KordaMentha makes eight partner and executive director promotions

Business advisory KordaMentha has made eight mid-year partner and executive director promotions, including three within its real estate practice among a growing list of segments.

Based out of Melbourne, Zachary Pearson becomes a partner in KordaMentha’s real estate practice after joining the firm upon graduation in 2009, while office colleague Tom Korda and Sydney-based real estate consultant Kate Berry step up to executive director.

Meanwhile, Paul Pracilio becomes a partner in the firm’s traditional restructuring practice in Perth, joined by forensics pair Chris Craner and Roman Barbera. Jane Ayers (performance improvement) and Skye Arnott (financial crime) have also been elevated to executive director.

Paul Pracilio
A registered liquidator since last year, Pracilio has been with KordaMentha for a decade and a half, working on large and complex restructuring engagements across a diverse range of industries including mining, construction, manufacturing, transport, real estate and forestry.

Chris Craner
Freshly-appointed a forensics partner in Perth, Craner joined the firm at the start of 2023, having previously served as assistant commissioner and chief security officer for the AFP across a more than three-decade career in law enforcement, including experience in transnational cyber crime.

Roman Barbera
Recently named as an ‘AI Visionary’ on a list of global change-makers reshaping the legal industry, eDiscovery expert Barbera now becomes a forensics partner in Sydney. An arts and law graduate of ANU, he spent three and a half years at Clayton Utz before joining KordaMentha in 2019.

Zachary Pearson
Pearson completed an urban planning and property & construction planning and design double at the University of Melbourne in 2009, and has been serving high-level corporate, government and financial services clients on real estate and property development matters at KordaMentha ever since.

Executive directors

KordaMentha has also made four executive director appointments, including Tom Korda and Kate Berry in its real estate division. Korda and Berry both started out at KordaMentha before gaining financial services experience elsewhere (Korda at Quintessential Equity and Cadence Property Group, and Berry at Link Asset Services in Amsterdam), before then returning to the firm in 2021.

Also promoted to executive director are Skye Arnott and Jane Ayers, respectively of the firm’s financial crime and performance improvement teams in Sydney and Melbourne. Arnott joined in 2023 following a decade with the NSW Crime Commission and six years in senior compliance roles at the Star Group, while Ayers has been with the firm for a decade after an earlier five year start at McGrathNicol.