Headquarters:
Sydney
Year founded:
1999
Number of employees:
51–1,200
Phone:
1300004667
Email:
sales@lawinorder.com
Website:
lawinorder.com
LinkedIn:
linkedin.com/company/law-in-order
Julian McGrath
Founder and Chief Executive Officer
Peter Hartley
Head of Operations
Murali Baddula
Chief Digital Officer
Leadership
Julian McGrath founded Law In Order in 1999 with a simple purpose: take the operational pressure off legal teams so they can focus on the law. More than 25 years on, he leads the company’s strategy and growth, shaping its evolution into a technology-led legal services partner with teams across Australia, India and the US. McGrath has driven early investment in proprietary technology, strategic partnerships and specialist people while keeping client service at the heart of the business.
Founder and Chief Executive Officer
Julian McGrath
Peter Hartley leads the operational engine of Law In Order, overseeing the teams that deliver document production, court books, litigation support and legal process services 24/7 across Australia and India. His focus is consistency at scale: making sure every matter is delivered accurately and on time, whether it involves a handful of documents or millions of pages on an urgent deadline. Hartley is driving the adoption of automation and AI across operations, seeing it as an opportunity to lift quality and efficiency for clients while giving his teams more time for higher-value work.
Head of Operations
Peter Hartley
Murali Baddula leads Law In Order’s digital strategy and innovation, bringing more than 20 years of experience across eDiscovery, forensic investigations, consulting and software development. He founded the company’s Innovation Labs, where consultants and developers turn real matter challenges into practical tools. These include eDiscoTECH and Smart Processing Assist, a 2026 Relativity Innovation Awards nominee. A recognised voice on AI in legal workflows, Baddula spoke at ILTACON 2026 on combining AI with human expertise to make document review faster, more accurate and defensible.
Chief Digital Officer
Murali Baddula
Rey Penalosa
Director and Head of eHearings Group
Rey Penalosa leads Law In Order’s eHearings Group, delivering the technology behind courts, tribunals, Royal Commissions and public inquiries. His team designs, builds and runs hearing rooms, virtual and hybrid hearings, live streaming, real-time transcription, electronic evidence presentation and secure online hearing books, often for high-profile, high-pressure proceedings. With more than 17 years of industry experience, Penalosa brings a designer’s eye and a project manager’s discipline to every engagement. His goal is simple: technology that works seamlessly, so judges, counsel, witnesses and the public can focus entirely on the proceedings.
Director and Head of eHearings Group
Rey Penalosa
Lisa Whitehead
Sales Director
Lisa Whitehead leads Law In Order’s national sales team, with client relationship managers across New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland and Western Australia. With more than 20 years of experience in sales and client service, and with Law In Order since 2011, she brings deep knowledge of the business, its services and the legal market. Whitehead focuses on a consultative approach where client needs, not products, lead every conversation. Her focus is building long-term, trusted relationships with law firms, corporate legal teams and government agencies, and making working with Law In Order simple and seamless.
Sales Director
Lisa Whitehead
Mike Havener
Chief Financial Officer
Mandy Mellis
Chief People Officer
Lisa Harvey
Customer Support
Pam Chhabra
Manager – Residential Strata
Mike Havener leads Law In Order's finance function across Sydney and Hyderabad, overseeing accounting, budgeting, commercial contracts, billing, treasury and financial planning. With more than 25 years of finance and executive leadership experience, he sees finance as the engine room of the business, keeping operations moving while actively driving performance, optimisation and growth. Havener partners closely with every service line to help the company invest with confidence, scale sustainably and deliver value to clients. He is equally committed to developing others, supporting and empowering emerging talent across his team.
Chief Financial Officer
Mike Havener
Mandy Mellis leads Law In Order’s people strategy across its offices in Australia, India and the US, bringing more than 30 years of experience in human resources. She oversees talent acquisition, capability development, culture and engagement, performance, remuneration, and workplace health, safety and wellbeing. Mellis’ focus is building a high-performing, connected organisation where people are empowered to make an impact and grow their careers, reflecting the company’s purpose that its people and technology solutions make life easier. She is a member of the Australian Human Resources Institute.
Chief People Officer
Mandy Mellis
Lisa Hardy is a valued member of the customer support team at Aquastar Swim Schools, bringing extensive customer service and leadership experience to the organisation. Before joining Aquastar, she worked in the security industry in customer service and assistant manager roles, developing strong communication, problem-solving and relationship-building skills. She also holds qualifications in business management and hospitality.
At Aquastar, Hardy is recognised for her outstanding customer service and commitment to supporting families. She is highly experienced with the customer portal and a trusted contact for enrolments, account enquiries, program information and customer requests. Outside work, she enjoys soccer and swimming.
Customer Support
Lisa Harvey
Stephen McMillan first entered the financial services Industry when he joined GE Capital as a finance analyst in 2008, from which he progressed through roles working both onshore and offshore. From there, he moved into Pacific Premium Funding as a financial planning and analysis leader in 2012 and was a key resource in the evolution of the business, first with the successful sale to Macquarie Pacific Funding and then the following progression into IQumulate Premium Funding, where he is now the commercial manager.
