Louise Hall - Consultant
Louise Hall joined John Connolly & Partners in 2019 following a 20-year career in journalism, strategic communication, and media relations.
She holds a Bachelor of Arts in Communication (Journalism) from the University of Technology, Sydney. She is a professional member of the International Association of Business Communicators (IABC).
Louise’s specialty is litigation support, media engagement and reputation management, working with law firms and clients on major issues at all stages of the litigation cycle.
She has experience leading communications campaigns including strategy development, scenario planning, media relations, stakeholder engagement and crisis management for multinational, ASX-listed and private companies as well as state owned corporations and not-for-profits.
Louise has worked for clients across a range of sectors, including aviation, media, entertainment, retail, fintech, banking, aged care, construction, resources, energy, and professional sport.
She has supported clients over a wide spectrum of litigation situations, including class actions, actions involving regulators, defamation, and large commercial disputes including taxation.
She also has experience working with clients on crisis situations, mergers and acquisitions, IPOs, executive and board upheaval, and issues impacting operations and profitability.
Louise began her career at Seven West Media in television production before joining Fairfax Media where she reported on health, justice and state politics as well as covering general news for The Sydney Morning Herald and The Sun-Herald.
In her role as Court Reporter, Louise was responsible for managing a bureau of several other court reporters, based out of the NSW Supreme Court. She covered all levels and jurisdictions from the High Court to local courts across civil and criminal jurisdictions. She developed a particular interest in corporate crime, family provision litigation, class actions and defamation. In 2015 Louise won the NSW Kennedy Award for Outstanding Court Reporting.
Louise has also worked as a digital journalist and producer for ABC News across online and radio based out of the Sydney newsroom.
Louise was a member of the NSW Chief Justice's media working group and presented seminars to incoming Federal Court associates on media-court relations. She has been a contributor to online legal websites Justinian and the Gazette of Law and Journalism. She was a member of the NSW Chief Justice’s media advisory group that negotiated and implemented the transformation of 21st century media coverage including the introduction of filming inside courts.
Louise has won several journalism awards including the Yooralla Media Award for best news report in 2010, the Royal Australian and the New Zealand College of Ophthalmologists’ Media Award in 2008 and the Royal College of Pathologists of Australasia Media Award in 2007. As State Political Reporter, she was elected deputy president of the NSW Press Gallery.
In 2019, Louise presented a session on “Managing the Media” to the National Judicial College of Australia alongside NSW Chief Justice Tom Bathurst and former WA Chief Justice Wayne Martin.
Prior to joining John Connolly & Partners, Louise was Strategic Communications Manager for Sydney Local Health District, a part of NSW Health, where she was responsible for creating and implementing a district-wide communication strategy for 700,000 residents and five hospitals. This included Royal Prince Alfred Hospital where Louise’s role involved engaging with internal and external stakeholders to effectively communicate timely and accurate information to staff, patients and the broader community. The role also included working with the offices of the premier and several ministers to produce ministerial events and announcements, and manage crisis situations.
Get in touch with Louise at lh@jcp.com.au
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