B.A., LL.M. (USyd)
Accredited Specialist, Business Law

Fashion lawyer, corporate and business advisor, intellectual property go-to guru. The son of the firm’s founder, Chris has more than a half century’s breadth of experience in legal issues affecting a diverse spectrum of industry, commerce, and high net worth individuals.

A sometime university guest lecturer, advisor to the Australian Law Reform Commission, honorary solicitor for the Australian Graphic Design Association, there are few legal issues in business and commerce that Chris has not dealt with.

He has been a Business Law Accredited Specialist for more than half his career, sits on the Law Society’s Business Law Advisory Committee and is an examiner in that discipline.

Key Expertise

• Corporate Law
• Capital Raising
• Commercial Law

Area and Emphasis of Practice

David specialises in corporate law, capital raising and commercial law. He adds significant depth to our corporate and commercial practice. With a background in banking law where he was the chief legal officer and a company secretary for an international bank, David has been in private legal practice in the financial services industry in his own firm since 2002. In that time David has developed a significant following of clients in the corporate advisory and capital raising areas. His practice entails many other areas of general commercial law.

• Corporate and commercial advice
• Corporate governance and compliance
• Board best practice
• ASX listing rules
• Equity capital markets transactions including IPOs
• Debt financing
• Mergers & acquisitions
• Financial services industry regulation
• Financial product development

Recent Matters

• Formation and restructure of foreign banks in Australia
• Merger of ASX listed companies
• $500 million US$ note issue by major ASX listed infrastructure company
• $100 million plus Accelerated rights Entitlement Offer for ASX listed resource company
• Various underwritten and non-underwritten capital raisings (IPO, rights issues, placements, security purchase plans and convertible note issues) totaling in excess of $2 billion for ASX listed companies
• Australian Financial Services Licence applications and amendment of licence conditions
• Unwinding of long established private company with assets in excess of $50 million and resolution of contentious shareholder disputes
• Due Diligence to support mergers and acquisitions
• Corporate investigation and Reports
• Establishment of various companies including shareholder agreements, joint development agreements and similar
• Representation of foreign shareholders
• Resolution of complex contractual disputes
• Settlement of various shareholder disputes
• Development of financial products in Australia and Asia: investment products, transaction services products and payment platforms
• Various property transactions; acquisitions, disposals, subdivision and leases

Education

• Bachelor of Jurisprudence
• LLB: Bachelor of Law
• Grad Dip CM: Graduate Diploma of Corporate Management
• AICD Company Directors Course
• Solicitor and Notary Public

Memberships

• Member: Law Society of New South Wales
• Fellow: Australian Institute of Company Directors
• Fellow: Governance Institute of Australia
• Fellow: Institute of chartered secretaries and administrators

Civic / Charitable Causes

• Australia Cambodia Foundation Inc

Accredited Specialist in Business Law and in Property Law

Key Expertise

• Commercial and residential Property and Development involving acquisition, sale, development, leasing and construction, subdivisions throughout the Sydney, Wollongong and Newcastle areas
• Corporate & Commercial
• Trusts, Succession & Business Structuring
• Wills & Estates
• Employment Law
• Intellectual Property
• Private Client Legal Services
• Business and Company Sales & Acquisitions
• Mortgages & Business Finance
• Information Technology
• Commercial Litigation and Dispute Resolution

Area and Emphasis of Practice

John is a Commercial Lawyer providing a broad range of corporate, commercial and property legal services to a number of industries including the information technology and other technology industries, accountants and their clients, property and development industry, transport and tourism industries and a number of others.  He specialises in Business Law and Property Law. John has broad experience in:

• Sale and acquisition of companies and businesses
• Structuring of businesses and other entities
• Personal structuring and succession planning
• Funding of companies and businesses
• Insolvency
• Trade Practices, Competition and Consumer Law
• Revenue Law
• Due Diligence
• Compliance

Recent Matters

• Identifying suitable property, due diligence, negotiation and acquisition of Sydney CBD building for private off-shore investor
• Range of development advice for a consortium of investors with a large project in the South West of Sydney
• Sale of industrial business by company share sale involving due diligence and protracted negotiation with shareholders in dispute
• Sale in one line of two iconic Sydney CBD properties
• Insolvency advice and preparation of Deed of Company Arrangement to restructure a trading company
• Range of intellectual property advice for a number of tourism industry entities
• Succession planning, restructuring and funding advice for corporate and family group of companies
• Negotiation and successful resolution of complex inter-company guarantee dispute
• Range of employment advice to tourism businesses and other small and medium enterprises
• Negotiation, drafting and settling of complex software development and escrow agreement for development of specialised software for Sydney based national business

Education

• University of New South Wales, Sydney – Bachelor of Commerce (Accounting, Finance and Systems)
• University of New South Wales, Sydney – Bachelor of Laws
• College of Law –  Practical Legal Training
• Post graduate studies in Intellectual Property & Information Technology at University of New South Wales
• Accredited Specialist, Business Law (Law Society of New South Wales) (first group receiving this award)
• Accredited Specialist, Property Law (Law Society of NSW) (first group receiving this award)

