We hear some war stories from Stephen Marriott, talk about how he sees his role and his production credits
How long have you been with the firm?
Since 2008, and I was promoted to Senior Associate in the middle of 2010.
What is your main client base?
Public sector agencies including State Government Departments, Local Councils and transport providers.
What are your formal qualifications?
I have a Bachelor of Economics and a Bachelor of Laws, with Honours. I am currently studying towards my Master of Labour Law and Relations, which should be finished by the end of this year.
What are your main areas of practice?
Discrimination law, employment and industrial relations law.
What does that involve?
Advising clients in relation to their rights and responsibilities under various Acts, drafting replies on behalf of clients to the Anti-Discrimination Board of NSW and the Australian Human Rights Commission, representing clients in conciliations, mediations and arbitrations.
What other types of advice do you provide?
I am sometimes involved in coming up with various strategies which enable clients to achieve commercial results within the bounds of what the law allows. I like to see my role as not just providing legal advice, but rather providing business advice based on law.
What types of claims have you been involved in?
Since being admitted, I’ve been involved in various different claims in quite a few forums. I’ve been involved in litigation of discrimination claims at the Administrative Decisions Tribunal and Federal Magistrates Court, but also Unfair Dismissal claims and common law claims by employers against former employees.
Which jurisdictions have you practiced in?
Fair Work Australia, The Australian Industrial Relations Commission, the Industrial Relations Commission of New South Wales, the Federal Magistrates Court, the Administrative Decisions Tribunal, the Supreme Court of NSW, the District Court of NSW, Chief Industrial Magistrates Court and the Local Court.
Do any particular matters come to mind?
I enjoyed representing employers before the Full Bench of the Industrial Relations Commission of New South Wales in an application for a special case variation to an important award. I really enjoyed arguing with all three members of the Bench who were throwing questions at me from left right and centre. I also enjoyed being an advocate for several industries during the Award modernisation process.
In what other ways have you attempted to assist clients.
I have been involved in a lot of preventative training – including co-ordinating courses on OHS.
I was also the Executive Producer for an interactive CD ROM training tool for OHS in the film and TV Industry. The CD ROM went on to win awards including Best Instructional / Training Resource from the Australian Teachers of Media in 2008. I know its not an Oscar, but I was pretty chuffed!