Find Lawyers in Brisbane, Australia for Commercial Law
Practice Area Overview
At its heart, corporate/commercial law involves:
- The consideration of the Law of Contract as it applies to corporations engaging in trade and commerce; and
- The interpretation and application of the Corporations Act 2001 (Cth) which is the central statute governing corporate law in Australia.
As such, the practice of corporate/commercial law in Australia requires:- A deep understanding of the Law of Contract which is largely derived from the Common Law (i.e. case-based and Court-developed precedent) with certain parameters imposed by statute (such as legislation dealing with consumer protection, unjust contracts, competition/anti-trust law, and time-bars on claims)
- Considerable knowledge and experience of corporate law, in particular the Corporations Act which applies to bodies corporate and includes foreign incorporated bodies carrying on business in Australia and certain trust structures such as managed investment schemes.
The Corporations Act governs: the establishment of corporations; membership rights and obligations; corporate governance (e.g. director's duties and requirements for meetings of members and directors); solvency; funding (both debt and equity) and the associated financial services licensing regime which regulates offers of financial products, providing financial advice and related services; capital management (e.g. share buybacks, capital reductions, and financial assistance); continuous disclosure, disclosure of direct and indirect share ownership and related issues such as insider trading, where company securities trade on a financial market; and acquisitions (including public company takeovers, schemes of arrangement, and compulsory acquisition of securities).
It is also important in the practice of corporate and commercial law in Australia to have an understanding of a number of important regulatory bodies, such as the Takeovers Panel (which has a significant oversight of takeovers and schemes of arrangement involving companies with 50 members or more) and the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) (the main Australian corporate regulator, which operates under a separate statute and is responsible for both the regulation of bodies corporate and the development of policy and guidelines for the operation of the Corporations Act). Additionally, in the listed company environment, an understanding of the financial markets and financial markets operators that carry on business in Australia, (principally ASX Ltd and the listing rules of ASX Ltd) is required.
As a consequence, corporate/commercial lawyers are required to have the skills and experience to canvass a very wide range of issues at some depth.
Select a location from the list below to find the best legal talent for your needs.
Paul has over 20 years' experience in insurance and commercial litigation. In particular his practice focuses on personal injury and property liability claims under common law and statutory schemes as well as marine and transport industry litigation. Paul also specialises in indemnity disputes, fraud claims, statutory prosecution defence and recoveries. Paul advises various major national and international insurers, large corporate insureds, transport operators and government departments. He ...
Toby is an Accredited Specialist in Commercial Litigation with the Queensland Law Society (QLS) and is former a member of the QLS’ Commercial Litigation Specialist Accreditation Advisory Committee. He is also a National Accredited Mediator and has been acting as a mediator and facilitator for 20 years. At present, Toby is the Chair of the QLS Alternative Dispute Resolution Committee and is a Member of the Law Council’s ADR Committee. Toby is regularly appointed by parties and nomi...
Katrina is a Special Counsel in our Corporate team. Her practice includes licensing and commercialisation of IP, assistance with IP ownership and structuring issues, research and development collaborations, alliances and joint venture arrangements, the sale and purchase of IP assets and companies, IP audits and due diligence, establishment of franchise systems, manufacturing, supply and distribution agreements, general contracts law and commercial and corporate law. Katrina also advises in re...
Tony is a senior lawyer with more than 35 years' experience in complex agreements and disputes, particularly across intellectual property (IP), information technology (IT), life sciences, and franchising. Tony also has broad international experience, particularly in the USA, UK, and Asia. Tony has been involved in many seminal deals and cases. His experience includes cases involving expert evidence and cross jurisdiction co-ordination with an emphasis on technical and parallel issues. Tony ha...
Ben Coogan practises in all areas of intellectual property law including agreements and disputes, information technology, privacy, confidential information, competition and consumer law, and litigation. In addition to his intellectual property law experience, Ben is also an experienced practitioner in the area of defamation and media law. Ben has considerable specialist litigation and prosecution experience in patent, copyright, trade mark, designs, and confidential information matters. Ben&r...
Philip has over 30 years' experience practicing in business, commercial, and corporate law. Philip's range of industry experience includes agribusiness (private sector and public sector), mining services, large commercial and residential property development projects, acquisitions and sales, manufacturing, food service, medical practices, wills, and estates. Philip's areas of expertise are: Corporate acquisitions - company and business acquisitions, mergers, buy outs, and joint ventures. Corp...
Tim is a Consultant in the Corporate & Commercial team. He has a long-standing practice in property law substantially in commercial property and increasingly in all facets of agribusiness. Tim has a natural and consistent commitment to strong relationships with his clients. What he does Tim advises clients on all aspects of commercial property, including large scale acquisitions and sales and commercial and retail leasing for landlords and tenants. That core focus has been considerably su...
