WA In-House Counsel of the Year Award
Awarded to a legal professional who made a significant contribution during 2024/25 to the success of their organisation or in-house team.
Winners will be announced at the Law Society’s 2025 Gala Awards Evening on Friday, 7 November 2025. Click here for more information.
Congratulations to our 2025 finalists:
Sharan Gill
Sharan Gill upholds integrity and professionalism in WA’s legal profession. As General Counsel of Law Mutual (WA), Sharan leads with a clear commitment to legal excellence, public protection, and ethical standards. She oversees the organisation’s core functions: securing competitively priced professional indemnity insurance for WA law practices, implementing risk mitigation strategies, and managing claims with efficiency and fairness.
Sharan demonstrates deep legal expertise in managing complex negligence claims, particularly those arising from malpractice and professional errors. She balances commercial realities, reputational risk, and public interest while ensuring insured practitioners receive fair and empathetic support. Her guidance during litigation and mediation—particularly in the Supreme Court—has earned respect from both peers and the judiciary.
Instrumental in developing Law Mutual (WA)’s risk management framework, Sharan has introduced tools, training, and internal protocols to assist law firms in identifying and reducing liability risks. Her seminars on professional and cyber risk are credited with reducing the frequency and severity of claims. These proactive measures have resulted in record claim settlements and a consistently low volume of new claims—directly supporting the integrity of the WA legal profession.
Sharan’s work also reflects strategic foresight. She identifies emerging risks early, updates internal policy to address these threats, and fosters a culture of continuous improvement within her team. Her leadership ensures that Law Mutual’s objectives—protecting insureds, compensating consumers fairly, and promoting trust in the profession—are consistently met.
Sharan is recognised for her unwavering ethics, sound judgement, and empathetic approach. She supports practitioners through high-stakes, often distressing claims with compassion and professionalism, making her a steady and trusted guide. Her decade-long service has not only protected legal practitioners and the public but has also strengthened public confidence in the WA legal profession.
Sharan exemplifies courage, integrity, and commitment to excellence in legal practice and public service.
Angelyn Seen
Angelyn Seen drives governance, compliance and cultural transformation at Yara Australia. Her work has led to transformative legal and governance initiatives, significantly improving corporate compliance, risk management, and internal collaboration. In 2024–25, she spearheaded the consolidation of Yara’s Australian subsidiaries, streamlining financial reporting to ASIC and the ATO, while resolving historic compliance issues with the Foreign Investment Review Board (FIRB). Her work included drafting governance documents, updating registers, and reporting structural changes to regulators—bringing all corporate entities, including joint ventures, up to date. This reform strengthened accountability and transparency, a major achievement given Yara’s international structure and ownership by the Norwegian government.
Angelyn also led Yara’s transition to an automated data privacy platform (OneTrust), facilitating GDPR and Australian Privacy Act compliance. Her leadership as Data Privacy Lead ensured all departments moved from manual reporting to a unified digital system, improving efficiency and regulatory alignment.
Strategically, Angelyn has negotiated major commercial deals—including a $200 million turnaround contract across two plants—while aligning legal advice with Indigenous employment strategies and heritage compliance. She delivered the contract on-time, within budget, and in line with cultural obligations.
She has built Yara’s internal litigation-readiness by delivering WHS legal training and authoring a Legal Professional Privilege Protocol now used in regulatory investigations. Her practical, proactive approach is shaping Yara’s legal culture from within.
Angelyn’s ESG leadership includes co-developing Yara’s Modern Slavery and Sustainability Reports and supporting decarbonisation goals. Her culturally grounded work—such as taking directors to heritage sites in Karratha—has shifted boardroom perspectives and embedded respect for Traditional Owners in corporate decision-making.
Her collaborative leadership, inclusive mindset, and ability to bridge cultural and professional divides have unified global teams across APAC. Angelyn’s adaptability, cross-sector insight, and commitment to ethics continue to deliver commercial outcomes while transforming Yara’s governance and culture.
