Corporate and M&A in Australia

‘The Corporate team consistently demonstrate their expertise through practical, commercial and market referenced advice and solutions to often complex issues. They have demonstrated their strength in collaboration with their property colleagues approaching their matter handling as one team, leveraging the expertise of others for the best outcome of their client.’

‘Mark Malinas – very personable and commercial. Great technical skills and an excellent knowledge of how M&A deals work.’

‘Emin Altiparmak – really good to work with and excellent with clients.’

‘Tom Story – really knowledgeable and great technical skills. Really good with difficult clients.’

‘Quality of individuals at all levels of the Corporate practice and across different offices. Very smart people but also really good people skills and generally a pleasure to work with on M&A deals.’

‘Exceptional technical skills. Very commercial, always had a partner on hand, available at short notice, great communication. Excellent management of matter across teams and firms, really good to work with culturally.‘

‘The team, led by Mark McNamara, is involved in the biggest, most complex deals in the market and therefore are at the forefront of corporate law in Australia. As well as having very strong technical skills at all levels, they have demonstrated a level of commerciality that I have not seen from any other top tier law firm. In my view, they are the best team in the market.’

‘Mark McNamara – In my view, the best corporate M&A lawyer in Australia – highly experienced, incredibly responsive, able to push points in commercial negotiations, and above all highly commercial and what can be described as a true trusted adviser.’

‘KWM has great breadth and depth of expertise and works quite seamlessly across states. They spend time to understand your business and deliver value-adds above and beyond matters.’

‘Jason Watts – An exceptional practitioner in M&A and Corporate – very good communicator, technically excellent and unflappable.’

‘Nicola Charlston is a stand out partner providing excellent commercial advice and outstanding client service. Highly recommend her and her team.’

‘Nicola Charlston – excellent commercial advice and outstanding client service.’

‘The KWM team is overall fantastic – they go above and beyond.’

‘Peter Stirling – superb, practical, reliable, responsive.’

‘Very experienced partner leading a highly motivated and intelligent team of associates. Focused and fast.’

‘Simon De Young is an outstanding counsel, very pragmatic and efficient. His involvement was crucial for breaching gaps during negotiations and closing the deal. Daniel Conti was bright and extremely well organised. His work product was impeccable.’

‘My experience has been simply exceptionally good. I commonly remark that the good service levels are such that you have to wonder why anyone would use anyone else. Essentially that reflects your people and first class value for money. And your turnaround time responding to service requests beats anything I have seen from the legal or accounting professions in my 50 years in dealing with the professions as a professional or as a company director.’

‘Its all about one partner, Richard Lustig. He is simply remarkable, and I tell everyone that too. Richard is the standout, and I am not exaggerating!’

‘The lead partner Simon De Young is always available and has incredibly deep knowledge of our business and related legal and commercial needs. He and the team are a pleasure to work with and we rely on his insight and direction to ensure we deliver what is needed for the business.’

‘Simon is the consummate legal professional. He provides the business with confidence and clarity in a complex environment and does it with composure and an even tempered, balanced approach to the issue whilst providing optionality where possible.’

‘Partners are hands on supported by very capable associates.’

‘Rory Moriarty- Hands on, user friendly, give practical advice and get things done!‘

‘Quality of the corporate team is market leading. They draw on the broader resources of a full service team in a seamless fashion to deliver an excellent customer experience.’

‘Niro Ananda is the unusual combination of having excellent technical legal skills, but is able to apply these with a broader commercial context to solve problems in often quite a creative fashion.’

‘A senior-leaning team who are always available, collaborative and extremely pragmatic in their legal approach.’

‘Niro Ananda is a standout partner who is across all aspects of a deal, and available at any time. When you pay for a partner, you get a partner at Clayton Utz and that means a lot to us.’

‘The work product produced by the CU team is excellent. We often seek their advice on the more complex transaction we are involved in. They also have a wide array of subject matter experts.’

‘Rory Moriarty is to be noted for his around the clock availability and commercial and pragmatic advice on complex matters.‘

‘Accurate advice the first time around. Very responsive. Top quality technical knowledge. Great people – friendly and with a sense of humour.’

‘Shaun Clyne’s technical knowledge is outstanding and he balances the black letter law with commerciality.’

‘We have found Minter Ellison to be extremely knowledgeable in all areas of corporate law. ME has provided expert commercial advice delivered always with an overarching focus on client care. Coming from an entrepreneurial background we have greatly valued this corporate knowledge/advice which has helped us navigate some complex situations. Moreover their ability to frame up the requirements and help devise strategy in simple terms is both appreciated and beneficial.‘

‘Shaun Clyne comes with a wealth of corporate knowledge that affords him a very commercial view on all matters legal. He has a strong ability to clearly articulate the key issues in any situation and provide balanced and informed counsel on how best to navigate this.’

