Tell us about your journey to becoming a partner at W+K

I am honoured to have joined the partnership at W+K in January this year, following a move with 11 of my colleagues from our previous firm including partner Richard Leder, special counsel Catherine O’Keefe, senior associates Blake Pappas, Jacquie Goodwin, Simone Tagliaferro, associates Renata Romeo, Zemyna Kuliukas, Zoe Burchill, paralegals Adonis Konstantopoulos and Matt Kenna, and practice manager Karolyn Connelly. We now have the incredible opportunity, along with fellow new partner Amanda Beattie, special counsel Dylan O’Keefe, and senior associate Samantha Saad, to grow W+K’s commercial litigation and media law offering, adding to the impressive experience and reputation of the existing W+K team. It is an exciting time and I am very much looking forward to this next stage of my career.

What made you decide to become a lawyer?

I didn’t always want to be a lawyer and instead thought that I’d pursue a career in journalism. In somewhat of a “sliding doors” moment however, I transferred into a legal studies subject the week before I started my final year of high school (having realised that I hadn’t completed the required pre-reading for my literature subject) and very quickly fell in love with law. The media law arm of my practice now allows me to merge my love of journalism and law.

What do you think is a major issue facing your area of law?

In terms of media law, it is currently a difficult time to be both a plaintiff and a media defendant in defamation proceedings. Stage 1 Reforms in July 2021 saw the introduction of the ‘serious harm test’ which now requires plaintiffs to prove and provide fact-rich proof of serious harm, abolishing the common law presumption that defamatory publications cause damage to reputation. On the flipside, these new reforms have seen the costs, risks and complexity of defending cases increase for media defendants, who are also anxiously awaiting judicial consideration of the new public interest defence and eager to have issues concerning intermediary liability clarified by Stage 2 of the Defamation Reforms, due to commence in 2024. There is a lot to still unfold in this space.

What’s the best piece of advice (work or personal) you’ve been given?

I know that it’s corny but I don’t think you can go wrong with: “Treat others the way you would like to be treated”.

What do you enjoy most about working at W+K?

I have loved everything about the move to W+K. It is a high-performing firm with a strong strategic vision and an impressive people-first culture, which really resonated with our team. Everyone has been incredibly welcoming and supportive and it is exciting to be a part of the firm’s push into new areas of law.

What do you get up to outside of law?

I have young kids (aged six and three) so I love spending time with them and my husband, which includes lots of time outside and exploring places like the zoo and museum. I also love reading – recent favourites have included Know My Name by Chanel Miller and Unbreakable by Jelena Dokic (which was leant to me by Amanda Beattie) – and listening to podcasts, which I often do while trying to squeeze in some exercise.

Complete this sentence – if I wasn’t a lawyer, I would be…

An investigative journalist.