HBA Legal launches new employment law and industrial relations practice

“As part of Crawford, we are offering new and unique services, bold pricing models, and creating legal solutions at the forefront of technology. There’s no doubt clients love it, and great talent is being attracted to it, too,” Hepple added.

Crawford Australia president Tim Jarman said adding legal services to the broader business over 12 months ago meant Crawford has an end-to-end offering unrivalled by its competitors.

“There is no other claims management business in the country that can be with the claim from start to finish – from ‘first notification of loss’ through to the Supreme Court. We call this our ‘One Crawford solution’, which simplifies the process for our clients because they only have to deal with one company across the life of the claim,” he added.

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As part of building a team for the new practice, HBA has appointed partners Michelle Dawson and Emily Dempster and associate Nicole Davis – all from Moray & Agnew.

Dawson (based in Newcastle) and Dempster (based in Melbourne) joined HBA on February 1 – with the former boasting over 25 years of industry experience and being at the partner level since 2015, while the latter moved from special counsel to partner after joining HBA. The pair have worked with Davis for the past five years.

“Michelle and Emily have worked together for more than 10 years and have one of the best reputations in the legal industry when it comes to successfully tackling challenges faced by businesses across multiple sectors, including manufacturing, transport, construction, water, and not-for-profit,” Hepple said.

Commenting on her appointment, Dawson commended HBA’s unique client and employee proposition in the market.

“Being a law firm in its own right, but also being genuinely part of something bigger means there are not the same constraints that can be experienced in traditional law firms,” she said. “That’s attractive from a personal perspective, but I believe it also extends to being able to create superior client-centric solutions for the businesses that trust us with solving their challenges.”

The new team complements HBA’s already strong occupational health and safety practice.