Memberships

• Law Society of NSW
• Chairman of the Examination Committee for Business Law Specialist Accreditation for the Law Society of New South Wales
• Member of the Statutory Corporation for the Uniting Church in New South Wales, The Uniting Church in Australia Property Trust (NSW)
• Skål International Sydney North (Tourism industry group)
• Chairman and Director of UCA Assembly Limited, which holds assets for the Uniting Church in Australia National Assembly
• Member of Australian Tourism Export Council Limited
• Member of the Restaurant & Catering Industry Association

Civic / Charitable Causes

• Long term affiliation and working with Uniting Church Synod (NSW and ACT) on a number of boards
• Member of a number of committees of Law Society of New South Wales over many years
• Member of Property Council of Australia and contributor to Legal Panel over many years (recently ceased for time commitment pressures)
• Sponsor of Australian Tourism Export Council Limited and regular contributor of published articles and speaking engagements
• Honorary Legal Counsel for Australian Tourism Export Council Limited
• Sponsor of the Restaurant & Catering Industry Association
• Regular presenter at legal education forums for College of Law, Law Society of New South Wales, Legalwise and other private legal education institutions

Key Expertise

• Commercial Law
• Intellectual Property
• Employment Law
• Information Technology
• General Commercial Litigation and Dispute Resolution
• Property Law

Area and Emphasis of Practice

Sarah assists a range of clients in providing both commercial and personal legal services across a variety of fields including the information technology, entertainment, property and building, and tourism industries, as well as providing legal services to clients within the non-for-profit sector (including religious organisations).  Sarah also has extensive litigation experience across a number of jurisdictions, and has regularly appeared in the Supreme Court of NSW, Federal Court and Administrative Appeals Tribunal in a broad range of personal and commercial disputes.

Recent Matters

• Advising major corporate clients as to their legal rights and options in circumstances where complex contractual and commercial relationships have broken down, and assisting clients to negotiate practical commercial solutions
• Instructing and assisting Senior and Junior Counsel in complex matters before the Supreme Court of NSW involving contract law, consumer law and corporations law disputes
• Assisting prepare complex documentation to allow a client to successfully complete the off the plan sale and leasing of multi-levelled inner city mixed use stratum development
• Successfully acting to secure settlements, or otherwise overturn decisions by insurers to cease or decline to pay worker’s compensation entitlements, on behalf of injured workers

Education

• University of Technology, Sydney – Master of Laws (majoring in Health Law & Policy and Intellectual Property, conferred with Distinction)
• Canberra Institute of Technology – Diploma of Government
• The College of Law – Graduate Diploma of Legal Practice
• The University of Sydney – Bachelor of Laws (conferred with Honours)
• The University of Sydney – Bachelor of Arts (Honours) (majoring in History and English, Honours in History)

Memberships

• Law Society of NSW
• City of Sydney Law Society
• The Lawyers Orchestra Incorporated Secretary and Public Officer

Sasha began his 24-year-long career in the legal profession as a research assistant to the Judges of the Commercial Division of the Supreme Court of New South Wales. From there, he became Partner and Practice Leader in two leading national class action firms, specialising in large scale corporate disputes and class actions against ASX listed and multinational corporations.

His colourful experience in class actions led him to the remediation scheme for victims of the Commonwealth Bank of Australia’s financial advisers and a successful claim against the Royal Bank of Scotland. He has also been involved in class actions against Lehman Brothers, Local Government Financial Services and Standard and Poor’s, among others.

After 24 years of leading large-scale disputes, Sasha recognised a gap in the market, whereby smaller claims were becoming increasingly unserviceable by large plaintiff firms. At Finn Roache, Sasha leads the litigation team, combining his top-tier experience with a more efficient, empathetic and personalised approach to litigation.

Sasha frequently appears in the Federal Court, and in the Local, District and Supreme Courts. He specialises in matters involving corporate and commercial, debt recovery, insolvency, financial services, or any business related dispute.

BA, LLB, Accredited Mediator (NMAS)

Stuart is a litigation and dispute resolution lawyer with over 20 years’ experience. He has particular expertise in insolvency, contract and shareholder disputes, equity and trusts, commercial and corporate law, and works with a range of clients from top tier accounting firms to businesses and individuals.

Stuart’s legal career has spanned mid-sized and top tier firms and as a sole practitioner, with breadth of legal experience across many practice areas. He has advised a wide range of clients from SMEs to large corporations, trustees and beneficiaries, insolvency practitioners, accountants, lenders, debtors. He has extensive experience advising in relation to liquidations, receiverships, voluntary administrations, issuing and applications to set aside statutory demands, bankruptcy notices, restructuring, formal and informal arrangements with creditors and bankruptcy. He has carriage of a considerable variety of litigation matters in most state and Federal jurisdictions.

Stuart is skilled at working collaboratively in interdisciplinary teams and is actively involved in professional education. He has written numerous academic articles and headnotes for the Australian Law Journal Reports. As a trusted advisor to his clients, Stuart offers practical, down-to-earth counsel that can be relied on. He has a reputation for providing prompt, clear and concise counsel to his clients. He is also an accredited mediator (NMAS) and uses this knowledge to achieve creative and practical solutions for his clients.