Awards
A SHOW
OF RESPECT
The 2014 Law Institute of Victoria Awards
shone a spotlight on the excellent work
done by members of the legal profession.
R
espect for country and community was at the heart of the
Law Institute of Victoria Awards on 16 May, from first speaker
to last.
As the record 280 guests took their seats at Zinc in Federation
Square, Wurundjeri elder Colin Hunter delivered the traditional
welcome to country:
“In Aboriginal culture, a great deal of respect is given to the land,
the plants and animals alike. You might have noticed I placed some
beautiful gum leaves down there on the ground. If you get an opportunity during the afternoon, grab a nice one and put it in your pocket.
The significance is that . . . it will give you access to see the Wurundjeri
country. While on Wurundjeri country you’re welcome to everything
from the tops of the trees, to the roots of the earth. So, a warm and
gentle welcome.”
LIV president Geoff Bowyer went on to say the awards – held
this year during Law Week for the first time – gave members of the
legal community an opportunity to show their respect for admired
colleagues by nominating them.
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News
Awards
CELEBRATING ACHIEVEMENT: Steve Stevens, Bianca Janovic, Professor John Tobin, Cate Dealehr, Ian Paterson, Kelvin Tam, Ashley Davidson (Pitcher Partners), LIV
president Geoff Bowyer, Antonella Terranova, Rodd Levy, Hayley Mansfield, Tim McFarlane, Jennifer Batrouney QC and Keith Richards
“Today, we honour excellence in the legal pro- particular the commercial sector, for human
fession. The Law Institute of Victoria Awards rights organisations.
shine a well-deserved spotlight on excellent
“I reflect upon the basic principles of human
work done by members of the Victorian legal rights which demand that lawyers must not
profession. They give us all an opportunity to only protect the rights of their clients, but
acknowledge that work and show our appre- also promote the broader cause of justice,
ciation. They give us a chance to say thank rights and freedoms. Unfortunately we’re at
you and celebrate the effort.”
a time right now where we’ve had the governWith that, master of ceremonies, the 774 ment challenge a number of rights – refugee
ABC radio host and former lawyer, Jon Faine, policy, people with disabilities, access to legal
gum-leaf in hand, announced the award
winners.
First up to the podium was associate professor at the University of Melbourne Law
School Professor John Tobin, winner of
the Paul Baker Award which recognises
the significant achievement or outstanding
contribution of an individual in the field of
administrative or human rights law and carries a prize of $1000.
Professor Tobin has designed and taught
subjects in the areas of international law,
human rights, children’s rights and public
interest lawyering. The recipient of several
awards and overseas human rights teaching
posts, he has advised multiple human rights
and equal opportunity organisations and
was instrumental in establishing Australia’s
first specialist human rights legal service, the
Human Rights Law Centre, in 2006.
Professor Tobin said he felt like “a bit of an
imposter” as he spent most of his time in academia’s “ivory tower rather than at the coal
face” but he took the opportunity to acknowledge the pro bono work of many lawyers, in WARM WELCOME: Wurundjeri elder Colin Hunter
PHOTOS PETER GLENANE
aid. These challenges threaten that vision
of justice under the declaration of human
rights adopted in 1948 and the covenants
adopted since then as well. This is a real challenge for our profession in trying to serve the
community. I encourage all members of the
profession to use your skills, advocate for the
rights of groups affected by changes to policy
. . . we must not only use our skills to confront
justice but also to create justice as well.”
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Awards
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Professor Tobin’s comments were mirrored
by Hayley Mansfield, director of the Justice
Program at the Asylum Seeker Resource
Centre (ASRC) which won the community
lawyer or organisation of the year award.
With its 44 staff, including five full-time
lawyers, and 900 volunteers (115 legal volunteers), the ASRC provides a range of free
services, including vital legal assistance from
filling in forms all the way to United Nations
appeals. More than 500 people were helped
last year by the ASRC.
Ms Mansfield thanked the LIV, the ASRC
team and also the volunteers, and urged more
lawyers to get involved in defending asylum
seekers rights.
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“The Centre could not operate without the
help of our volunteers . . . from legal students
right through to pro bono counsel, who just
give endless and tireless hours. It’s at times
like this, when the rule of law really is under
attack and increasingly we are seeing lives
put at risk, we call on you to get involved in
this sector . . . to protect the lives of asylum
seekers in Australia.”
The Australian Legal Costing Group’s Cate
Dealehr won the Access to Justice Award. An
accredited specialist in costs law, Ms Dealehr
has offered her services pro bono in the complex area of legal costing – an area denied
legal aid – to distraught and vulnerable clients for more than 20 years. In May, she
was elected to the Legal Services Board as a
solicitor representative, which represents the
latest in a string of volunteer positions.
