Hannah Lawson

Hannah enjoys working closely with clients who trust her to provide timely, practical, reliable and cost-effective day to day HR and workplace advice and risk management. 

When matters move beyond the workplace, Hannah is comfortable advocating for clients before both NSW and Federal jurisdictions, where she often achieves favourable interlocutory outcomes and settlements, avoiding the time and cost of arbitration. 

Prior to her Juris Doctorate and admission as a lawyer, Hannah worked in management consulting in Canberra. As an employment and industrial relations lawyer, Hannah has experience in a number of specialist workplace legal environments, including 18 months as an Associate to a Deputy President of the Fair Work Commission. 

 

Qualifications/Memberships

• Bachelor of Arts with Honours (Australian National University)

• Bachelor of Asia-Pacific Studies (Australian National University)

• Juris Doctorate (with Distinction) (University of New South Wales)

• Solicitor of the Supreme Court of NSW and High Court of Australia

• Executive Committee Member of the Women Lawyers Association of NSW since December 2023

• Member – Law Society of Australia

 

A word from Hannah

Workplace law affects every single person, every day, no matter how you work and who you work for. 

Not only do I love working in and developing an expertise in such a relevant and people-driven area of the law, but I also get a kick out of how these everyday experiences are covered by an overlap of contractual, commercial, equitable, industrial, discrimination and health & safety law. 

It is my absolute pleasure to advise clients and assist them to navigate the complex matters that arise in workplaces, and deliver the best possible outcome for all parties. 

 

Career highlights

• In one of the first ever applications for a Single-Interest Employer Authorisation in the Fair Work Commission, delivering a decision for our client, a NSW-based coal mine, after a six day-hearing, that they were not “reasonably comparable” and did not have “clearly identifiable common interests” to four other coal mines, and therefore could not be covered by the Authorisation.

• Achieving summary dismissal at the outset of a two-day special fixture hearing in the Local Court of NSW where a former NSW government sector employee sought nearly $100,000 in compensation through a complex and novel breach of contract claim.

• Assisting a State Government client to urgently prove in the Industrial Relations Commission that an employee-organisation was engaging in industrial action by organising and encouraging mass resignations amongst their members.

 

Specific areas of focus

• Appearing as an advocate for clients before State and Federal industrial tribunals and the NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal.

• Advising and assisting clients in the management of ill and injured workers; performance management and disciplinary action; and restructures and redundancies.

• Preparing suites of customised employment contracts that meet clients’ specific business needs.

• Conducting and providing findings on sensitive workplace investigations.

• Due diligence for mergers and acquisitions including employment and industrial risks.