News

Piper Alderman’s 2025 end of year client update and season’s greetings

19/12/2025

A message from Managing Partner, Tony Britten-Jones

As 2025 draws to a close, I want to express my sincere appreciation for your ongoing support. The trust you place in Piper Alderman and the opportunities to work together mean a great deal to us. Your partnership is truly valued, and we look forward to continuing our collaboration.

We end our year with the heaviest of hearts.

Sadly, we saw the passing of our colleague, partner and friend, Cheryl Weston, on 22 November 2025. Cheryl was a widely respected insolvency and litigation practitioner whose professionalism, warmth and unwavering strength of purpose left an indelible mark on Piper Alderman and the clients she served. Cheryl will be dearly missed.

Last Sunday we witnessed a horrendous incident at Bondi, from which we will reel for a long time. We express our sincerest condolences to the families of the victims and wish for the recovery of the injured. We extend our solidarity and support to the Jewish community and pray that the resilience and strength that has been their hallmark throughout their long history helps them at this most troubling of times.

As we farewell a sad 2025 and move into the new year, I want to share some significant leadership changes at Piper Alderman. After many rewarding years as Managing Partner, I will finish in this role on 31 January and take on the position of National Head of Real Estate. This change will help us strengthen and grow our real estate practice while continuing to deliver exceptional service to our clients.

From 1 February, James Macdonald will take on the role of Managing Partner. James brings a wealth of experience and a strong commitment to our firm’s future. James will be supported by Deputy Managing Partners Martin Lovell and McKenzie Moore.

On the same date, Tim O’Callaghan will step down from his role as Deputy Managing Partner and Head of our Adelaide office. Tim celebrates 40 years with Piper Alderman this month and has made an outstanding contribution during his tenure as Deputy Managing Partner and Head of Adelaide, and we thank him for his dedication and the positive impact he has had on the firm. Tim will continue to contribute to the firm through his leading Intellectual Property practice in particular.

We congratulate highly credentialed commercial and agribusiness partner Simon Venus as he steps into the Head of Adelaide role from 1 February.

This year has also been one of strong growth. We welcomed six new partners across the firm including Olena Brodovska, Hannah Brown, Cris Cureton, Richard Horton and David Starkoff in our Sydney office and Marisa Orr in our Perth office.

On 1 July 2025, we promoted 17 lawyers and business services employees, and we will be promoting an additional 10 lawyers in the new year, including two new partner appointments with Alicia Chryssochoides in our Sydney office and Kylie Maxwell in our Brisbane office.

Our practice teams have worked diligently to meet the diverse needs of our clients. To learn more about their achievements, key developments, industry insights and ambitious plans for 2026, we invite you to explore our ’2025 Year in Review’ publications’ available on our website:

At Piper Alderman, we are dedicated to advocating for our clients with the utmost discretion. Your business, your investments, and your achievements remain at the heart of everything we do – a commitment that has guided our firm for more than 175 years.

On behalf of our partners and employees, I extend our warmest Season’s Greetings and wish you a safe, peaceful and restorative break. As we pause during this difficult time, our thoughts remain with all who have been impacted. We look forward to reconnecting and collaborating with you in 2026.

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