 | |
| Headquarters | Sydney, Australia |
|---|---|
| Offices | Sydney; Melbourne; Perth |
| No. of attorneys | 450+ lawyers |
| No. of employees | 1000+ employees |
| Major practice areas | Corporate Advisory; Competition and Regulation; Banking and Infrastructure; Disputes and Investigations; Technology and Digital; Energy and Resources; Intellectual Property; Real Estate and Projects |
| Key people | Danny Gilbert (Chairman); Sam Nickless (CEO); Tim Gordon (Executive Partner) |
| Date founded | 1988 |
| Company type | Partnership |
| Website | www.gtlaw.com.au |
Gilbert + Tobin is a leading Australian law firm with offices in Sydney, Melbourne and Perth. It provides legal services to corporate and government clients across Australia and internationally.
Established in 1988 by Danny Gilbert and Tony Tobin, the firm employs approximately 1000 people, and has one of the highest proportions of female partners of any major Australian law firm.[1]
Gilbert + Tobin depart from the usual practice at similar law firms in their use of a flat hierarchy, with no formal band structures. This means that all of its legally trained employees are referred to as "lawyers", rather than associates or senior associates.[2]
Gilbert + Tobin’s well-established base of corporate clients include many of the ASX 100 leading companies, major infrastructure and services providers, large financial institutions, transport and logistics companies, as well as government and public authorities.
In 2021, Gilbert + Tobin advised Afterpay Limited on the acquisition of Afterpay by Square. The A$39 billion deal is the largest public mergers and acquisitions deal in Australia's history.[3]
Awards and recognition
Gilbert + Tobin (G + T) has 20 practice areas ranked in the Chambers Asia-Pacific Guide 2021.[4] It is also ranked by Chambers as a leading firm globally.[4]
G + T was named the Most Innovative team headquartered in the Asia-Pacific and Australia in 2017 by the Financial Times[5] and again in 2020. In 2020, it was awarded Intellectual Property Team of the Year by Lawyers Weekly and was named Australian Law Firm of the Year (101-500 Lawyers) at the Australasian Law Awards.[6]
Other recent awards include:
- Legal 500 Asia-Pacific (2021) - Tier 1 in ten practice areas (Banking and Finance, Capital Markets, Competition and Trade, Corporate and M&A, Data Protection, Dispute Resolution, Intellectual Property, IT and Telecoms, Project Finance, and Restructuring and Insolvency.
- Australasian Law Awards (2020) - Corporate Citizen Firm of the Year.
- Best Lawyers Australia (2022) - Law Firm of the Year for Competition Law.
- Client Choice Awards (2021) - Most Innovative Law Firm.
- Mergermarket Australian M&A Awards (2021) - Technology, Media and Telecom M&A Legal Adviser of the Year and Private Equity Legal Adviser of the Year.
Corporate social responsibility
Gilbert + Tobin is a foundation signatory to the National Pro Bono Aspirational Target.[7]
In 2000, Danny Gilbert agreed to support a centre for public law at the University of New South Wales in Sydney, and in 2001 the Gilbert + Tobin Centre of Public Law was founded. It functions as a research centre specialising in constitutional and administrative law, Indigenous legal issues, and human rights.[8]
G + T dedicates significant resources to its Indigenous Legal Cadetship Program, employing Indigenous law students on a part-time basis for the duration of their degrees in Sydney, Melbourne and Perth. The program aims to increase the number of Indigenous people entering the legal profession.
