Colin Biggers & Paisley announces 11 senior promotions

Colin Biggers & Paisley is pleased to announce their latest round of promotions with 11 lawyers newly promoted to senior positions, including two partners.

Effective 1 July 2022, Philip Atkin and Katherine Jones will be promoted to partner, Julia Hewitt, Suzie Hutchings, Karen Lo and Katherine Pickerd to special counsel, and Olivia Boyages, Anthony Landro, Marco Pedretti, Douglas Prime, and Jessica Tjong to senior associate.

Philip joined Colin Biggers & Paisley in 2018. He specialises in the defence of claims against a wide range of professionals including solicitors, construction professionals, real estate agents, mortgage and insurance brokers and financial services professionals. He has particular expertise in claims against solicitors and construction professionals.

Katherine worked at Colin Biggers & Paisley for seven years before spending four years in Hong Kong. She re-joined the practice in 2020, and is an integral member of the Digital Governance team. Working extensively in large scale litigation, Katherine has acted for a broad range of clients including private and public corporations, financial institutions, fin-tech companies, insurers and high net worth individuals.

Julia has over 11 years' experience in property and development, including large and complex community title and flat land developments. Her practice focuses on all aspects of community title and flat land off-the-plan and registered residential and mixed-use developments. This includes acquisition of the development site, development agreements, structuring advice, preparing contract and disclosure documents (including building management statements and community management statements), construction funding, sale of management rights, plan registration and supervising the conveyancing.

Suzie joined Colin Biggers & Paisley in June 2013 as a graduate solicitor in the Construction & Engineering Group. Her main area of practice is in dispute resolution, including mediation, expert determination and litigation. She has experience assisting with advice on contractual compliance, contract administration, contractual interpretation issues and contract claims and disputes for building and infrastructure projects around Australia.

Karen joined Colin Biggers & Paisley in November 2011 as a summer clerk / paralegal and was admitted in August 2013. Her main area of practice is in dispute resolution, including mediation, arbitration, expert determination and litigation. I also assist with advice on contractual interpretation, contractual compliance, contract administration and contract claims, and on disputes for building and infrastructure projects around Australia.

Katherine joined Colin Biggers & Paisley in July 2017. Katherine has expertise in providing environment services, including advising on regulatory compliance and licencing obligations. Having previously worked in-house for a large waste management company, her practice has a focus on the waste industry. Katherine also provides strategic planning advice to a broad range of private entities on complex development projects involving commercial, mixed-use and residential developments. In addition, she assists dispossessed landowners with claims for compensation following the compulsory acquisition of their land by acquiring authorities.

Olivia's practice mostly consists of public liability, professional indemnity and property damage litigation. She has defended various matters before the Local, District and Supreme Courts of NSW, and the NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal. Olivia typically acts for insurers, strata corporations, host employers, construction contractors, private schools, landlords, sporting clubs, cleaning contractors, lawyers, architects, mortgage brokers, accountants and individuals in general liability and professional indemnity claims.

Anthony joined Colin Biggers & Paisley as a paralegal in August 2016. Anthony is a specialist in compulsory land acquisitions. He acts in all stages of the acquisition process from the pre-acquisition negotiations to the post-acquisition litigation. He also has extensive experience advising on planning and environmental matters for various property developments. He has acted in large-scale rezoning projects, and commercial, mixed-use and residential developments. His clients include private developers, industry associations, corporate and commercial clients, and private landowners. He is renowned for his strong technical skills dispute resolution skills.

Marco joined CBP as a graduate in 2018. Marco has expertise in insurance law and litigation and has acted in claims relating to  professional indemnity, property damage, construction risk, employment practices liability, and association liability. His clients come from a broad range of sectors, including property management, professional services, legal, construction, food services, transport and not for profit. Marco has experience reviewing a range of policies, attending mediations and court, negotiating settlements, advising on indemnity claims and liaising with insurers, insureds and brokers. 

Doug joined Colin Biggers & Paisley in May 2017 as a paralegal, commenced his graduate year in February 2018 and was admitted in October 2018.  Doug's practice extends across a variety of construction and commercial disputes, ranging from defending defect claims brought against builders and contractors, to a more recent focus upon challenges to orders made by the Office of the NSW Building Commissioner and fraud. 

Jessica joined Colin Biggers & Paisley in 2021 as a Solicitor in the Property and Development team and was admitted in 2013. Jessica has acted in acquisitions and disposals of residential and commercial properties by way of put and call option deeds, nomination deeds and standalone contract for sale and purchase of lands. These transactions often range between $10-$50 million. In addition, Jessica has acted on behalf of numerous small- to medium-sized developers with work commencing from site acquisition to the preparation of off-the-plan contracts until completion of those off-the-plan units. She regularly advises her developer clients on disputes with purchasers, including property defects and delays in settlement.  

This announcement follows the recent appointments of partner David Passarella, special counsel David Chong and Deanne Methven, and senior associates Marina Basile, Selcuk Gokmen, and Mark Frewen-Lord.