News | Gadens appoints Mark Pistilli as new CEO

Gadens has appointed Mark Pistilli as the new Chief Executive Officer of its Melbourne and Sydney partnership.

Mark joins Gadens from PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), where he was a legal partner on PwC’s legal leadership team and practising across corporate and commercial matters including in M&A, strategic Boardroom advisory, major projects and litigation strategy. Mark was a founding (and a managing) partner of Clifford Chance in Australia and its predecessor firm Chang, Pistilli & Simmons.

“We are delighted to appoint someone of Mark’s calibre to lead our firm”, said Jeremy Smith, Chairman. “Gadens is a firm on the rise, and Mark’s background and experience will be of enormous benefit to us – especially as we look to significantly grow our presence in the Sydney market. Mark has a wealth of experience in building and managing high-performing law firms and teams.”

Commenting on his appointment, Mark says:

“Gadens is a firm that is going places, and I am delighted to have been entrusted to lead the firm through the next stage of its strategic plan. Gadens has a significant growth strategy focused on the quality of its people and work the firm does to provide clients with an outstanding client experience, innovative solutions and value.

“Gadens is known as a leader in the lawtech space, and continues to collaborate with other businesses to develop innovative solutions for clients. The firm’s commitment to flexible ways of working, building a collaborative culture and attracting quality people are areas that really resonated with me in our discussions as being critically important to the partners in their aspirations as to where they want to take the firm – all of which manifests in the wellbeing of all people within the firm.

“Throughout the recruitment process I was extremely impressed by the passion shown by the partners in their firm, their ambition to build a leading national firm, and the acceptance that the firm needs to evolve to meet the ever-changing market. Their desire to continue to build depth in key practice areas and Sydney was another area that attracted me to Gadens”, concludes Mark.

“Forty percent of the firm’s current partnership has been appointed in the last three years, many of whom have joined from top tier Australian and global firms. These appointments have enhanced the firm’s capabilities in key practice areas such as banking and finance, construction, corporate advisory, disputes and litigation, and intellectual property and technology”, says Jeremy. “Mark is an exceptional candidate, great leader and ideally suited to the role. The learnings he will bring to Gadens from leading domestic and global law firms will be of significant benefit in growing our firm in the years to come. We are all looking forward to the contribution he will make”.