The Partners take pleasure in advising all staff of the following appointments:

Appointment to Associate

Alana Main

Alana Main commenced employment with Turner Freeman in our Perth office on 28 June 2010. She worked as a law clerk in that office until August 2017 when she was admitted to practice as a solicitor in the Supreme Court of Western Australia. Since that time she has worked in our Perth office exclusively in the area of dust diseases litigation.

We congratulate Alana upon her appointment to the position of Associate with the Firm.

Jess Pittman

Jess Pittman commenced employment with Turner Freeman in our Adelaide office in August 2013 as a law clerk. In July 2017 she was admitted to practice as a solicitor in the Supreme Court of South Australia. Since that time she has worked extensively in the area of dust diseases litigation and has also practised in the areas of general workers compensation litigation and noise induced hearing loss claims.

We congratulate Jess upon her appointment to the position of Associate with the Firm.

Beth Castell

Beth Castell commenced employment with Turner Freeman our Adelaide office on 8 December 2014. She has practiced exclusively in the area of wills and estate law. She has, since joining Turner Freeman developed a wills and estates practice for the Adelaide office.

We congratulate Beth upon her appointment to the position of Associate with the Firm.

Jessica Preston

Jessica Preston is employed at our Varsity Lakes office on the Gold Coast. She joined the Firm in December 2017 having worked at number of Firms including Moray & Agnew, Maurice Blackburn and Mark Flynn & Associates in various capacities. Her work includes TPD claims, motor vehicle accident claims, public liability claims and statutory WorkCover claims in Queensland.  Her prior experience with the law of NSW enables her to also conduct personal injury matters within NSW.

We congratulate Jessica upon her appointment to the position of Associate with the Firm.

Appointment to Senior Associate

Darren Whitelegg

Darren Whitelegg commenced employment with Turner Freeman on 3 January 2012 as a law clerk. He was admitted as a solicitor in the Supreme Court of Queensland on 13 December 2012. His entire legal career has been with Turner Freeman, having initially worked in the Ipswich office and then transferred to the Toowoomba office when it opened in July 2013.  Darren was promoted to the position of Associate at Toowoomba on 1 July 2015.

Darren is the sole legal practitioner at Toowoomba. He works in all areas of personal injury litigation in the Toowoomba office. He has played a pivotal role in the success of the Toowoomba office.

We congratulate Darren upon his appointment to the position of Senior Associate with the Firm.

Emma Davidson

Emma Davidson commenced employment with Turner Freeman in December 2009 as a law clerk. At that time she worked in our Brisbane office. She was admitted as a solicitor in the Supreme Court of Queensland  in January 2012. After her admission she continued to practice from our Brisbane office.

After a period of maternity leave she returned to us and relocated to work at the Southport office. She has remained a member of the Gold Coast branch, now located at Varsity Lakes initially in the capacity of a Solicitor and later as an Associate.   She now resides at Coffs Harbour, works independently, but continues to be a Branch employee of Varsity Lakes.

Emma has worked extensively in all areas of personal injury litigation including Queensland statutory workers compensation claims and Commonwealth Seafarers and SRCA claims.  She also has experience in public liability, motor vehicle, TPD and dust diseases claims in both the Queensland and New South Wales jurisdictions.

We congratulate Emma upon her appointment to the position of Senior Associate with the Firm.

Appointment to Partner

This year a record number of our Senior Associates have been promoted to the partnership. Indeed, the current intake represents the largest ever intake into the partnership in a single year.  Those that have been successful are:

Tamaryn Caldwell

Tamaryn Caldwell commenced employment with Turner Freeman in our Brisbane office in August 2007 as a graduate lawyer.  From the outset she worked directly under Thady’s supervision.  Since joining the firm she has worked exclusively in dust diseases litigation, in both the Queensland and New South Wales jurisdictions.

Tamaryn has been pivotal to the success and growth of our North Lakes office. Tamaryn was promoted to the position of Senior Associate on 1 July 2014. In 2015 she submitted a proposal to the partnership to open a branch office at North Lakes, in the northern suburbs of Brisbane.  That office opened in August 2015.

Tamaryn now has eleven years of experience working in dust diseases litigation and has developed a high level of skill and competence in the area.

With her appointment to the position of Partner with the Firm Tamaryn will be the Branch Manager of the North Lakes Office.

We congratulate Tamaryn upon her appointment to the position of Partner with the Firm.

Ciaran Ehrich

Ciaran Ehrich commenced employment with Turner Freeman in our Brisbane office in June 2012 as a graduate lawyer. Upon his admission to practice in the Supreme Court of Queensland he was employed as a Solicitor working exclusively in the area of dust diseases litigation under Thady’s supervision.

On 1 July 2017 Ciaran was promoted to the position of Senior Associate.

He initially worked in the Brisbane office and in 2017 relocated to the Gold Coast and took up a senior position at our new Varsity Lakes office.

Ciaran has developed a  high level of expertise in dust diseases litigation, litigating claims in both Queensland and New South Wales.

