Roland Hassall
Chair and PartnerAbout Roland
Roland is a senior employment lawyer with more than 30 years' experience guiding and assisting executives and managers, across diverse industry sectors, manage and resolve employment issues ranging from the highly complex to the commonplace.
Roland is also the current Chair of Sparke Helmore's Board.
What he does
Roland appreciates the sensitivity and reputational issues organisations face when dealing with difficult workplace issues. He takes a balanced approach to finding practical and fair solutions. In the growing area of bullying and harassment claims, Roland has the ability to devise end-to-end solutions that reduce costs, improve productivity and minimise the potential for reputational damage.
Who he works with
Roland works with all levels of government, large public companies and smaller private companies across a diverse range of industry sectors, as well as with specialist organisations such as Netball NSW.
What his clients say
"I have worked closely with Roland for a number of years. He has supported my business needs at every turn, working closely with us on a variety of matters, including training key personnel. His employment law knowledge is first rate, but what sets him apart is his ability to think of practical solutions that best suit his client's needs." Ed Mallett, CEO, Employsure
"Working with Roland for the past 10 years has demonstrated to us on many occasions how important it is that you have someone that not only understands your business, but adds value to your business. Roland's support and expertise has guided our organisation as we have grown, looking after our greatest asset – our people." Carolyn Campbell, CEO, Netball NSW
Qualifications
Roland has a Bachelor of Economics and a Master in Law degree. He is also an Accredited Specialist in Employment & Industrial Law.
Life before Sparkes
Roland joined the firm very soon after graduating from Sydney University in the early 1990s. He's packed in a lot of professional "life" since joining the firm by completing a Master of Laws at his alma mater, working on secondment as in-house counsel and taking a leading role in the firm's community and graduate programs over the years.
Life outside of Sparkes
Roland is the firm's resident marathon man. He's run 20 marathons and 18 ultra-marathons in the past 20 years. He's even persuaded his daughters to get involved in running and participating in Sydney's City2Surf is a now a family running favourite.
In August 2016, Sparke Helmore Lawyers acted for the Respondent in a somewhat uncommon decision handed down by the Fair Work Commission (FWC) dismissing an order to stop bullying.
OAMPS wanted to protect the companies’ goodwill. OAMPS sought interlocutory injunctions to enforce the restraint provisions in the employees' contracts, preventing them from working with a direct competitor and soliciting clients.
On behalf of engineering consultant APT Technology, our Employment team successfully obtained an injunction against a former APT employee.
