Penelope Anna Thew (State Chambers) Wins Commercial Barrister of the Year

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Winner in the Corporate LiveWire Global Awards 2023/24

A specialist in employment and discrimination law, appellate matters, contractual disputes, and restraints of trade, Penelope Anna Thew (Penny) is part of the barrister team at State Chambers. Based in Sydney, State Chambers is well-recognised for having members who have excelled in a number of speciality practice areas. Penny boasts 23 years of experience in advocacy, advising, and dispute resolution in her specialist area of the law. In addition, she has been appointed a part-time Tribunal Member of the Consumer and Commercial Division of the NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal since 2017. Penny is a member of the world’s leading body in dispute resolution, the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators, a member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors, and a member of the Bar Association’s Industrial, Employment, Health and Safety Committee, as well as an editorial member of Bar News. Additionally, she was a long-standing member of the Bar Association’s Diversity and Equality Committee, assisting to shape discrimination and inclusion policy at the Bar.
 
Penny regularly appears in the Federal Court of Australia, Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia, Supreme Court of NSW, District Court, Fair Work Commission, and the Industrial Relations Commission of NSW. She is admitted to appear in the High Court of Australia, the country’s apex court. Penny’s outstanding expertise is regularly called upon, including by the NSW Bar Association and Law Society, to deliver seminars and develop papers on employment and discrimination law compliance issues. Furthermore, she has co-authored submissions for the Bar Association and Australia Human Rights Commission, amongst others. Alongside her day-to-day role as a barrister at State Chambers, Penny has in the past tutored in Civil Practice for the Law Faculty at Sydney’s University of Technology, and prior to her call to the Bar, undertook a secondment with the International Labour Office in Geneva, Switzerland.
 
The judging panel was impressed by Penny’s client-centric approach to litigation across the realms of employment and discrimination law. Penny is well-regarded in the sector for her high responsiveness and strategic approach that has seen her assist a broad range of clients, including multi-national and listed corporations, government departments and agencies, employer associations, small businesses, and individuals, showcasing her people-focused and expert approach on a daily basis.
 
“Penny’s people-focused and expert-led approach delivers exceptional results for her clients.”

Website: www.statechambers.net/penny-thew