As commercial manager, McMillan leads a team that is responsible for commercial analysis and business support, identifying and reporting improvement initiatives, and the securitization and treasury functions of the business.
Commercial Manager
Stephen McMillan
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LAW IN ORDER
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Bio
Adam Basaldella
Manager – Claims
Stephen McMillan first entered the financial services Industry when he joined GE Capital as a finance analyst in 2008, from which he progressed through roles working both onshore and offshore. From there, he moved into Pacific Premium Funding as a financial planning and analysis leader in 2012 and was a key resource in the evolution of the business, first with the successful sale to Macquarie Pacific Funding and then the following progression into IQumulate Premium Funding, where he is now the commercial manager.
As commercial manager, McMillan leads a team that is responsible for commercial analysis and business support, identifying and reporting improvement initiatives, and the securitization and treasury functions of the business.
Product Manager
Claire Watson
“Swimming is more than a sport – it is an essential life skill that can save lives. Aquastar Swim Schools believes every child deserves the skills, confidence and awareness to stay safe around water, regardless of their background or access to private lessons”
Gareth Cope,
Aquastar Swim Schools
“Aquastar Swim Schools strives to be a genuine extension of each school community, delivering safe, organised and flexible programs tailored to individual needs. Great service goes beyond swimming lessons – it means building trust, supporting families and creating positive outcomes for students”
Peter Smith,
Aquastar Swim Schools
Cutting data processing time in half is a bold claim, and Sydney-based Law In Order has a concrete example to back it up. Its Smart Processing Assist tool was built to solve a bottleneck on a high-profile matter involving hundreds of parties, consolidating several RelativityOne processing steps into one interactive session. The result, in the firm’s words, was a roughly 50% reduction in operator interaction and administrative effort and a nomination for a 2026 Relativity Innovation Award.
That tool sits inside a broader model Law In Order calls end-to-end capability. Clients work with one provider across forensic collection, AI-assisted review, document production, eHearings and secure printing, rather than coordinating multiple vendors through a single matter.
Law In Order chooses tools to match each matter rather than favouring one, partnering with platforms including RelativityOne, where it holds Gold Partner status, and Nuix. That approach has drawn external recognition too: the firm was named a Market Leader in the 2025 Legal Tech Review and was recognised in Australasian Lawyer and NZ Lawyer’s Service Provider Awards 2024. Security sits alongside that flexibility: it operates within ISO-certified, access-controlled environments and delivers across Australia, India and the US.
Founder and chief executive officer Julian McGrath established Law In Order in 1999 around the idea that legal teams should be able to hand off operational work and focus on the law itself. That premise has since scaled into a global legal technology business with offices across three countries.
Chief digital officer Murali Baddula built the firm’s Innovation Labs, where Smart Processing Assist and sister tools such as eDiscoTECH and SmartBundle originate. A wider leadership team spanning operations, eHearings, sales, finance and people has overseen its international expansion and investment in proprietary technology.
Several of those tools target specific friction points in legal workflows. eDiscoTECH automates manual eDiscovery tasks, including load file conversion, platform migration and Bates numbering, and, according to Law In Order, has helped more than 40 clients manage compatibility gaps between review platforms such as Relativity, Nuix Discover and Reveal. SmartBundle supports the preparation of eBriefs and eTrial materials for hearings, while SmartDeDuper and AI-assisted review reduce the volume of documents requiring costly manual review. The firm frames the common thread as a structured, defensible process: validation, exception reporting and audit trails built into each stage of a matter.
Law In Order’s next phase of work is focused on responsible AI in legal workflows, with governance and human oversight built in, alongside information governance work helping clients dispose of redundant data defensibly. It is also preparing for growth in regulatory and inquiry work, including notices to produce and royal commissions, and expanding its US presence while continuing to serve Australia and New Zealand.
The firm frames all of this as a continuation of the same premise it started with in 1999: take on the operational complexity of a matter so legal teams can concentrate on the law.
Water safety for every child
For some families, where cost or access is a barrier, a school program may be the only structured swimming and water safety education their child receives, which is why Aquastar’s School Swimming and Water Safety Program goes beyond swimming lessons. Each swimmer is assessed against age- and ability-appropriate skills and receives
certificates and water safety education resources, giving schools measurable evidence of progress alongside the harder-to-measure gains in confidence and independence.
Aquastar’s commitment to children extends past the lessons themselves, with scholarships, fundraising, Giving Days and employment opportunities for young people carrying Aquastar's community focus beyond the pool.
The company's read on the future stays close to that purpose: expanding practical learn to swim and water safety, reaching more children through school partnerships, and continuing to invest in the next generation of teachers and supervisors.
Recognition in The Educator’s Service Provider Awards for 2026 reflects a business that has grown quickly while keeping its founding priorities intact – helping more children become confident, capable and safe in the water.
