Current Opportunities

The role

Do you want to be part of one of Melbourne’s leading restructuring and insolvency teams? Are you a technically strong commercial litigator with 3 – 5 years PQE? If so, we would love to hear from you.

Working directly under the supervision of industry recognised Restructuring & Insolvency partners, Michael Lhuede and Joanne Hardwick, and supported by a close knit team, this is an outstanding opportunity to work across a broad range of insolvency and restructuring matters and general commercial litigation. This role will see you refining your existing commercial litigation and analytical skills, working on a wide range of matters to truly develop your restructuring and insolvency skillset. Beyond the legal work and as part of the team, you will also be involved in aspects of business development and client management. 

In the insolvency and restructuring space you will provide specialist advice and representation to company boards, liquidators, receivers, administrators and bankruptcy trustees. The work is varied and offers the opportunity to develop high level expertise across voidable transaction claims, remuneration and priority issues, statutory compliance & stakeholder negotiations and restructuring & turnaround.  As to the commercial litigation aspect of the role, you will be exposed to matters generally in the Supreme and Federal Courts relating to contractual disputes, property disputes, shareholder disputes, misleading and deceptive conduct claims, derivative actions and general commercial disputes.

Your teammates will be like-minded high-performing individuals who thrive on the complex and profile matters that we regularly are engaged to undertake.  This role is rare, and we are confident it will offer the right candidate the chance to springboard their existing technical expertise to more complex and challenging work.

About you

• A minimum of 3+ years of legal experience with demonstrable experience in general commercial litigation and restructuring and insolvency law.
• Experience working both autonomously and collaboratively on matters, with the aptitude to manage direct client contact and the capability to effectively manage up and down where required.
• Initiative to take on the day-to-day conduct of litigation under the supervision of partners.
• A willingness to grow your advocacy and examination skills before a Court.
• Capability to work collaboratively within a high performing local team environment whilst also collaborating with other practice groups both in Melbourne and nationally.
• A commitment to excellence and delivery of high-quality outcomes to our clients including working within tight timeframes.
• Excellent attention to detail with well-established technical legal skills and strong commercial acumen.
• A self-motivated and ‘can-do’ attitude with an eagerness to learn and grow your career with Piper Alderman.

About our Insolvency & Restructuring Practice

Piper Alderman’s Restructuring and Insolvency team is nationally recognised within the industry as a leading authority, with particular expertise and experience in the SME market.  Our lead partners (Michael Lhuede and Joanne Hardwick – Melbourne, Thomas Russell, – Sydney, and Mike Hayes – Adelaide) are all highly esteemed within the insolvency market.  Representing a broad spectrum of insolvency practitioners from the Big 4 accounting firms (KPMG, PWC, and Deloitte); the large specialist insolvency firms (KordaMentha, McGrath Nicol and Grant Thornton); through to deep engagement with a large cross-section of the SME insolvency practices servicing the largest part of the market.  Additionally, we act for banks and finance companies and regularly handle the restructuring of distressed businesses and advise directors, creditors and debtors alike. 

Our recent experience spans from the high profile “crypto-currency” collapses such as FTX, the fast-moving and complex administration of the gold miner, Balmaine Gold, through to navigating bankruptcy trustees through challenging complex test cases and vexatious litigants.

Our partners are experts in their fields, having been involved in some of Australia’s largest and most complex insolvency administrations. They are recognised as leading lawyers in peer and client reviews including The Legal 500, The Best Lawyers® in Australia and Doyle’s Guide. Our distinguished partners include Fellows of the Australian Restructuring, Insolvency & Turnaround Association and members of the Law Council of Australia’s Insolvency & Reconstruction Committee who have been instrumental in the development and reform of insolvency law for over 30 years.

About us

Piper Alderman is a premier commercial law firm with offices in Sydney, Brisbane, Adelaide, Perth and Melbourne. We work with clients across Australia and internationally to achieve practical commercial outcomes, innovation in service delivery and deep engagement across multiple industries.

Piper Alderman prides itself on being a collaborative law firm where high achieving ambitious team members can succeed in achieving their career goals whilst performing challenging and rewarding tasks.

At Piper Alderman we promote a culture of excellence, collaboration and teamwork. We recognise and support individuals and invest in their continued professional development.

Our perks

We have a variety of employee benefits aimed at supporting our people including, but not limited to:

• A variety of health and wellbeing initiatives including our Thrive@PiperAlderman Wellbeing Program.
• Learning and development opportunities to support career growth including generous study support options.
• An attractive Parental Leave policy offering up to 26 weeks paid leave.
• Automatic acceptance into the group Salary Continuance insurance plan
• Purchased annual leave options.
• A range of fun office and team events all year round so we make sure we are connecting socially as often as possible!
• A range of corporate discounts.
• Employee-led Diversity & Inclusion and Reconciliation Committees and the opportunity to participate in pro-bono work.

Apply today

Piper Alderman is committed to creating a diverse and inclusive workplace. We aim to attract and retain the best people and provide an environment where those people can be their authentic selves.  We value diversity of thought and experience and aim to ensure all our people are valued and respected.  People from all backgrounds are encouraged to apply.

Please submit an application by clicking the relevant link in this job advertisement. Please note, no applications will be accepted directly via email.