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More than 100 people attended a ceremony at the Law Society of NSW this week to celebrate 61 new Accredited Specialists who have been recognised for their specialist knowledge in an area of practice.

Jacqui Dawson, chair of the Specialist Accreditation Board, warmly welcomed the awardees and their guests. She acknowledged the important role that legal practitioners play at a critical junction in the lives of their clients, and the responsibility that comes with it.

“The fact that we have legal experts in the solicitor profession – people whose knowledge encompasses extra dimensions – is crucial. But Specialist Accreditation is more than a reason for hope – it is a mark of attainment. You are in that rare cohort,” she said.

The Accredited Specialisation program has been running for more than three decades and there are only around 1,600 Accredited Specialists in NSW.

In 2025, 236 candidates were accepted into the program. 196 candidates completed the program and 61 candidates passed. The number of new Accredited Specialists across each of the practice areas were:

  • Business Law: five
  • Commercial Litigation: six
  • Criminal Law: 12
  • Family Law: 18
  • Property Law: 10
  • Wills & Estates: 10

Congratulations to the 2025 Accredited Specialists

Business Law

  • Fangjie Chen
  • Clarissa Follan
  • Wanqi Hong
  • William Parton
  • Harley Purnell

Commercial Litigation

  • Stuart Cork
  • Anneka Frayne
  • Chunyu Gong
  • Toni Murtanovski
  • Rory Sidey
  • Ashok Yogachandra

Criminal Law

  • Robert Candelori
  • Albert Cheng
  • Angela Cheng
  • Helen Christinson
  • Isha Fay
  • Jie Hu
  • Damien Mahon
  • Jordan Portokalli
  • Analise Ritchie
  • Aaron Roberts
  • Daniel Shestowsky
  • Grant Slowgrove

Family Law

  • Joshua Anderson
  • Meghan Barr
  • Timothy Bowring
  • Amelia Coutts
  • Kathryn Dunkley
  • Maggie Faddoul
  • Samireh Friis
  • Antoinette Gauci
  • Walid Kalouche
  • Antonia Marran
  • Clare McAteer
  • Jeanette Merjane
  • Jennifer Ognenovski
  • Amy Papandreas
  • Beatrice Patterson
  • Anthony Saba
  • Brooke Thomas
  • Ivy Tran

Property Law

  • Vanessa Caputo
  • Neil Hendriks
  • Chun-Chi Hung
  • Helen Jabbour
  • Geoffrey Milani
  • Alira Muchiri
  • Alan Olcayto
  • Koreen Partridge
  • Nguyet Tat
  • Jessie Xing

Wills & Estates

  • Hannah Horlin-Smith
  • Lauren Howes
  • Sophia Johnston
  • Robert Kilgannon
  • Marco Manna
  • Isabel McLelland
  • Kirstie-May Morris
  • Corinne Rekouniotis
  • Cheree Sawley
  • Jessica Woodhouse
(Photo credit: Raw Life Studios)