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The professional team of Australian Business Lawyers is drawn from a wide range of backgrounds, including large commercial firms, corporations, legal publishing, academia, government, unions and employer associations. Australian Business Lawyers has 5 partners and over 30 professional staff. Following are profiles of some of our top professionals.
Workplace Law
Corporate and Commercial Law
Tim Capelin
Managing Partner
Phone: (612) 9458 7497
Fax: (612) 9954 5029
Email: tim.capelin@ablawyers.com.au
Tim Capelin has over a decade of experience in employment and industrial law. During this period he has represented leading organisations in most industry sectors, including Food Manufacture, Beverage Manufacture, Mining, Construction, Pharmaceutical, Retail, Distribution, Energy, Finance, Textiles and Insurance. Tim is one of the founding partners of Australian Business Lawyers.
Tim has extensive experience in all industrial relations and employment law matters. In Legal Profiles 2001-2002, clients note that Tim provides "well balanced advice" and is "responsive". He impresses with his "prompt replies" and "knowledge of IR".
Tim specialises in providing strategic advice to major organisations on employee relations matters and has particular expertise in advising clients in relation to enterprise bargaining negotiations. He is an experienced advocate and has represented employers in all relevant tribunals and courts.
Tony Vernier
Partner
Phone: (612) 9458 7311
Fax: (612) 9954 5029
Email: tony.vernier@ablawyers.com.au
Tony Vernier has over 17 years experience in litigation, employment and industrial law. He is an accredited specialist in Employment and Industrial Law.
Tony has assisted clients across various industries including mining, manufacturing, retail and transport. His clients often call upon Tony to:
advise on termination of employment;
conduct employment litigation in all courts and tribunals;
advise on enterprise bargaining and award issues;
assist with the employee aspects of commercial transactions;
draft and advise on employment contracts; and
advise on, and defend, OH&S prosecutions.
Tony’s experiences include:
acting for Australia’s largest glass maker in avoiding a national stoppage which would have affected the car industry during EBA negotiations;
conducted the leading case in NSW on demarcation;
leading the team who acted for an Australian icon paint manufacturer in Federal Court injunctive proceedings to stop industrial action; and
preparing strategic plans on industrial relations for companies in the mining industry.
John Stanton
Partner
Phone: (612) 9458 7555
Fax: (612) 9954 5029
Email: john.stanton@ablawyers.com.au
John has been involved in workplace relations since 1985. He has represented a wide range of industries including pharmaceutical, building and construction, health, local government, hospitality, retail and manufacturing. He has previously worked with employer associations, as well as working in-house as a workplace relations advisor.
John has experience in advising employers upon a wide range of industrial and employment law matters. He is an experienced advocate and has represented employers in relevant state and federal tribunals. John has been a principal advocate in several noteworthy industrial cases. John has also advocated on behalf of employers in various award matters, affecting industries such as baking and food manufacture, printing, pharmaceutical and transport and distribution.
John also provides strategic advice to businesses in relation to occupational health and safety obligations. This includes advice about compliance and investigations into workplace accidents and injuries. John has been involved in representing the interests of employers faced with prosecutions and has assisted those employers in their dealings with the prosecuting authority, and the presentation of cases and defences.
John specialises in providing strategic industrial and employment law advice and representation to large companies and major clients of the firm. John is a regular contributor to several trade and human resource publications and the firm’s website articles such as ‘Safety Watch’.
John is a nationally accredited trainer and assessor having successfully gained Certificate IV in Training and Assessment. John regularly presents training to clients and as part of the firm's public offerings.
Terri Bruno
Special Counsel
Phone: (612) 9458 7640
Fax: (612) 9954 5029
Mobile: 0402 467 150
Email: terri.bruno@ablawyers.com.au
Terri has a wealth of experience in discrimination law. Prior to joining Australian Business Lawyers as a Special Counsel, Terri was employed for 13 years as a senior lawyer with the Commonwealth Bank. In that role, she looked after the Bank's discrimination and EEO matters.
Of particular note in Terri's experience is that she conducted one of the largest class actions in sex discrimination in Australian legal history. Terri has also appeared in State and Federal discrimination Tribunals.
Terri has extensive experience in providing advice on sexual harassment, bullying and all forms of discrimination. Further, Terri has conducted numerous investigations in the discrimination/sexual harassment areas and has extensive experience as a workplace trainer.
Gordon Jervis
Senior Associate
Phone: (612) 9458 7581
Fax: (612) 9954 5029
Email: gordon.jervis@ablawyers.com.au
Gordon has been practising in the area of employee relations for over 12 years. He has appeared as an advocate before a number of tribunals and courts including, the Industrial Relations Commission of NSW, the Australian Industrial Relations Commission, the NSW Industrial Relations Commission in Court Session, the Government and Related Employees Appeals Tribunal and the Chief Industrial Magistrates Court. He has been successful in assisting clients in the manufacturing building and construction industries to defend a number of unfair dismissal applications, underpayment claims, and prosecutions alleging breaches of awards or agreements.
Gordon has assisted many companies in Occupational Health and Safety matters including:
Sharlene Wellard
Special Counsel
Phone: (612) 9458 7622
Fax: (612) 9954 5029
Email: sharlene.wellard@ablawyers.com.au
Sharlene joined Australian Business Lawyers in February 2000. She spent the previous five years advising and representing employers in the hospitality industry on a broad range of industrial relations, employment services and training issues.
