Evan Willis

Expertise

Evan is a Partner and an Accredited Specialist in Workplace Relations. 

With extensive experience in employment and industrial relations law, Evan advises and represents a broad range of clients with a particular emphasis on assisting executive employees and registered organisations.

Evan works closely with his clients to identify their goals and uses his experience to find the most efficient path to achieve those goals.

Evan’s areas of expertise include:

• drafting, advising on and enforcing employment agreements
• advising employees in complex workplace investigations
• interpreting industrial instruments, including awards and enterprise agreements
• complex industrial relations matters
• termination of employment issues, including unfair dismissal, general protections and breach of contract
• restraints of trade and protection of confidential information matters including complex litigation in these areas
• advice and representation in relation to occupational/work health and safety matters.

Evan has been recognised in the 2024 edition of Doyle’s Guide as a recommended lawyer in Employment  (Employee & Trade Union Representation) for Victoria. He has also been recognised for Employee Benefits Law, and Labour and Employment Law by The Best Lawyers in Australia since 2024. 

Experience

Evan’s experience includes

• running the first known prosecution under the Protecting Vulnerable Workers amendments to the Fair Work Act representing vulnerable seasonal workers from Vanuatu
• successfully challenging an administrative decision under the Fair Entitlement Guarantee (FEG) Scheme in the Administrative Appeals Tribunal 
• advising and appearing in numerous unfair dismissal and general protections proceedings in the Fair Work Commission and Federal Courts
• resolving complex disputes concerning allegations of employee fraud and misuse of confidential information
• advising, instructing and appearing in industrial relations proceedings in the Fair Work Commission, Federal Courts and the Supreme Court of Victoria for a large trade union
• resolving post-employment restraint of trade and related contractual disputes
• advising on complex transfer of business and employee entitlement issues in commercial transactions
• assisting a business and a registered organisation before the Royal Commission into Trade Union Governance and Corruption.

Membership

Law Institute of Victoria
Australian Labour Law Association