Katherine Whitehead
Katherine Whitehead is a transformational in-house counsel driving governance, culture, and community impact. In 2024–2025, Katherine led a comprehensive overhaul of Crown Perth’s legal and board governance systems, playing a pivotal role in its transformation journey. Stepping into the role of General Counsel with a clear purpose—to help restore Crown Perth to the vibrant and trusted entertainment destination it was in 1985—Katherine brought structure, accountability, and integrity to legal operations at a time of intense regulatory scrutiny.
She oversaw legal endorsement of key remediation and compliance initiatives, including updates to regulatory, gaming, and risk management frameworks. Her work ensured Crown met its legislative obligations and ultimately contributed to the casino retaining its licence without conditions. Katherine also led legal education and governance reforms, equipping the board and leadership with a clear understanding of their obligations under evolving laws, including those relating to WHS, privacy, cyber security, and the positive duty to prevent workplace misconduct.
Recognised with Crown’s 2024 Shine Award for Service Excellence, Katherine introduced a partnership-centric legal model that transformed the legal team’s approach from reactive to strategic. This shift not only enhanced legal service delivery but also reduced litigation costs, supported early dispute resolution, and embedded legal risk mitigation across the business.
As a member of the Crown Perth Executive team, Katherine champions commercial outcomes, innovation, and cultural renewal. She co-led the creation of a legal mentoring program and launched the Crown Legal Cohort, a knowledge-sharing forum for Crown’s legal professionals. She regularly mentors junior lawyers and advocates for a balanced, values-led approach to legal careers.
Katherine also contributes to the wider profession, including as a panellist at ACC’s WA In-House Counsel Day. She remains committed to social impact, supporting initiatives such as the Salvation Army, Flying Doctor Day, and Telethon—reflecting her belief in law as a tool for both business transformation and community betterment.
Award criteria
The award will be judged on three criteria as follows:
- Impact: Demonstrated, measurable contribution that strengthened or advanced their organisation or team (for example, improving systems, processes, legal operations, relationships, governance, risk management, or service delivery).
- Strategy: Demonstrated ability to provide practical legal solutions that enabled their organisation to achieve its goals, while balancing legal risk and organisational strategies and objectives (for example by closing deals, overcoming challenges, solving complex problems, or unlocking opportunities).
- Courage: Unwavering commitment to ethical, professional, and legal standards, including acting with integrity and demonstrating leadership in complex or high-stakes situations.
Judging panel
Cav. Maria Saraceni: Honours Committee member, The Law Society of Western Australia
Paula Wilkinson: Immediate Past President, The Law Society of Western Australia
Irene Kuo GAICD: State President, Australian Corporate Counsel, Australia WA Division
Toby Browne-Cooper: Managing Director, Oryx Communities
Important dates
- Nominations open on Friday, 11 July 2025.
- Nominations close at COB on Monday, 18 August 2025.
- Unfortunately, late submissions will not be accepted.
- Award winners will be announced at the Law Society’s 2025 Gala Awards Evening on Friday, 7 November 2025. Click here for more information.
Further information
Contact Member Services on (08) 9324 8692 or email membership@lawsocietywa.asn.au.
Previous Award recipients
Emerging Lawyer of the Year - Practitioner with less than five years experience
- 2024 – Sophie Coffin
- 2023 – Felicia Chan
- 2022 – Monica Vu
- 2021 – Kendra Turner
- 2020 – Heidi Gan and Hamish Glenister
- 2019 – Kelsi Forrest
- 2018 – Tegan Harrington
- 2017 – Krista McMeeken
- 2016 – Michael Geelhoed
- 2015 – Callum Hair
- 2014 – Jessica Bowman and Stephanie Puris
- 2013 – Gary Mack
- 2012 – Tammy Solonec
- 2011 – Breony Allen
- 2009 – Toni Emmanuel
- 2008 – Anna Rakoczy
