CSIRO appoints new General Counsel

CSIRO’s legal team comprises 34 lawyers plus support staff and is located across Australia at CSIRO’s research facilities.

Mr Liberman was most recently a partner at Freehills in the Corporate section. He is Secretary of Licensing Executives Society International (LESI), the largest professional body worldwide dealing with intellectual property and commercialisation issues, with over 12,000 members in 80 countries.

CSIRO’s chief executive Dr Geoff Garrett said CSIRO was delighted to have attracted such a high quality and respected professional to head CSIRO’s legal function.

“Mr Liberman is an enormously talented individual and one of Australia’s leading IP and commercial lawyers. His international reputation and links are first class and we expect to benefit from his wisdom and experience across many practice areas,” Dr Garrett said.

“CSIRO’s current General Counsel, Terry Healy will not be lost to CSIRO. Terry, who has so ably served CSIRO for 36 years, will continue to advise us as Specialist Counsel in our wireless patent litigation and in implementation of the Uhrig Review, two significant issues that are increasingly taking up most of his time.”

Nigel Poole, who leads the CSIRO’s Business Services function, said Mr Liberman would head up the legal practice and take forward a series of changes implemented with great skill over the past year by Blake Dawson Waldron partner-on-secondment, Rod MacKinnon.

“Mr Liberman was one of a number of outstanding candidates for the role of General Counsel and we welcome him to CSIRO,” Mr Poole said.

Mr Liberman said he was looking forward to working for CSIRO.

“The opportunity to head what is arguably Australia’s leading technology practice at CSIRO, with a broad range of IP and R&D issues, is a challenge I look forward to,” Mr Liberman said.

“It is a wrench to leave Freehills, where I have served as a partner for 12 years, but the role of General Counsel for CSIRO does not come up every day, and I am delighted to be taking up the position.”

Mr Liberman will commence at CSIRO in early August 2006 and will be located in North Ryde, Sydney.