Maurice Blackburn Principal Lawyer Tanya Straguszi has been recognised as Queensland's Regional Woman Lawyer of the Year in the annual Women Lawyers Association of Queensland Awards.
The award recognises women who have overcome some of the challenges related to working in regional Queensland, as well as recognising their personal achievements in the legal profession.
Tanya, who is a born and bred Cairns local, joined Maurice Blackburn Lawyers in 2012 where she leads the firm's Cairns office and the firm's Serious Injury Practice for North and Central Queensland.
Since joining Maurice Blackburn Lawyers, Tanya has overseen the growth of the firm's practice in Far North Queensland, including opening a visiting office in the Tablelands in 2014 followed by a visiting office in Innisfail in 2017, to become the largest personal injuries firm in the region.
With expertise across all major personal injury fields including workers' compensation, CTP, and occupiers and products liability, Tanya is a highly skilled lawyer.
In her leadership role within the firm, Tanya has championed the recruitment and encouragement of regional lawyer applicants within the firm and the implementation of processes that support regional lawyers to thrive in their careers in regional Queensland.
As a Cairns local Tanya has a close relationship to the Far North Queensland community that has been strengthened through a number of high profile roles including as a current Director of the Far North Queensland Ports Corporation and former board member and Vice President of ARC Disability Services.
"It has been such an honour being recognised for my and the team's work in Far North Queensland," Ms Straguszi said.
"I don't see working as a lawyer in the regions as a challenge, but rather an opportunity. This has given me great work opportunities because I have been exposed to interesting and exciting cases very early on in my career, which may not have occurred so early on if I were working in a major capital city.
"I have enjoyed using those opportunities to support our next generation of female lawyers to also gain senior leadership opportunities and experience, which is not always forthcoming for women either in the legal profession or other professions.
"Whilst females are now far outnumbering males at law schools we are not seeing this replicated in upper management or senior partner levels," she said.
