfoot, Partner, Communications & Technology
Bronwyn Lincoln, Partner, Litigation
Alice Macdougall, Special Counsel, Corporate
Rebecca Maslen-Stannage, Partner, Corporate
Barbara McDonald, Consultant, Litigation
Lucy McCullagh, Partner, Banking & Finance
Cathy Murphy, Consultant, Energy & Resources and Infrastructure
Hayley Neilson, Partner, Banking & Finance
Leanne Norman, Partner, Litigation
Elisabeth Peden, Consultant, Corporate
Chloe Piper, Special Counsel, Projects
Janine Ryan, Special Counsel, Corporate
Jane Sanders, Special Counsel, The Shopfront Youth Legal Centre
Sarah Sherwood, Director, Practice and Project Services
Fiona Smedley, Partner, Corporate
Kristin Stammer, Partner, Intellectual Property
Philippa Stone, Partner, Corporate
Anna Sutherland, Partner, Litigation
Lesley Sutton, Partner, Telecommunications
Gemey Visscher, Partner, Banking & Finance
Erin Wakelin, Partner, Banking & Finance
Juliana Warner, Partner, Litigation
Janet Young, Chief Operating Officer
Irene Zeitler, Partner, Corporate

Freehills was probably the first major Australian law firm to establish a Women in Business networking forum. The firm's vision has since inspired the formation of similar groups throughout the legal and other industries across Australia, such as the International Women's Insolvency and Reconstruction Confederation and the Urban Development Institute of Australia (UDIA) Women in Development Committee.

We have been a sponsor of Australian Women Lawyers (AWL) since its launch in 1997, providing funding, furniture and office equipment and secretarial support. AWL's focus is on women as members of the legal profession as well as women as consumers of legal services. The firm has also been a sponsor of Victorian Women Lawyers. We assist with the publication of the AWL and Western Australian Women Lawyers newsletters.

Freehills is proud of its continued involvement in women lawyers groups around Australia and encourages its solicitors to actively participate in women lawyers committees and events.

In Victoria, for example, Freehills hosts luncheons in the Melbourne office through its Women's Executive Lunch Series, and supports Women in Business events such as the Australian Financial Review Women of Influence luncheons, Telstra Businesswoman of the Year, Victorian Women's Trust and Women in Philanthropy. The firm has also done pro bono work for organisations supporting women such as the Victorian Women's Trust and the Women's Information and Referral Exchange Inc.