Ciaran has in recent times developed an interest in general personal injury law in New South Wales and over time intends to position the Firm on the Northern Rivers, opening up an opportunity to practice in all types of general personal injury litigation in New South Wales.

With his promotion to the position of Partner Ciaran will formally become the Branch Manager at Varsity Lakes.

We congratulate Ciaran upon his appointment to the position of Partner with the Firm.

Ben Grosse

Ben Grosse commenced employment with Turner Freeman in our Newcastle office in December 2010, initially as a law clerk. He was admitted to practice in the Supreme Court of New South Wales in late 2011 and in January 2012 commenced work as a junior lawyer under Gerard’s supervision. Ben has worked almost exclusively in general personal injury litigation including workers compensation claims, work injury damages claims, CTP, public liability and TPD claims.

On 1 July 2017 Ben was promoted to the position of Senior Associate. Since that time he was worked exclusively in the general personal injuries area, in all types of general personal injury claims including highly complex claims and catastrophic claims.

Ben is an important contact point for the Firm with our institutional clients in New South Wales including the AMWU, the FSU and the CFMEU Manufacturing Division.

With his promotion to the position of Partner Ben will assume the role of Practice Group Leader of all of our general personal injuries practice at the Newcastle Branch.

We congratulate Ben upon his appointment to the position of Partner with the Firm.

Jenna Hutchinson

Jenna Hutchinson commenced employment with Turner Freeman in our Brisbane office in June 2013. The intention, when she commenced with the Firm was to build a wills and estates law department.  There was almost no estate planning or estate administration practice to speak of in Brisbane when she commenced with the Firm.

Since commencing with us Jenna has slowly grown the practice such that she currently supervises six staff including two solicitors, three full time paralegals and a secretary.  She is also responsible for supervising and training lawyers and paralegals in other Queensland offices.

Jenna was appointed a Senior Associate with the Firm on 1 July 2017.

Jenna is pivotal to the future development of the estate planning and estate law practice in Queensland. The Firm intends to gradually develop a wills and estates practice in every office in Queensland under Jenna’s supervision.

We congratulate Jenna upon her appointment to the position of Partner with the Firm.

Gerard Morson

Gerard Morson commenced employment with Turner Freeman in our Parramatta office in September 2015.

Prior to working for the Firm Gerard worked for Bells at Penrith and Brydens at Liverpool.

In early 2016 Gerard relocated to our Penrith office where he has developed a very substantial personal injury practice. There are now several solicitors and a paralegal working with Gerard in that practice area.

Gerard was promoted to the position of Senior Associate on 1 July 2017.

The Penrith office is unique in that there is a large general law practice at that office with large quantities of non personal injury work including estate law and property law work.

With his promotion to partnership Gerard will assume the role of Branch Manager with responsibility over not just the personal injury practice but also the non personal injury practice.  He will work closely with John Mann to transition into this new role.

We congratulate Gerard upon his appointment to the position of Partner with the Firm.

Matthew O’Keefe

Matthew O’Keefe commenced employment with Turner Freeman in January 2012 as a Solicitor.  He has, since commencing with the Firm, worked at our Ipswich office.

On 1  July 2017 Matthew was promoted to the position of Senior Associate.

From March 2017 Matthew has been responsible for managing the Ipswich office, its legal work and its staff.

Matthew has extensive experience in all areas of general personal injury law including workers compensation claims, public liability claims, motor vehicle accident claims, industrial deafness claims, TPD claims, skin cancer claims, medical negligence claims, dependency claims and nervous shock claims.  Since 2017 he has also gained experience in litigating asbestos and dust diseases claims.

Matthew supervises a significant number of professional and non professional staff at the Ipswich office. The Ipswich office is one of our larger regional offices, ten staff now working in Ipswich.

Matthew’s promotion to the partnership will formalise his position as the Branch Manager at Ipswich.

We congratulate Matthew upon his appointment to the position of Partner with the Firm.

Ann-Maree Pascoli

Ann-Maree Pascoli commenced employment with Turner Freeman in our Parramatta office in March 2007 as an employed solicitor.  Her first stint with the Firm was between March 2007 and August 2010. During that period she worked primarily in the area of dust diseases litigation in New South Wales and had carriage of the medical negligence practice at Parramatta.

She left the Firm to broaden her experience in medical negligence law.

In February 2017 she returned to the Firm and has since practiced in both dust disease and medical negligence files.

On 1 July 2018 Ann-Maree was promoted to the position of Senior Associate.

Since her promotion to the position of Senior Associate Ann-Maree has worked as part of the leadership team in the western Sydney offices.

With her promotion to the position of Partner Ann-Maree will become the Practice Group Leader in Western Sydney in medical negligence and institutional abuse claims and will supervise the staff in that area.  She will continue to work in the dust diseases practice.

We congratulate Ann-Maree upon her appointment to the position of Partner with the Firm.

The Partners take this opportunity to thank all of those who have received promotion for their hard work, dedication and commitment to the Firm, its clients and its continuing expansion and growth.