As published in the Australian Financial Review, seven of HBA Legal’s people have been included on the 2024 Best Lawyers in Australia list.
The news came as Crawford’s fully-owned Australian law firm bolstered its Occupational Health & Safety and Employment Law practices, bringing in highly-experienced experts Andrew Ross and Dianne Hollyoak (both listed in Best Lawyers).
The Best Lawyers citation is known around the world as one of the premier legal recognition programs. Fewer than 5,000 Australian lawyers are featured in what is the 16th edition of The Best Lawyers in Australia™ and the second edition of Best Lawyers: Ones to Watch in Australia™.
Brisbane based Partner Damian Hegarty received a special mention taking out the title of ‘Lawyer of the Year’ in the field of Occupational Health & Safety Law in Queensland. Just one practitioner per state achieves this title each year.
HBA’s full list of team members, and the categories they were recognised in, are:
- Damian Hegarty, Lawyer of the Year (Occupational Health & Safety Law)
- Ruth Slater, Partner (Insurance Law; Litigation; Personal Injury Litigation)
- Kim Waygood, Special Counsel (Insurance Law)
- Robert Parcell, Special Counsel (Personal Injury Litigation)
- Dianne Hollyoak, Consultant (Employee Benefits Law; Labour & Employment Law)
- Andrew Ross, Consultant (Labour & Employment Law; Occupational Health & Safety Law)
- Courtney Burrows, Senior Associate, was listed on the Best Lawyers ‘Ones to Watch’ list (Insurance Law).
It marks the fourth consecutive year in which HBA’s practitioners have been included on this prestigious list. To be included, lawyers need to be nominated by their legal industry peers. The profession then votes.
“Best Lawyers recognitions are highly respected and are viewed as the most reputable guide to the legal profession, in large part due to the rigorous and time-tested methodology of being awarded purely on the peer feedback of fellow acclaimed lawyers,”
said CEO of Best Lawyers Phillip Greer.
Best Lawyers: Ones to Watch in Australia awards are presented to lawyers who are earlier in their careers for outstanding professional excellence. These recipients typically have been in practice for 3-8 years, whereas the honourees recognised in The Best Lawyers in Australia have, on average, been in practice for more than nine years.
About HBA Legal
For over a decade, HBA Legal has been a trusted advisor to underwriters, brokers, insurers, insureds, large self-insured companies and governments. HBA prides itself on clever solutions to legal challenges and exceptional outcomes for clients aligned with your business goals.
HBA works as part of integrated claims solutions alongside other Crawford experts, but can also be briefed as a standalone law firm.
Its people have a reputation for being some of Australia’s leading defendant insurance law specialists who solve the full range of challenges across the insurance and claims landscape: casualty; professional indemnity; health law; cyber risk; employment law; coverage disputes & fraud; dispute resolution; SRC Act Recovery; workers’ compensation; financial lines; OHS; property; motor, recoveries.
HBA was acquired by Crawford in late 2020 as part of our growing legal services operations around the world.
