12 new senior practitioners promoted

Johnson Winter & Slattery has internally promoted 12 senior practitioners with the appointment of five Partners, one Special Counsel, and six Senior Associates.

The firm’s new appointments include:

Pravin Aathreya, Partner, Melbourne: Pravin practises in commercial litigation and dispute resolution, with a particular focus on corporate insolvency and reconstruction. He has represented a range of corporate clients across a range of industries, including automotive and transport, infrastructure, energy and resources and financial services. He has significant expertise in complex commercial disputes, including contract disputes, class actions, disputes between participants in the energy and resources industries (including with regulators), negligence claims, misleading and deceptive conduct claims, directors and professional liability claims, commercial leasing disputes, shareholder disputes, product liability issues, corporate insolvency and reconstruction, government litigation and disputes involving the Personal Property Securities Act.

Frances Dreyer, Partner, Sydney: Frances specialises in complex Federal and Supreme Court litigation in the areas of audit and accountant liability and investor class actions. Frances has acted for the plaintiffs in large audit and accounting cases consistently over the past decade including acting for one of Australia’s largest Aboriginal trusts in Supreme Court of Northern Territory claims against its auditors and accountants, acting for ASIC in multiple claims against the auditors of the failed Westpoint group and representing a major Australian fund in Federal Court claims against its auditor. She has also been involved in both the bringing, and defending, of significant class actions related to securities and other financial products. This has included acting for the applicants in the class actions arising from the failure of the $1 billion MFS Premium Income Fund, the failure of the Dick Smith group and the financial issues with Slater & Gordon. It has also involved acting on the defence side in class actions arising from claims made by retail deposit holders valuing over $60 million in the banking industry and various class action claims made against the failed Quintis group of companies. 

Andy Milidoni, Partner, Sydney: Andy specialises in all aspects of revenue law and trust law. He has advised on matters such as the tax implications of corporate mergers and business and significant asset sales, acquisitions and restructures, equity and debt market transactions, managed investment schemes, property development and land subdivision projects and the taxation of trusts, corporate groups and collective investment vehicles generally.  He also advised on cross-border transactions including the application of international integrity measures such as the Multinational Anti-Avoidance Law, transfer pricing and the Diverted Profits Tax.

Divesh Patel, Partner, Sydney: Divesh specialises in mergers and acquisitions, foreign investment, cross-border transactions, equity capital markets, joint ventures and restructurings, with a particular focus on private equity. He advises a wide variety of domestic and cross-border clients, including private equity sponsors, across a broad range of sectors including manufacturing, retail, FMCG, financial services, infrastructure, aviation and transport, media, technology and telecommunications. 

Andreas Piesiewicz, Partner, Sydney: Andreas is regularly involved in complex, high-stakes litigation and investigations, across a range of jurisdictions and a variety of industries. His experience ranges from advising high profile directors and officers of ASX listed companies in the finance and construction industries in relation to securities and foreign bribery related investigations conducted by ASIC and the AFP; to seeking urgent interlocutory and final relief in expedited Commercial List proceedings concerning the market for nuclear medicine technology and associated distribution rights; to prosecuting a $100 million plus negligence claim against a big four accounting firm; to defending a US based company operating in the nutraceuticals industry in Federal Court proceedings seeking to unwind share sale agreements and seeking $175 million in damages.  Most recently he acted for ASIC in landmark Federal Court proceedings against the ANZ concerning the alleged rigging of the Bank Bill Swap Rate.

Evan Mentiplay, Special Counsel, Melbourne: Evan has significant experience in workplace relations law and acts for multinational corporations, government agencies and local employers to assist them with employee related advice and litigious work, including dismissal related claims, enforcement of post-employment restraints, bargaining and bargaining disputes, responding to lawful and unlawful industrial action by employees and unions, and in disputes as to the application and interpretation of industrial agreements, safety-related disputes, and disputes over union rights to represent employees.