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Two Herbert Smith Freehills partners have been crowned Partners of the Year at the inaugural Lawyers Weekly Partner of the Year Awards.

Philippa Stone was awarded Partner of the Year for Mergers and Acquisitions and Jason Betts won Partner of the Year for Dispute Resolution and Litigation.

Sue Gilchrist, Herbert Smith Freehills’ Regional Managing Partner, Asia and Australia said the awards were well-deserved recognition for two of our outstanding partners.

“Both Philippa and Jason are leaders in their respective fields and I am delighted they have been recognised as Partners of the Year. These awards are testament to their outstanding legal skills, hard work and exceptional client service.

“This recognition also highlights the firm’s market leading M&A and disputes practices which continue to go from strength to strength because of the extraordinary talent of our people and the fantastic opportunities our clients give us to collaborate with them on their projects.

“For us a key focus is attracting and retaining the best and brightest legal minds in the country so we can provide the best possible service and results for our clients,” Sue said.

Philippa is frequently recognised as one of Australia’s leading corporate lawyers. Her success in these awards reflect another year of outstanding deal making in which she advised on some of the market’s largest and most complex transactions including advising Brookfield Infrastructure Partners on its proposed A$8.9 billion acquisition of Asciano Limited, and the NSW Electricity Networks consortium on its A$10.3 billion acquisition of TransGrid from the NSW Government.

Jason’s class action expertise saw him chosen from a field of 12 finalists. He has become one of the region’s leading class action specialists and defended class actions against a range of companies including Newcrest Mining Limited, UGL, WorleyParsons and National Australia Bank. Jason is a co-author of Class Actions in Australia, the country's leading text in the area, and a thought leader both regionally and internationally, presenting papers and presentations in various forums.

Presented at the Sofitel Wentworth in Sydney on 28 April, the award winners were chosen by 22 high-profile judges.

Key contacts

Sue Gilchrist photo

Sue Gilchrist

Partner and Head of Intellectual Property, Australia, Sydney

Sue Gilchrist