Hall & Wilcox

Our National Sustainability & Environment Committees across Australia participated in Clean Up Australia Day, a fantastic opportunity for our team to unite and make a tangible impact in our local communities. Our people packed their lunches and sunscreen, bags, and gloves, and set out to clean up various parks, including Elder Park in Adelaide, Enterprize Park in Melbourne, Edward St Gates in Brisbane, Horseshoe Beach in Newcastle, Glebe Park in Canberra, Elizabeth Quay in Perth, East Point Reserve in Darwin, and Wynyard Park and Lang Park in Sydney.   In Sydney, our committee organised a special day with University of Technology Sydney Law Students from the Brennan Justice and Leadership Program. The park clean up was followed by an inspiring panel on careers in renewable energy law. Our passionate panellists, Stephanie Francis, David Cooper, and Wolfgang Babeck, Dr., tackled some challenging questions and shared their insights with the students. The event was a resounding success, with over 30 participants. It was an incredible opportunity to contribute to the environment, connect with future lawyers, and inspire them about the possibilities in renewable energy law. We received enthusiastic feedback, with students expressing newfound clarity on their career paths.   A huge thank you to everyone who participated and made this day memorable!   #CleanUpAustraliaDay #HWCommunity

Trusts are a significant part of estate planning, but there are risks if the trust deed is not prepared or administered properly. William Moore and McLane Edinger discuss variation powers for trusts, including the breadth of variation powers, problems to look out for, what to do if there is no variation power, and how to avoid triggering capital gains tax issues. 🎧 Listen on Spotify: https://lnkd.in/gk2rDdPe 🎧 Listen on Apple Podcasts: https://lnkd.in/gwX-TtHk #trusts #trustvariation #podcast

Applications for our First Nations Pathway Program are now open! This program is open to First Nations law students in second year or above of their law degree, and provides First Nations university law students the opportunity to gain valuable experience and insight into life at our firm. 'My time at Hall & Wilcox was more than a professional learning experience; it was a formative period in which I felt both nurtured and valued as a member of the team,' said Jordan West, our 2024 First Nations Pathway Program summer clerk. In the program, you will have the opportunity to work with people across all levels and be directly involved in interesting legal work, with mentoring from experienced lawyers. Find out more and apply 👉 https://lnkd.in/geudEkKG #earlycareers #legalcareers

We advised vegan fast food restaurant chain Lord of the Fries in its successful trade mark dispute against Middle-earth Enterprises LLC, which owns the global exclusive rights to The Lord of the Rings. Middle-earth Enterprises was unsuccessful in its opposition to the chain’s application to trade mark the words ‘LORD OF THE’. Partner Ben Hamilton said, ‘This outcome not only strengthens Lord of the Fries’ position in its market but also serves as a reminder of the importance of protecting brand identity, through trade mark registrations.’ Read more: https://lnkd.in/gVk_-CEM #trademark #intellectualproperty

We enjoyed a wonderful evening with our clients celebrating the official opening of our new Melbourne premises in the Queen & Collins tower. Meg Lee, Melbourne Office partner in charge, spoke about the Wurrundjeri smoking ceremony that welcomed us to the new site and of our fitout reflecting our collaborative and innovative approach. Melbourne Lord Mayor Nick Reece formally opened the office and spoke of the entrepreneurial characters who established Melbourne and the contribution of Hall & Wilcox to Melbourne, including commending our pro bono work. Chief Executive Partner Graydon Dowd spoke about our historical place in Melbourne’s legal and business community and our vision for Smarter Law and creating value for clients. Thank you to all who came to celebrate! #auslaw #HWMelbourne

We advised our long-time and valued client the Dennis Family Group on the sale of the Dennis Family Homes business to Simonds Group Limited. The Dennis Family Group has made the strategic decision to sell its residential housing construction business to focus on its land, retail and commercial development business. Lead Partner Nicole Tumiati said ‘Successfully extricating the Dennis Family Homes’ business from the wider Dennis Family Group required careful structuring and co-ordination, and consideration of various complex legal, accounting, tax and commercial issues.’ Dennis Family Group Chairman Bill Stevens thanked our team ‘for their tremendous support, bringing together multiple service lines to address the complexities of the transaction.’ Learn more: https://lnkd.in/gBWRbbAW   ~ with Tony Macvean, Emily Kyriacou, David Catanese, James Deady, John O'Kane, Mark Inston, Philip Hopley, Conrad Smith, Anne Utecht, LL.M. (Melbourne)

Well done to Partner Michelle Eastwell, who has been recognised in Doyle’s Guide 2025 as a Leading Business and Commercial Lawyer (Queensland). Our Queensland team was also recognised.   Michelle specialises in mergers and acquisitions and capital markets transactions. Michelle works closely with her clients to assist with corporate governance issues and regulatory compliance, in particular ASX Listing Rules and Corporations Act matters, as well as negotiating significant commercial agreements and providing commercial advice on business critical matters. Learn more about Michelle: https://lnkd.in/gq7EN7K2   #commerciallaw #businesslaw #auslaw

'Employment is not just a band aid, it’s a fix to get out of economic disadvantage. Financial security allows women to have agency over how they live their life.' This was one of the powerful messages delivered by Fitted for Work Managing Director Donna de Zwart at our International Women’s Day 2025 panel discussion focused on the economic empowerment of women. Donna was joined by One Roof CEO Sheree Rubinstein, Chief Executive Partner Graydon Dowd and Director of People & Culture Kathryn (Kit) Vati.   The panel dissected how economic empowerment is fundamental to achieving equality, what strategies can be implemented to support people in different life stages, systemic barriers and how to combat them, the role of education and skills in empowering women and how we contribute to our own economic empowerment. Thank you to all our panellists for generously sharing their stories, the opportunity to discuss the important work they do, and the impact their organisations have made to gender economic empowerment.   #IWD #IWD2025

A big week for Eden Winokur, our Head of Cyber! Eden has been named a Distinguished Adviser in Power Players: Cyber Security & Data Privacy Asia Pacific 2025. Eden is also a Cyber Security Lawyer of the Year finalist in the Australian Cyber Awards 2025. As a leading cyber security and data privacy lawyer, Eden advises on the full spectrum of cyber risk, including responding to incidents, advising on disputes and providing pre-incident cyber advisory services. Learn more about Eden: https://lnkd.in/gN2fMs-Z #cyber #privacy #auslaw

Partner Shaun Whittaker had the opportunity to share his insights on special-purpose-vehicles in the social & affordable housing sector at the 10th Community Housing Industry Association Affordable Housing Development & Investment Summit. There was great audience participation and the Q&A part of the session highlighted just how front of mind SPVs are for the sector and how critical getting the structuring of SPVs right is for every stakeholder in capitalising on, and protecting, the enormous investment of funds being directed towards the sector. Learn about our social infrastructure team: https://lnkd.in/gsaq6fuK #affordablehousingsummit #socialinfrastructure