Clifford Chance

Jenni went from Litigation and Dispute Resolution partner at Clifford Chance to decision maker at the Supreme Court.

Jenni joined Clifford Chance as a partner in 2015, working in our Perth office’s Litigation and Dispute Resolution practice. The greatest benefit of working for a top tier firm was the fantastic clients and the complex, challenging matters she worked on with them. One notable highlight was advising on the sale of Shell’s aviation fuels business, which involved more than 50 joint venture agreements, all with slightly different change of control mechanisms. Another highlight was participating in the firm’s high-level seminars on globalisation which, Jenni says, involved a fascinating mix of trade and politics.

Her next opportunity, to join the judiciary, came in 2019 and was simply too good to refuse. It arose because the judge in charge of the Corporations List at the Supreme Court had been promoted to the Court of Appeal. Jenni’s experience in that area, plus a desire to join the judiciary that stretched right back to her first post-law school job as a judge’s associate, meant it was the perfect role. She admits the timing could have been better: “I was still loving my time at Clifford Chance and would have liked to have been there longer but I felt like it was now or never”. So, after an emotional welcoming ceremony, attended by family and colleagues, Jenni became The Hon. Justice Jenni Hill and a Supreme Court judge presiding over the Corporations List and a judge in the Commercial and Managed Cases List. She enjoys the breadth of her work, which has extended to criminal trials, the Court of Appeal and approving the settlement of the longest litigation in state history, which had been running (in various forms) since 1987.

Despite the new challenges, she still finds herself drawing on old skills. “One advantage of having come from a commercial firm as opposed to the bar is that you are used to having many competing demands on your time,” she says, adding that writing clearly and pragmatically for clients was good grounding for delivering written judgements.

Another aspect of working at Clifford Chance proved useful. The distance and time differences between colleagues and clients meant she was already used to working electronically, so the switch to remote justice during COVID-19 came relatively easily to her. She believes that physical courts will always endure but that more aspects of their work will permanently shift online, saving time and money. “Probably tradition has held us back,” she concludes.

At her welcome to the bench, Jenni commented: “I am the ninth woman appointed to this Court, and it is gratifying to know that when the next woman is appointed, we will finally reach double figures”.

This reflects her career-long passion for diversity, which has seen her take a prominent role in committees and taskforces addressing gender issues within the Australian legal profession. She knows only too well the challenges women face and recognises that without the support of her husband, they would not have been able to both combine successful careers with family life. Jenni believes that the culture of an organisation, set by its leadership, is crucial and quotes a comment made by former Australian of the Year and former Lieutenant-Colonel David Morrison: “The standard you walk past is the standard you accept”. She is impressed by the progress Clifford Chance is making on diversity and regularly connects with former colleagues, both in Australia and the UK.

Given her successful and varied career, what advice would Jenni give to her younger self? 

Looking ahead, she sees the potential of technology to improve access to justice by speeding up processes and bringing down costs. She also believes technology could be used to assist and improve judicial decision-making by better handling the huge amount of data now being presented in trials.

Given the impact Jenni has already made in her new role, it’s likely that she will be at the forefront of future developments in Western Australia’s Supreme Court.