Sydney, New South Wales, Australia

Partner - Forensic Technology & eDiscovery - Sydney

 Job Description:

We are seeking a Partner-grade Forensic Technology and eDiscovery practitioner to join our client in Sydney. The ideal candidate will hold senior forensic-technology and eDiscovery credentials with at least 15 years of relevant experience, the most recent 3+ years at Partner, Managing Director or equivalent practice-leadership level, and a market reputation as a defensibility and AI-assisted-review authority under Federal Court Practice Notes on technology and the court. The successful candidate will have a portable book of senior client and law-firm-partner relationships, a sustained personally-originated forensic-technology revenue track record, and the brand presence to lead a forensic-technology and eDiscovery practice in the Sydney market. They will be responsible for leading the most complex multi-jurisdictional forensic-technology engagements end to end, originating and growing managed-discovery and information-governance retainers, and setting practice strategy on AI-assisted-review governance, hiring, pricing and methodology.

Confidential Client. Applying to this position means that you are interested to have an initial confidential discussion about how we can help you to identify and join a new forensic technology and eDiscovery practice at Partner level. With your authorisation we will exclusively run the entire application and recruitment process for you, keeping you apprised at every step. With over 30 years' combined experience of helping the most talented forensic-technology practitioners to make safe exits to launch rewarding new careers, we have the experience, network and ability to help you.

Key Responsibilities:

  • Direct the most complex forensic-collection and eDiscovery engagements end to end - high-stakes, often privileged, often counsel-instructed engagements running AUD 2m - 18m+ - with full P&L responsibility for the forensic-technology engagement portfolio.
  • Originate, win and grow Partner-instructed forensic-technology mandates by carrying a portable book of senior relationships at General Counsel, Head of Litigation, CIO and Chief Compliance Officer level, and at relevant law firm partner level.
  • Convert reactive case work into multi-year retainer engagements covering managed-discovery, eDiscovery-readiness, legal-hold-program design, custodian-onboarding, information-governance and OAIC notifiable-data-breach response work.
  • Take signed-off authority positions on AI-assisted-review governance, TAR-3.0 protocols, predictive-coding validation methodologies and Sedona-aligned proportionality on bet-the-company matters; serve as forensic-technology Partner before the Federal Court of Australia, the NSW Supreme Court, ACICA and AIAC tribunals where required.
  • Lead Royal Commission and Commission-of-Inquiry forensic-technology work at Partner level - across the post-Hayne, Aged Care, Disability, Robodebt and Defence-and-Veterans patterns and successors - including evidence-collection, hot-hold and review-platform protocols.
  • Set the practice's strategy on tooling adoption (such as Relativity / Nuix / Reveal stacks and the AI-review frontier), hiring, pricing and market positioning; shape the firm's defensibility doctrine and signed-off declaration practice.
  • Build the practice's external IP and brand presence on forensic-technology themes through published thought leadership and conference-level speaking engagements; pursue and maintain Sedona Conference, ACEDS and EDI committee positioning where applicable.
  • Hire, develop, mentor and advocate for the practice staff - Senior Directors, Directors, Senior Managers and the wider bench - championing advancement at firm-wide promotion rounds, sponsoring sustained upskilling on emerging methodology and AI tooling, and shaping their external profile-building. Contribute to firm strategy beyond the forensic-technology sub-practice.

Required Qualifications and Skills:

  • Multiple senior forensic-technology and / or eDiscovery credentials, such as EnCE (EnCase Certified Examiner) plus ACEDS CEDS plus Relativity Master, or Nuix Master plus GCFA plus ACEDS CEDS - the recognised stacking pattern at Partner level.
  • At least 15 years of relevant experience in forensic technology, eDiscovery or digital evidence, with the most recent 3+ years at Partner, Managing Director or equivalent practice-leadership level.
  • Demonstrable track record of leading the most complex regional forensic-technology matters with full P&L accountability and signed-off defensibility positions in adversarial settings.
  • Demonstrable, sustained, personally-originated forensic-technology revenue track record. Sydney market guide: AUD 2m - 4m+ annually originated on forensic-technology and managed-discovery work, calibrated to the engaging firm.
  • Portable senior client relationships at General Counsel, CIO, Head of Litigation, Chief Compliance Officer and Chief Risk Officer level, and at relevant law firm partner level (international arbitration, commercial litigation, class actions, white-collar crime, regulatory enforcement and internal-investigations practices) who refer and instruct forensic-technology and eDiscovery work - credibly portable subject to non-compete and non-solicit posture; named accounts with multi-year history are the strongest evidence.
  • Experience running a forensic-technology sub-practice or country-team P&L: revenue, utilisation, gross margin, partner-time leverage, hire-and-promote responsibility, tooling and licensing strategy.
  • Authority on the Australian evidence and disclosure framework: the Federal Court Rules 2011 and Practice Notes on technology and the court, NSW UCPR disclosure practice, Privacy Act 1988 and the Australian Privacy Principles, OAIC Notifiable Data Breach scheme, class-action discovery under the Federal Court of Australia Act 1976, and Royal Commission / Commission-of-Inquiry forensic-technology framework.
  • Cross-border fluency on US Federal Court eDiscovery procedure (FRCP Rules 26 / 34, ESI orders), UK High Court (CPR Part 31, eDiscovery Practice Direction 31B), Singapore Order 21 RoC 2021, Hong Kong Order 24 RHC and the 2024 Mainland Judicial Mutual Assistance arrangements for cross-jurisdiction productions.
  • Familiarity with industry-standard forensic-technology tooling, including review platforms (such as Relativity, Relativity aiR for Review, Nuix Discover, Reveal / Brainspace, Disco or Everlaw), forensic-imaging and analysis tools (such as EnCase, Magnet Axiom, X-Ways, FTK or Cellebrite UFED), processing engines (such as Nuix Workstation, Relativity Processing or LAW), and cloud-collection platforms (such as Hanzo, Onna, Pagefreezer or X1 Social Discovery).
  • Realistic engagement on notice periods and non-compete / non-solicit obligations given the senior nature of the move and the relationship-led nature of the practice.

Preferred Experience:

  • GREM (GIAC Reverse-Engineering Malware) or GCFA (GIAC Certified Forensic Analyst) for Partners whose practice extends into incident-response forensics.
  • Sedona Conference Working Group membership and / or EDI committee positioning.
  • Postgraduate qualification: Master's in computer science, information security, digital forensics, MBA, or LLM with eDiscovery / privacy / litigation-technology relevance.
  • Royal Commission or Commission-of-Inquiry forensic-technology Partner experience.
  • Visible market profile in the Australian / Trans-Tasman forensic-technology community: published author, conference speaker, recognised authority on TAR / CAL or AI-assisted review, named in legal directories.
  • Track record of testifying or signed-off declaration on forensic-technology defensibility issues, including AI-assisted-review challenges, in Australian-court or arbitration matters.
  • Demonstrable conversion of one-off forensic-technology engagements into multi-year managed-discovery and information-governance retainers.
  • Visible thought leadership on the AI developments reshaping forensic technology and eDiscovery and a documented growth-mindset operating posture: candidates who set the practice direction on tooling adoption (such as Relativity aiR for Review, Reveal AI, TAR-3.0 protocols, or AI-assisted classification under Federal Court Practice Note GPN-TECH defensibility expectations), advocate for and develop their practice staff on emerging methodologies, and have a track record of upskilling-programme delivery within the sub-practice.

Compensation:

Partner-level package commensurate with origination, portable book and seniority. Includes base, profit-share / partnership-distribution, equity participation and long-term incentive arrangements.

Next Steps:

This opportunity is open to Australian citizens, permanent residents and qualified candidates with relevant Australian work-rights status who match the above criteria. Please apply to receive prompt confidential contact from an experienced and specialist forensic technology and eDiscovery recruitment Partner.

Search & Counsel is a trading style of Feltan Associates Pte Ltd; an international Executive Search, Recruitment and Consulting business based in Singapore, licensed and regulated by the Singapore Ministry of Manpower to conduct recruitment services for clients. UEN: 202225620G. EA Licence 23S1672. All rights reserved.

  Required Skills:

Data Adoption Membership Search Steps Information Security Recruitment Analysis Trading Compliance Hiring Participation Accountability Directors Consulting Compensation Validation History LTD Strategy Computer Science Security Design Business Science Leadership