While working with Australian Business Lawyers, Sharlene has acted for employers in a wide range of industries including manufacturing, pharmaceutical, clerical and retail.
Sharlene is an experienced advocate and advises and represents clients in many areas of industrial relations and employment law, including industrial disputes, enterprise agreements, underpayment claims, unfair contracts and unfair dismissals. She provides strategic advice to employers in relation to managing workplace change, including advice in the areas of restructuring, redundancies, drafting and implementing policies and employment contracts.
In August 2005, Sharlene was elected to the Executive Committee of the Industrial Relations Society of New South Wales, and in August 2006 she became the Assistant Secretary.
Kelly Godfrey
Senior Associate
Phone: (612) 9458 7575
Fax: (612) 9954 5029
Email: kelly.godfrey@ablawyers.com.au
Kelly advises on all aspects of employment law and industrial relations law at both the State and Federal level. Kelly has over 10 years experience in representing employers in unfair dismissals, unfair contracts, compliance matters, occupational health and safety, equal opportunity, discrimination, dispute resolution, monetary claims and enterprise bargaining matters.
Examples of major matters in which Kelly has acted include:
advising and providing representation to a large multi-national Construction company in defending an OHS prosecution before the Industrial Relations Commission of NSW in Court Session.
Whilst Kelly is an efficient and successful litigator, she believes that appropriate legal advice obtained both at the commencement and during the course of the employment relationship, can often avoid litigation. In this regard, Kelly prides herself in actively managing and coordinating matters to expedite a successful and cost-effective conclusion.
Kelly has a Masters of Law degree and is currently completing a Masters of Labour Law and Relations at the University of Sydney. Kelly is the Industrial Law and Relations Section editor of the Australian Business Law Review and Chair of the NSW Young Lawyers Employment and Industrial Law Committee. Kelly has had many articles published on employment law issues and also regularly presents seminars to clients on workplace and OHS matters.
Jessica Lee
Senior Associate
Phone: (612) 9458 7286
Fax: (612) 9954 5029
Email: jessica.lee@ablawyers.com.au
Jessica joined Australian Business Lawyers in March 2004. She has completed a Bachelor of Commerce (Human Resources and Industrial Relations) and a Bachelor of Laws, with Honours.
While working with Australian Business Lawyers, Jessica has advised employers in the pharmaceutical, manufacturing, building, construction and mining industries.
Jessica regularly provides advice and represents clients in a wide range of employment and industrial law matters including industrial disputes, unfair contracts and unfair dismissals. Jessica has also represented the interests of various employers in a number of different tribunals and Courts.
Some of the matters that Jessica has been involved in include:
Provided extensive advice to a household brand company on the accrual of annual leave and long service leave across Australia both pre and post Work Choices.
Jessica’s achievements in discrimination law were awarded with the NSW Bar Association Prize for excellence in the subject Anti-Discrimination Law after her studies at University. Since then, Jessica has provided advice to clients in relation to discrimination matters and assisted in preparing responses to the relevant government bodies in the event that a discrimination claim is made.
Jessica has conducted numerous independent investigations into complaints of bullying, harassment and sexual harassment and provides assistance to employers that are conducting investigations into workplace grievances and complaints.
Tal Williams
Partner
Phone: (612) 9458 7241
Fax: (612) 9954 5029
Email: tal.williams@ablawyers.com.au
Tal has extensive commercial law experience having initially worked in a commercial firm in Sydney and since 1995 for one of Canberra’s largest independent firms. He has been a partner of Australian Business Lawyers since 2006.
Tal acts for clients in disputes arising from their commercial operations. Such disputes include breaches of contract, building claims, leasing disputes, IT disputes, intellectual property disputes, advice on government procurement contracts, partnership dissolutions, professional negligence claims, trade practices litigation, ACCC and Fair Trading investigations, disputes with the ATO and FOI applications.
Tal has experience in commercial and property transactions, insolvency law, planning and development issues and issues that affect business on a day to day basis – drafting contracts, leasing arrangements, debt recovery advice, trade practices, IT and IP protection, corporate governance, director’s duties, asset protection and business acquisitions and sales.
Tal represents clients across many industries including hospitality, building and construction, health, retail, manufacturing, banking and diplomatic services.
John Pagacs
Special Counsel
Phone: (612) 9458 7006
Fax: (612) 9954 5029
Email: john.pagacs@ablawyers.com.au
John is a Special Counsel with experience in all aspects of corporate & commercial law and workplace law. John has worked in senior line management positions prior to becoming a lawyer.
John provides corporate strategic advice and has particular experience in corporate restructuring, negotiating and preparing commercial agreements and terms of trade, the purchase and sale of businesses, trade practices law and protecting intellectual property. John also advises senior managers on employment related matters such as occupational health and safety and executive agreements.
Having spent over 10 years in senior management roles in Australian and Multinational corporations in a number of industries, John has experienced many difficult commercial and workplace related issues first hand. This enables John to quickly assess and understand issues from a client’s perspective and to then deliver legal solutions that best address client needs.
John has an honours degree in Chemical Engineering from the University of NSW as well as an honours degree in Law from the University of Sydney.
