"It is simply the way we do business."

Jenni Lightowlers, Member of Deakin Law School’s Advisory Board, has been recognised for Excellence in Client Service in the Health and Life Sciences at the 2016 International Law Office (ILO) and Lexology Client Choice Awards.

This is the second year running Lightowlers, who is also a partner at Francis Abourizk Lightowlers (FAL), has won the award.

Nominated by clients via a survey, she is considered a leading legal advisor to health-based Cooperative Research Centres.

'I have always believed that to provide good legal advice, you need to understand the big picture – get to know your client's needs and the issues they face. If that makes us worthy of this award, then we are delighted to receive it. It is simply the way we do business,’ she says.

Lightowlers recently acted for Cancer Therapeutics CRC (CTx), a collaborative partnership of leading Research Institutes, universities and biotechnology companies that translates Australia’s innovative research discoveries into new cancer drugs for clinical development. 

She says she worked with the CTx team to successfully negotiate the licence of CTx developed technology into Merck along with a research agreement for ongoing work in Australia, leveraging cutting edge Australian research developed by Australian scientists.

‘FAL’s practitioners have a wealth of experience as both in-house and external counsel to commercialisation companies and government agencies.

‘Our lawyers act as board members of listed healthcare companies and universities, and have appeared on behalf of funded research bodies before Commonwealth parliamentary committees,’ she says.

FAL has a unique understanding of the commercial, legal, political and regulatory issues affecting organisations in the healthcare and health sciences sectors, negotiating complex multi-party agreements and helping our clients achieve their commercial objectives.