Mark Rigotti became Freehills’ managing partner – clients and growth on 1 January 2008.

Mark joined Freehills in 1988, completing time in the Corporate, Banking and Litigation groups as well as undertaking an associateship in the Federal Court. Mark then transferred to London where he spent two and a half years in the firm’s then London office. He returned to Sydney and the Banking group in 1995 and became a partner a year later. In late 2003 Mark became head of the Banking group, then became the Corporate practice group head in late 2005.

As head of the Corporate group Mark was responsible for managing the performance of the group, including its diversity of disciplines and size. With a focus also on teamwork, during Mark’s time the Corporate group maintained its leading position in its core disciplines—Mergers & Acquisitions, Private Equity and Equity Capital Markets—as reflected in league table rankings and awards.

Mark cites infrastructure financing transactions and working with private equity buyers on transactions as some of  his career highlights, specifically working closely with clients and seeing both the clients’ businesses, and the Freehills relationship with those clients, grow. He has enjoyed ‘going beyond providing legal advice to being part of the client’s team on a transaction, and working on the structure and strategy involved in the transaction’.

The Freehills culture continues to provide Mark with inspiration, including the firm’s commitment to continuous improvement and working in an environment valuing excellence, teamwork and commerciality. Working with clients and earning their trust is also inspiring for Mark.

As the new managing partner – clients and growth, Mark’s focus will be a continuation of the work being done on the firm’s client programs and strategies. He will also focus on an added dimension—looking for and pursuing growth in a considered and systematic manner. Much of that will build on the firm’s strategy and focus on relationship building—encouraging the firm to work on enduring and productive relationships with clients.

Mark holds a Bachelor of Arts, Bachelor of Laws (Honours) and Masters of Laws from the University of Sydney and a Diploma from the Securities Institute of Australia. He is a member of the Securities Institute of Australia, Risk Management Association (Australian Chapter) and the Finance and Treasury Association.

Mark is married with two young children. Outside of Freehills he spends time with his family and enjoys getting involved in various sports including surfing and skiing.