In 2017, G + T backed campaigns for marriage equality in the Australian Same-Sex Marriage Postal Survey. They provided pro-bono legal advice to a major campaign group and supported staff in canvassing voters.[9]
Staff conditions
Over 2018 and 2019, the New South Wales workplace regulator, SafeWork NSW, investigated Gilbert + Tobin on two separate occasions, following complaints of workplace fatigue and excessive work hours.[10] The first inquiry was in response to allegations from a senior lawyer that the firm's junior lawyers regularly slept in offices and needed stimulant supplements to keep abreast of work demands.[11] The firm had its HR department launch an internal investigation. Managing partner Danny Gilbert characterised the complaint as "vicious" and as containing "untruths". Gilbert said he was aware of the onerous demands placed on staff, but the nature of the business environment meant high workloads were unavoidable. He emphasised in an email to staff that, nevertheless, workloads should not compromise health and safety, and the firm was always ready to do better and find ways to relieve staff pressure.[12]
After SafeWork met with management in January 2019, the regulator indicated it was satisfied, saying Gilbert + Tobin "had the organisational capacity and responsiveness to assess and address risks and issues as they arise", and declined to take further action.[12] A separate complaint arose in November 2019 with SafeWork undertaking a workplace inspection at G + T’s Sydney offices, where they interviewed fourteen staff members. SafeWork were to provide a full report on the firms's workplace policies following their inquiry.[10][13]
Some partners of other law firms were reportedly critical of what, in their view, appeared to be the minimisation and justification of adverse work conditions for, especially, young lawyers.[13] There have been reports of similarly excessive hours and high pressure for staff across leading law firms in Australia, and at least one other case of regulator intervention.[11][14]
References
- ↑ Gilbert + Tobin Lawyers. "Who We Are". www.gtlaw.com.au.
- ↑ Gilbert + Tobin Lawyers. "Why Join Us: Careers". www.gtlaw.com.au.
- ↑ Gilbert + Tobin Lawyers. "G+T advises Afterpay Limited on acquisition of Afterpay by Square, Inc". www.gtlaw.com.au.
- 1 2 Chambers and Partners. "Chambers Profiles: Gilbert + Tobin, Asia-Pacific". chambers.com.
- ↑ FT staff. "Asia-Pacific Innovative Lawyers 2017: FT 25 (Asia-Pacific headquartered)". The Financial Times. Archived from the original on 21 October 2020. Retrieved 19 July 2017.
- ↑ "Australian Law Awards 2016". www.auslawawards.com.au. Retrieved 19 July 2017.
- ↑ "Target Signatories - Australian Pro Bono Centre". Australian Pro Bono Centre. Retrieved 19 July 2017.
- ↑ "About us". University of NSW. Gilbert + Tobin Centre of Public Law. Retrieved 15 July 2019.
- ↑ Han, Misa; Bailey, Michael; Sier, Jessica (16 November 2017). "How corporates threw weight behind same-sex marriage". Australian Financial Review. Archived from the original on 4 March 2021. Retrieved 27 February 2022.
[At] Gilbert + Tobin, the internal LGBTI network organised two calling parties at work, with over 50 employees calling voters as part of the Yes campaign. The law firm backed the events by providing the phones, food and drinks.[...] Behind the scene, the firm's pro bono team provided legal support to the Australian Marriage Equality team.
- 1 2 Wootton, Hannah (15 November 2019). "SafeWork to investigate top law firm over work hours". Australian Financial Review. Archived from the original on 21 July 2021. Retrieved 27 February 2022.
- 1 2 Gillezeau, Natasha; Fowler, Elouise (24 January 2019). "What it's like working as a young corporate lawyer at a top tier firm". Australian Financial Review. Archived from the original on 20 May 2021. Retrieved 27 February 2022.
- 1 2 Fowler, Elouise; Gillezeau, Natasha (18 February 2019). "'Untruths': Gilbert + Tobin's Danny Gilbert rejects overwork culture". Australian Financial Review. Archived from the original on 10 June 2021. Retrieved 27 February 2022.
- 1 2 Wootton, Hannah (21 November 2019). "Gilbert + Tobin boss wrong about long hours". Australian Financial Review. Archived from the original on 20 May 2021. Retrieved 11 June 2020.
- ↑ Thompson, Sarah; Whyte, Jemima; Marin-Guzman, David (11 October 2018). "King & Wood Mallesons investigated for overworking employees". Australian Financial Review. Archived from the original on 1 December 2020. Retrieved 28 February 2022.