Eugene has over 28 years’ experience practising corporate and commercial law. Eugene’s range of industry experience includes energy (particularly renewable energy) and resources projects, mining services, agribusiness, manufacturing, private equity, financial services, technology commercialisation, property development, and franchising. Eugene’s areas of expertise are: Corporate finance – equity capital markets, public market floats, securities and financial services l...
Michael is a Partner in HopgoodGanim Lawyers' Corporate practice with expertise in mergers and acquisitions, capital raisings, due diligence, takeovers, joint ventures, corporate restructuring and private equity transactions. Michael is also the co-lead of our Asia Business Unit and in this role he predominantly works with Asia-based clients investing in Australian corporations. Michael has a specific interest in working with clients to achieve great deal outcomes in the resources, technology...
Caren is an experienced corporate and commercial lawyer advising both public and private companies across a broad range of industries in relation to share and asset acquisitions and disposals, the establishment and operation of joint ventures, strategic investments, corporate restructuring, due diligence investigations, corporate governance and general corporate and business matters. Caren’s experience working in-house within the legal team of two large energy companies has given her a ...
John McKenna QC has been in practice at the commercial bar in Queensland for over 30 years, including over 18 years within the ranks of senior counsel. He has a particular interest in appellate and legally complex matters. Mr McKenna is also a Nationally Accredited Mediator, with over 15 years of experience in the mediation and expert determination of commercial disputes. He graduated from the University of Queensland with a Bachelor of Arts (majoring in economics) and a Bachelor of Laws (Hon...
A Partner with HopgoodGanim for more than 25 years, Brian leads our Corporate practice. Brian specialises in capital markets, mergers and acquisitions and corporate restructuring, and has acted on numerous transactions and capital raisings in both the industrial and resources and energy sectors. Brian is Non-Executive Chairman of Aus Tin Mining Ltd (ASX:ANW), Lithium Consolidated Mineral Exploration (ASX:LI3) and Platina Resources Limited (ASX:PGM), and Non-Executive Director of DGR Global Lt...
Luke Mountford leads HopgoodGanim Lawyers as Managing Partner and also leads our Private Enterprise practice, working predominantly with HG Private clients advising on their corporate and commercial legal matters. Luke has a significant experience base advising on business succession, structuring, and mergers and acquisitions. His clients include private and family owned businesses, agribusiness clients, indigenous businesses and high wealth individuals. He has a particular interest in family...
Michele is a Partner in our Corporate practice and he has practised exclusively in corporate law for the duration of his legal career. Michele has extensive experience in mergers and acquisitions and capital markets transactions, including the negotiation of significant commercial contracts and agreements. While Michele has led a large number of transactions in the resources and energy sector, Michele also advises heavily in the technology and media sector to national and international client...
Paul has more than 25 years' experience in all aspects of property, town planning and environment law—acting for developers, government and statutory authorities, landlords, fund managers and investors. He has a wealth of experience in major mixed use and community strata title projects. Paul has acted for some of Australia's largest developers in landmark Queensland projects. He advises on all aspects of a project, from due diligence, site acquisition, to development, titling, body cor...
Andrew is an experienced corporate and commercial lawyer with more than 25 years’ experience. He regularly works with domestic and international clients on mergers & acquisitions, capital raisings, competition law and Australian regulatory compliance matters. Andrew advises both private companies and publicly listed companies and has particularly strong experience in acting for those in the financial services, healthcare, aged care and agribusiness sectors. Prior to joining Piper Al...
An accomplished lawyer with more than 25 years' experience as a litigator, Michelle specialises in maritime and transport law. Michelle features as a leading shipping and transport practitioner in Chambers, Legal 500, Doyle’s and Best Lawyers. She is also very active in the maritime and transport industries including being the Vice President of the Maritime Law Association of Australia and New Zealand (MLAANZ) and on the Executive of Australian Maritime and Transport Arbitration Commiss...
John is a practical and outcome focussed transactional lawyer known for his approachability, can-do attitude and commercial nous combined with a profound understanding of the law. With more than 30 years’ experience, his work spans capital raisings, mergers and acquisitions (regulated and unregulated), companies and securities regulation, major commercial transactions, joint ventures and resources projects. John is independently ranked on a consistent basis as one of the top corporate a...
Kylie is a partner in the Holding Redlich's Corporate & Commercial practice. She is an experienced succession planning law expert and a Self Managed Superannuation Fund Professionals’ Association of Australia Ltd Accredited SMSF Specialist Advisor. Kylie works closely with advisors to prepare compliant solutions for a diverse range of individual clients with complex structures as well as rural and business clients and families with diverse dynamics. She has been awarded the SPAA CEO...
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