“It feels like the Logies,” Ms Dealehr
declared as she accepted her award. She
thanked those lawyers who had helped and
mentored her and with whom she shared “an
understanding of the vocation of being a lawyer and the duties that bind us all. They’ve
taught me the importance of putting out a
helping hand when you find others in need.
Charles Dickens is quoted as saying ‘charity
begins at home, but justice begins next door’.”
She spoke of the importance of family, and
her parents who had inspired her to strive
to be the best she could and to give to others.
“And finally I also have two of my children
News
Awar
EXCELLENCE AWARDED: From top left: Angela
Lee and Jennifer Batrouney QC (mentee and
mentor); Rodd Levy; MC Jon Faine; LIV president
Geoff Bowyer, Mary-Jane Ierodiaconou and
Professor John Tobin; Antonella Terranova,
Keith Richards and Bianca Janovic; Cate Dealehr,
Tim McFarlane and Hayley Mansfield
here . . . everything I do, I do in the hope that
they will be proud.”
Barrister Jennifer Batrouney QC was also
recognised for her volunteer effort when she
won Mentor of the Year. Ms Batrouney has
mentored about 20 people, including many
women, from law students to senior lawyers.
“I would like to encourage every single
person in this room, no matter how junior or
senior you are, to consider whether there is
anybody that you could mentor, or whether
there is anybody you could ask to mentor
you. It is a very rewarding experience,” Ms
Batrouney said.
Lawyer Kelvin Tam won the Rogers Legal
Writing Award for his feature “How Victoria
can add value in Asia”, which appeared in the
special December 2013 Asian edition of the
LIJ. The award carries a prize of $1000.
“It was great to be able to share my
thoughts on a topic which I am passionate
about,” said Mr Tam, a partner at Hunt and
Hunt Lawyers, adding thanks to colleagues
who reviewed his article and his wife who
helped structure it.
Two other lawyers were highly commended for their LIJ articles. They were
sports lawyer Paul Horvath for his article
on drugs in sport, “A Sporting Chance”, in
the July 2013 LIJ, and Karen Toohey, former acting Victorian Equal Opportunity
and Human Rights Commissioner, for her
article “Addressing Sexual Harassment in
the Workplace” in the September 2013 LIJ.
Each won $500.
Certificates of Service were announced
next, with seven lawyers recognised for
their contribution to the LIV, affiliated associations or the community. They were Josh
Bornstein (Maurice Blackburn), Nicole
Feeney (Lander & Rogers), Carina Ford
(Carina Ford Immigration Lawyers), Stephen
Gregory (Kenna Teasdale Lawyers), Zubair
Mian (Mian Phillips & Co), Eileen Scott
(Garland Hawthorne Brahe) and barrister
Richard Wilson.
Tim McFarlane of McFarlane Legal won the
Accredited Specialist Achievement Award. Mr
McFarlane became an accredited specialist in
alternative dispute resolution in 1993. He has
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served on the LIV’s Accredited Specialisation
Mediation Advisory Committee for 14
years, including 12 as chair, as well as other
mediation committees and panels here and
overseas.
“I would like to thank the profession, it has
been wonderfully supportive of the mediation process. I was lucky enough to recognise
it and start developing the process and practice in that area,” Mr McFarlane said.
Keith Richards of Martin Irwin and
Richards Lawyers won the Regional Lawyer
of the Year Award. Primarily practising in
civil litigation, the Sunraysia lawyer has held
various volunteer board positions, championed local charities, been a sessional member
of VCAT and a president of the North West
Law Association. He received an Order of
Australia medal in 2009 for services to local
children and young people.
Mr Richards, a veteran of 42 “challenging,
stimulating” years in the law in Mildura,
hoped the category prompted young lawyers
to work in rural areas. “I hope many young
lawyers follow my example because I am just
about to ride off into the sunset.”
Antonella Terranova of Castra Legal
Costing was named Suburban Lawyer of the
Year. As president of the Northern Suburbs
Lawyers Association, she has doubled the
association’s membership.
Ms Terranova said she wanted to see the
work of suburban lawyers recognised and
valued. “We do work hard, we do make a
difference,” she said, adding special thanks
to her mother, sister and husband “as without the support of family it’s very difficult to
move forward in any practice, or for association meetings, where you get called away
quite a bit”.
Freehills lawyer Bianca Janovic was named
Rising Star of the Year. Working on complex
commercial litigation, Ms Janovic also volunteers with the Homeless Persons legal clinic
and is an advocate for LGBTI rights and
opportunities for Aboriginal Australians.
“As I left home searching for my wallet
to come here I caught a glimpse of Michael
Kirby’s autobiography, which is probably my
most prized possession as a good young lawyer, and I remembered that in that he wrote to
me, ‘always make a difference’. I guess those
words have always really rung true for me.
