Norton Rose Fulbright promotes three talented women to the partnership in Australia

Global law firm Norton Rose Fulbright announced today that Claire Forster, Lisa Koch and Paulina Moncrieff have been promoted to its Australian partnership from 1 January next year.

The three Sydney-based lawyers work across competition, regulatory, project finance and disputes practices, with particular strengths in the energy, infrastructure, natural resources, insurance, and life sciences and health industries.

Claire Forster

Claire is a competition and regulatory lawyer based in Sydney. She advises across the competition and consumer law spectrum – from cartels to strategic merger and market dominance issues in concentrated sectors, with a particular focus on energy and infrastructure.

Claire advises on fundamental regulatory and access issues at all levels of the energy supply chain, including generators, networks, retailers and energy users, and to government. This has included working on a number of recent, high profile renewable energy projects, including for Canadian Solar, Wirsol and Maoneng. In working on the regulatory frontier (with the ACCC, the AER, the AEMO and state-based regulators), she achieves great outcomes in adversarial and cooperative contexts across cartels, exclusive dealing, joint ventures, mergers, consumer law and energy.

Lisa Koch

Lisa is a finance lawyer based in Sydney, who is qualified to practice in Australia, England and South Africa. She advises on project finance and related transactions primarily in the mining and resources, energy and infrastructure sectors. Having relocated to Sydney from London, her focus is on cross-border and international transactions, with a particular focus on emerging market resources financing.

She works closely with funders and sponsors on the structuring and bankability aspects of projects, in traditional project finance as well as alternative financing structures. She has advised extensively on offtake transactions in the metals and minerals sector, in relation to offtakes linked directly to financing arrangements, and stand-alone offtakes.

Paulina Moncrieff

Paulina is an insurance lawyer based in Sydney with a particular focus on health liability claims. She has significant experience in acting in the defence of large, complex health claims across a range of medical specialties and jurisdictions including the Supreme Court, District Court and Coroners Court of NSW and Queensland.

Paulina's clients have included the Medical Indemnity Protection Society, the Department of Health in Queensland and the Ministry of Health in NSW. Prior to specialising in health law, Paulina gained valuable general insurance experience in the defence of public liability, professional indemnity and tortious claims at the NSW Crown Solicitors' Office. Paulina has extensive experience acting in claims governed by the Model Litigant Policies of both Queensland and NSW.

Norton Rose Fulbright managing partner in Australia Wayne Spanner commented:

“Claire, Lisa and Paulina have made strong cases for partnership in recent years, with a history of excellence in client service and high quality advice across many of our major industry groups and busy practice areas. Each thoroughly deserves the promotion we are announcing today.

“My partners and I are also pleased with the progress we are making to increase diversity in our partnership and across our leadership teams. We were the first firm in Australia with more than 100 partners to break the 30 per cent female partner barrier in December 2017, and are well on the way to hitting 35 per cent in 2020.”

Norton Rose Fulbright in Australia has recently set a 40:40:20 goal in respect of leadership, with a view to adopting this goal for the partnership as soon as possible after 2020. The 40:40:20 goal means that the firm should have a minimum of 40 per cent women and 40 per cent men, with the ability to flex participation with the remaining 20 per cent. The firm considers that a 40:40:20 goal is the best way to focus on delivering diversity across the business.

Today’s promotions come after 10 lateral partners were attracted to the firm through 2018. A further three – Holly McAdam, Richard Morrison and Martin Taylor – are due to join our national government practice in Canberra in January.