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

Per­son­al Lia­bil­i­ty for Build­ing Defects: The scope of sec­tion 37 of the Design and Build­ing Prac­ti­tion­ers Act 2020 (NSW)

NSW Supreme Court con­firms direc­tors and project man­agers can be per­son­al­ly liable under sec­tion 37 of the Design and Build­ing…

Pineap­ple on the Piz­za: Rea­son­able Direc­tion to Com­mit a Culi­nary Cul­tur­al Crime

The recent Fair Work Com­mis­sion (FWC) deci­sion in Mr Davide Tam­bu­rel­la v The Trustee For La Cos­ta Hos­pi­tal­i­ty Unit Trust [2026] FWC 4264…

‘Tis the Sea­son to Avoid Fol­ly: Work­place Christ­mas Par­ties (2026 Edition)

It’s that time of year. The ​‘Sil­ly Sea­son’. For many organ­i­sa­tions, the offi­cial employ­er Christ­mas par­ty is imminent.The start­ing point for…

In the News

Michael Byrnes is quot­ed in the arti­cle, ​“Sky­dance staff buy­out offer at Ten poten­tial­ly rais­es legal red flags”, pub­lished in Mum­brel­la on 6 Novem­ber 20

Could Sky­dance’s staff buy­out offer at Ten cre­ate legal risks or employ­ment law issues?Michael Byrnes is quot­ed in the arti­cle, ​“Sky­dance…

Michael Byrnes appeared on McK­night Tonight with Robert McK­night on 4 Novem­ber 2026 to dis­cuss the lat­est devel­op­ments in the Jack­ie ​‘O’ Hen­der­son v ARN case (from 3:42 to 18:30)

Analy­sis of the lat­est Fed­er­al Court devel­op­ments in Jack­ie O’s case against ARN, includ­ing priv­i­lege rul­ings, the board memo and…

Michael Byrnes is quot­ed in the arti­cle, ​“Mel­bourne Cup – a giant red flag, or a bit of fun?”, pub­lished in HR Leader on 3 Novem­ber 2026

Is the Mel­bourne Cup a Work­place Cul­ture Risk? HR Guid­ance on Inclu­sion, Alco­hol and Employ­ee Wellbeing.Michael Byrnes is quot­ed in the arti­cle…

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