It’s why I became a lawyer, a belief in meaningful change that we can make as part of this
special community and its why I love being a
part of it.” l
Awards
CAROLYN FORD
SPECIAL CONTRIBUTION HONOURED
S
teve Stevens was chosen as the recipient of the LIV President’s Honorary
Award, which recognises a lawyer who
has contributed with unstinting energy and
professional excellence to the legal issues of
the day.
Now retired, Mr Stevens was a taxation
partner in the Melbourne office of what was
then Freehills, where he specialised in state
taxes and the taxation of financial services.
CAREER AWARD: Economist and tax law expert
Steve Stevens with LIV president Geoff Bowyer
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Originally an economist, he spent 12 years
working for state and federal governments.
But during this time he continued to feel the
pull of the law, originally sparked by a visit
to a jury trial on a school excursion when he
was 12. He studied law and did his articles
at Blake Dawson, before joining Freehills in
1989 and making partner in 1993.
“He learned that he loved helping clients
solve their problems. And that is what Steve
has done ever since,” Mr Bowyer said.
He has represented a number of industry
bodies in negotiations with state and territory revenue offices and with the ATO in
respect of tax issues and has prepared submissions to state and territory treasurers
and commissioners on behalf of those bodies. He has presented papers on state taxes,
GST, acquisitions of businesses, mergers of
trusts, corporate and trust acquisitions and
restructures.
Mr Stevens was a member of the LIV
Council from 2003 to 2011, serving as its
president in 2010. In May, he became a member of the Legal Services Board (LSB) as a
non-advocate (solicitor) representative and he
is on the Victorian Government’s State Taxes
Consultative Council.
“During his long career, Steve has worked
tirelessly to promote the interests of the profession in Victoria, including representing
the LIV on the Law Council of Australia,”
Mr Bowyer said.
“Professionally speaking, Steve is a standout practitioner. But he is also a doer. I have
been amazed at his generosity in volunteering so much of his time and energy to
pursuing the interests of Victorian lawyers
in so many fields ranging from revenue law
to ethics to LSB duties to issues facing all
lawyers at LCA levels. He makes himself
available at every level, he is always putting
his hand up. Recently, he has played a significant role in ensuring the LIV’s corporate
governance structures reflect members’ interests and best practice in that area.
“Steve’s work is always done in a selfeffacing manner, and at all times he acknowledges the work of others. With great
intelligence and quiet perseverance, Steve
gets the job done and he was an obvious
choice for the award.”
LIV CEO Michael Brett Young said Mr
Stevens embodied the qualities of a good
lawyer. “As well as significant professional
achievements, he has devoted a great deal of
time and energy to helping out at every level.
With no fanfare, he always puts his hand up
and we are fortunate to have him as a member
of the Victorian legal profession.”
Accepting the award, Mr Stevens said he
wanted to acknowledge those Victorian lawyers who contribute to the community and
the profession. Through the LIV he had discovered the great contributions made by
everyone, including many who had been
nominated for awards.
“There’s an enormous amount of contributions made throughout the community. We’re
really lucky to have members of the legal profession doing that. I’m sure it will continue
into the future.” l
Awards
LARGE LAW FIRMS
RECOGNISED
L
arge law firm partners stepped up to the
podium when Deal of the Year – new
this year – and Law Firm of the Year
were announced at the awards ceremony.
King & Wood Mallesons won Deal of
the Year for the refinancing of the Victorian
Desalination Plant.
The firm acted for a group of nine local
and international banks in the deal which
involved a multi-faceted refinancing structure comprising a mix of bank debt as well as
a bond bridge facility. It also involved the settlement of $1.3 billion in outstanding claims
between parties, adding complexity and time
pressure to a politically sensitive process.
Accepting the award, KWM partner Ian
Paterson thanked the financiers involved,
the AquaSure consortium and the State of
Victoria, “all of whom made it possible, and
not only an opportunity for us to work on a
complex and challenging transaction but to
DEAL OF THE YEAR: King & Wood
Mallesons partner Ian Paterson
accepted the new award
have a project of such utility protecting us all
from drought”.
Law Firm of the Year Herbert Smith
Freehills impressed the judging panel with
its Melbourne pro bono contribution to community groups and charities and promotion
of diversity within its ranks. It had also been
successful in retaining top talent and being
consistently sought after as a trusted law firm
on some of the largest and most challenging
transactions in the region.
“This is a great honour for the firm to win
this award,” said HSF partner Rodd Levy.
“We’re very proud of our achievements, particularly of trying to give excellent client
service, looking after our staff and giving
back to the community. We’ve been part of
the Melbourne business and legal community since 1853, we were established here by
Samuel Lorne in the gold rush days. We’re
now part of a global organisation but we’re
still very much focused on looking after our
place in Melbourne and our local clients.” l
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