Hon­our­ing our founder, our peo­ple, and our clients

This year, Swaab proud­ly marks 45 years since our found­ing by the late Fredrick (Fred) Swaab an entre­pre­neur, men­tor, and leader remem­bered for his inno­va­tion and gen­eros­i­ty of spir­it. Fred estab­lished Swaab in 1981, led the firm for decades, and set a stan­dard of care for peo­ple and clients that con­tin­ues to define us today.

Man­ag­ing Part­ner, Mary Digiglio, said: Fred believed the firm’s part­ners were cus­to­di­ans, respon­si­ble for build­ing a firm that would serve future gen­er­a­tions of lawyers and clients. That con­vic­tion con­tin­ues to guide our lead­er­ship today. Fred’s goal was not mere­ly the pur­suit of com­mer­cial suc­cess; it was also to sup­port those in need of care­ful guid­ance through legal quag­mires and con­flicts. He built our firm on the expec­ta­tion that our peo­ple deliv­ered hon­est, con­sid­ered, and pro­fes­sion­al advice backed by deep skill, exper­tise, and excel­lent service.

Our aim has always been to cre­ate a work­place that is not only enjoyed, but one that inspires great work, per­son­al growth, and pro­fes­sion­al devel­op­ment. Togeth­er, these val­ues enhance our abil­i­ty to deliv­er unri­valled val­ue for mon­ey and excep­tion­al ser­vice, hall­marked by our Gen­eros­i­ty of Spir­it and com­mit­ment to liv­ing the Swaab Brand of Ser­vice. This means a down‑to‑earth approach ground­ed in deep legal exper­tise and a gen­uine under­stand­ing of our clients’ needs, enabling us to offer bespoke advice and prac­ti­cal outcomes.

As I reflect on this mile­stone, I’m remind­ed that our 45‑year jour­ney belongs just as much to our clients and friends as it does to us. Your trust, your feed­back, and your advo­ca­cy have shaped who we are as a firm. You have helped define Swaab’s jour­ney and encour­aged us to keep rais­ing the bar.”

From Fred’s vision in 1981 to today’s multi‑award‑winning full‑service firm, we are proud of how far we’ve come and even more excit­ed for what lies ahead. With our peo­ple, clients, and Swaab Brand of Ser­vice at the cen­tre of every­thing we do, the future looks bright.

If you would like to repub­lish this arti­cle, it is gen­er­al­ly approved, but pri­or to doing so please con­tact the Mar­ket­ing team at marketing@​swaab.​com.​au. This arti­cle is not legal advice and the views and com­ments are of a gen­er­al nature only. This arti­cle is not to be relied upon in sub­sti­tu­tion for detailed legal advice.

Publications

Impor­tant Work­place Rela­tions Changes Effec­tive 1 July 2026

Employ­ers and employ­ees alike should be aware of impor­tant changes in the work­place rela­tions are­na, effec­tive 1 July 2026. From that date:the…

Strata Plan 92183 v Samdora Pty Ltd [2026] NSWSC 406 | 'Substantive Control' over Works & s37 of the DB&P Act

In this case, the plain­tiff (Stra­ta Plan 92183) brought pro­ceed­ings alleg­ing defec­tive res­i­den­tial build­ing work in rela­tion to 9 town hous­es…

Dis­clo­sure: When is enough enough?

Dis­clo­sure, the fam­i­ly law equiv­a­lent of dis­cov­ery in oth­er kinds of civ­il pro­ceed­ings, is a foun­da­tion­al part of fam­i­ly law matters. The Fed­er­al…

In the News

Michael Byrnes was quot­ed in the arti­cle, What HR can learn from the Ste­fanovic saga”, pub­lished in HR Leader on 26 June 2026

Michael Byrnes was quot­ed in the arti­cle, ​“What HR can learn from the Ste­fanovic saga”, pub­lished in HR Leader on…

Michael Byrnes appeared on the Game Chang­ers Radio pod­cast host­ed by Craig Bruce and Irene Hulme on 26 June 2026 to dis­cuss the lat­est devel­op­ments in the pro­ceed­ings brought by Jack­ie O’ Hen­der­son against ARN

Michael Byrnes appeared on the Game Chang­ers Radio pod­cast host­ed by Craig Bruce and Irene Hulme on 26 June 202…

Michael Byrnes appeared on Break­fast with David Pen­berthy and Will Good­ings on FIVEAA on 26 June 2026 to dis­cuss the employ­ment of Karl Ste­fanovic with the Nine Net­work (from 23:25 to 28:45)

Michael Byrnes appeared on Break­fast with David Pen­berthy and Will Good­ings on FIVEAA on 26 June 2026 to dis­cuss the employ­ment…

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