Why did you become a lawyer?

I was one of those annoy­ing kids walk­ing around telling peo­ple from a very young age that I would one day be a lawyer, then shout­ing things like OBJEC­TION!” in con­ver­sa­tion. As I got old­er, and became a senior at a rur­al, pub­lic school, I was dis­cour­aged from aim­ing for this due to the lack of oppor­tu­ni­ties avail­able to me. If any­thing, it made me want it more. Not only did I get into law school, but I made it Swaab in Syd­ney and love the intel­lec­tu­al chal­lenges that face me every day.

Why Swaab?

Swaab is a uni­corn. Swaab punch­es above its weight for a mid-tier firm with its client base and work. It is both impres­sive yet steeped in a sup­port­ive and fun envi­ron­ment. The Man­ag­ing Part­ner knows your name. In fact, every­one does. We work hard. We sup­port each oth­er. We cel­e­brate togeth­er. My col­leagues are my men­tors, team­mates, and friends.

What’s your best mem­o­ry or client success?

Being pro­mot­ed to Senior Asso­ciate recent­ly. I work hard to sup­port my team and the part­ners in it. But it has been won­der­ful receiv­ing con­grat­u­la­tions’ from many of the oth­er part­ners in the firm, even those who do not work close­ly with me. It is nice to know that oth­ers in the firm, out­side of your team, can see and acknowl­edge your hard work. 

Who has been your great­est influence?

In life – my Dad. In work, Daniel Ken­twell. Dan worked his way from the mail room, to EA, to para­le­gal and even­tu­al­ly, Senior Asso­ciate. He was taught by the best (Mary Digiglio) and passed on all his teach­ings to me. He was a patient men­tor, friend, and guide through my ear­ly years as a lawyer.

What do you like to do out­side of work?

Wine & dine my way through Syd­ney’s impres­sive restau­rants with my husband

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

Work­place Rela­tion­ships: The Legal Posi­tion (Cold­play Con­cert Edition)

The recent sto­ry of col­leagues (a Chief Exec­u­tive Offi­cer and Chief Peo­ple Offi­cer (CPO)) whose appar­ent rela­tion­ship was cap­tured on…

Dis­missal for Dissent?

The recent unfair dis­missal deci­sion of the Fair Work Com­mis­sion, Shaun Turn­er v Dare­bin City Coun­cil [2025] FWC 1763, in which Deputy…

Con­struc­tion con­tract time­frames and their inter­ac­tion with the NSW Secu­ri­ty of Pay­ment legislation.

Mark Glynn, Con­struc­tion Part­ner at Swaab con­sid­ers the recent deci­sion of Shar­vain Facades Pty Ltd (Admin­is­tra­tors Appoint­ed) v Roberts Co (NSW)…

In the News

Michael Byrnes appeared on Break­fast with Tim Web­ster on 2SM on 23 July 2025 to dis­cuss work­place rela­tion­ships and that Cold­play concert

Michael Byrnes appeared on Break­fast with Tim Web­ster on 2SM on 23 July 2025 to dis­cuss work­place rela­tion­ships and that…

Michael Byrnes is quot­ed in the arti­cle, Cold­play con­tro­ver­sy expos­es HR vul­ner­a­bil­i­ty in lead­er­ship rela­tion­ships”, pub­lished in HR Leader on 23 July 2025

Michael Byrnes is quot­ed in the arti­cle, ​“Cold­play con­tro­ver­sy expos­es HR vul­ner­a­bil­i­ty in lead­er­ship rela­tion­ships”, pub­lished in HR Leader on…

Michael Byrnes’ arti­cle 7 com­mon ques­tions about work­place rela­tion­ships”, was pub­lished on HRM Online on 22 July 2025

Michael Byrnes’ arti­cle ​“7 com­mon ques­tions about work­place rela­tion­ships”, was pub­lished on HRM Online on 22 July 2025To read the full…

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