Phillip has been with Sparke Helmore for over 20 years.  He served as the firm's National Managing Partner from 2016 until March 2022, leading the implementation of the firm’s strategy with the vision of being a world-class independent Australian law firm that clients value for its people and performance.  Phillip also served as the firm’s Chair from 2009 to 2012 and as a member of the firm’s Board from 2014.
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Crystal Sanders has over 20 years of extensive international insurance industry experience and Australian legal expertise, in both private practice and in-house. She has a passion for delivering pragmatic and results-oriented solutions to the most complex and strategically important challenges faced by the insurance industry today.
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Matthew's insurance practice includes personal injury, compulsory third party (CTP), property damage, product liability, marine and business interruption claims. He specialises in major and catastrophic personal injury matters, and has a particular interest in brain injuries, spinal injuries and complex psychiatric conditions. Matthew is an appointed member of the NSW Health Professional Council Authority and is listed in the 2017 Doyle's Guide as a Leading lawyer for Public and Products Liability, and a Recommended lawyer for CTP.
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Helen is an experienced lawyer with over 15 years’ experience acting for public, private and not-for-profit clients across federal, state and local government jurisdictions. 
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Melanie is an insurance litigator with experience spanning various fields of insurance law, including public liability, product liability and professional indemnity claims. Melanie also works in the not-for-profit sector, assisting charitable and religious organisations responding to child abuse claims.
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Ashley is a lawyer specialising in the areas of employment, industrial relations, regulatory and safety. Ashley’s employment and industrial relations work sees him involved in a broad range of matters including advising clients on the management of employees (e.g. disciplinary, performance and capacity for work issues), advising on organisational compliance with legislation and industrial instruments (such as modern awards, contracts and enterprise agreements) and supporting employers with bargaining processes and employment disputes. Ashley’s safety and regulatory work involves advising and supporting clients in relation to regulatory investigations, including responding to statutory notices, the exercising of coercive powers and managing incident response more broadly. Ashley has acted for individuals, SMEs and large businesses in relation to criminal and civil prosecutions, including under work health and safety (WHS), environmental and other regulatory laws. Ashley was recognised as an Employment & WHS Law Rising Star in Victoria by Doyle's Guide (2022) as well as Best Lawyers One to Watch (2024, 2025 and 2026).
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Naomi is an Accredited Specialist in Local Government and Planning Law and also practises environment law. Naomi’s focus includes Land and Environment Court litigation, drafting and negotiating planning agreements and advising on planning and environment legislation in NSW.
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Emma is a property lawyer specialising in commercial and industrial acquisitions and divestments, off-the-plan developments and commercial leasing.
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Georgia has significant experience, working as employment and work health and safety (WHS) lawyer in the Adelaide team since 2017. Georgia prides herself on her ability to provide timely and practical advice to employers in a wide range of industries, whether that be defending a client in a safety prosecution or resolving a dismissal dispute.
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Jesse is an experienced lawyer and litigator who specialises in administrative law advice. He regularly appears as a solicitor advocate in the Federal Court and Federal Circuit Court in judicial review proceedings and the Administrative Review Tribunal in merits review proceedings.
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Samantha specialises in negotiating and advising on construction and infrastructure projects in the commercial, retail, large scale infrastructure and retirement living/aged care sectors.
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Shannon has more than 10 years' experience, predominantly in the insurance industry, working with defendants and large self-insurers.
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Merryn has worked for many years across brand, marketing and communications. She spent 18 years based in London working for various legal and accounting firms, before returning to Australia in 2008 to continue her career in professional services.
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Hilary is an experienced litigator who has acted for corporate, private and insured clients in a broad range of commercial disputes, extending to class actions. Hilary’s particular expertise is defending claims made against barristers and solicitors, a specialisation she has developed over more than 15 years.
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Jocelyn is an experienced litigator and specialises in broad disputes and investigations. She works on complex commercial disputes, compulsory examinations, corporate crime, bankruptcy and insolvency matters and alternative dispute resolution. Jocelyn also has corporate advisory experience and regularly appears in courts and tribunals on behalf of her clients.
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Sonja has over 18 years' experience in knowledge and information management—primarily in the legal industry. She specialises in knowledge management (KM) frameworks and programs, as well as the technologies and processes for managing intranets, websites and knowledge tools.
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Calvin is a property lawyer who specialises in large-scale and complex acquisitions and divestments, leasing matters, joint ventures and developments. His clients highly value his in-depth knowledge of property law and his strong commercial and resolution-focused approach. Calvin primarily acts for clients on a ‘portfolio’ basis, acting as their first point of contact and trusted adviser across a range of asset classes. He also brings his expertise and know-how to one-off projects and other matters.
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Michelle leads the leads the Maritime & Transport practice at Sparke Helmore and features as a leading shipping and transport practitioner in Chambers Asia-Pacific, Legal 500 Asia-Pacific, Best Lawyers, Doyle’s Guide and Who’s Who Legal (Lexology). She has won the Australasian Lawyer Elite Women Lawyers’ award . Michelle served as a Board member of the Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA) for a period of two years. AMSA is the Commonwealth authority responsible for maritime safety and protection of the marine environment. Michelle is the Immediate Past President of the Maritime Law Association of Australia and New Zealand (MLAANZ) and remains a member of the Board of MLAANZ. In this role, she contributes to working committees that provide national and international submissions regarding legislation and conventions related to maritime law, in particular: the Nairobi International Convention on the Removal of Wrecks, the Beijing Convention on the International Effects of the Judicial Sale of Ships and the laws on the carriage of goods by sea. Michelle's expertise in admiralty has led to her recent appointment by the Commonwealth Attorney-General to the Admiralty Rules Committee, to advise the Australian Government on rules relating to the practice of courts exercising jurisdiction in admiralty. Michelle is also an executive of the Australian Maritime and Transport Arbitration Commission (AMTAC) and was a founding member of the Port of Brisbane Seafarers’ Welfare Committee.
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