‘A&O Corporate and M&A has deep experience in high value and complex M&A, is highly responsive and reliable, and offers practical solutions that balance the needs of clients as well as market considerations for transactions. This is a team of high performers with solid experience and practicality.’

‘The Allen & Overy Sydney team provides an exceptional breadth of experience and expertise in the M&A space. The way they can get their minds around complex issues and turn this into concise documentation is a credit to the team. Their understanding of how the M&A space works means you are never caught out. The preparedness to meet deadlines through their allocation of resources is very good.’

‘Jamie Palmer has an exceptional mind and the speed at which he can take in complex situations and find a commercially workable solution is outstanding, whilst at the same time very attentive in listening to the client’s point of view. His intensity when it is required at critical points of a project is a standout feature.’

‘Simone Lowes is a very conscientious, detail orientated team member that is solution orientated, determined to achieve the best outcome for the client along with getting a deal across the line. Is also very helpful after a deal is over when a particular detail comes up.’

‘Comparing this practice to others, it is clear that A&O are extremely experienced and are subject matter experts. Therefore, it is able to use a smaller and more efficient team to provide a better service. The depth of experience at A&O results in being able to provide much strategic advice which has been appreciated.’

‘The individuals are very much hands on and experienced in the specific areas. This means they provide more accurate advice and direction and can create documents faster. They team is also extremely dedicated.’

‘The team works with you and takes initiatives rather than waiting for instructions. They build a relationship with you and partner with you and take responsibility.’

‘Christine Fleer is the partner that I worked with and did an excellent job with the legal advice and contributed over and above the legal by assisting with advice on consequences around certain decisions and initiating thought processes and strategy. She kept me ahead of others thinking on the transaction we worked on.’

‘Nimble, responsive and trying to get to a solution for the client.’

‘This is one of the very few legal firms where the junior lawyers are well supervised and produce high quality work in a timely manner under the guidance of their supervising partners.’

‘We use Lander & Rogers for our corporate and M&A work. Landers is commercially-focused, solutions-based, and a terrific partner to work with in the space. Their use of technology for due diligence processes is excellent and a time-saving wonder.’

‘Highly skilled yet brilliantly commercial with the interests of the client at the fore – rare to find that balance in other firms.’

‘Not only are the people we work with experts in their field they are fantastic individuals who can read the mood of a room, the personality of a client and a situation perfectly.’

‘Efficient. Very reactive.’

‘Damien Clarke is a standout because of his considered, rational, and common sense outcomes focus.’

‘McCulloughs have the most commercial approach to the law of any law firm, where they acknowledge and reflect on commercial aspects of advice, and don’t just provide the bare advice that sometimes one doesn’t understand the implications of. They are extremely efficient. They are very user friendly. They are always available.’

‘Smart and capable group who understand the business side of what we do – not just the legal.’

‘A great leader with unrivalled commercial savvy, right-sized and technically proficient team who work tirelessly to achieve the client’s goal.’

‘Dan Livingston is the best commercial and corporate Partner we’ve worked with. Clear, concise, no-fuss and has stood in our shoes as clients.’

‘Have always been able to put a very capable and professional person to deal with issues that arise outside my core dealings. Have a breadth of resources that provides responsive action and allows issues to be well handled from the beginning.’

‘Colin Biggers & Paisley understands their clients, the challenges clients face and what would be in the clients’ best interest. Colin Biggers & Paisley makes legal issues easy to understand and manage, provides straight and simple to understand answers. Colin Biggers & Paisley does not try to make small matters bigger than they should be to create more workload for themselves.’

‘The team are able to work seamlessly with their US colleagues to provide cross-border services with minimal double handling.’

‘Very cohesive service and very professional and commercial approach.’

‘Richard Partridge is a very good practitioner – very commercial, pragmatic and very fair.’

‘The people are excellent – top notch skills, approachable & commercial attitude.’

‘Dedicated and experienced M&A team that is very responsive is key in these situations and Gadens provide just that to us.’

‘Availability is key for us. When we need to speak to someone, we need them available in short notice. This is what we find with Gadens.’

‘High skilled.’

‘Duncan Hall, very professional and timely.’

‘Pragmatism and connectedness to market and industry insights.’

‘Very proactive team, with high availability. Commercial understanding.’

‘Ewan Robertson – pragmatic approach. Commercially focused. Excellent partner.’

‘The team was smart, sophisticated and responsive, and they have consistently provided top-notch support on Australian matters (including with respect to some very challenging and nuanced issues).’

‘James Delesclefs is fantastic. He is the primary person with whom we have worked and has consistently provided top-notch support on Australian matters.‘

‘Hamilton Locke provide practical advice, which is on point and fit for purpose. For a business that works with early stage start-ups, Hamilton Locke allowed us to managing external legal costs in a cost effective way.‘

‘James Delesclefs is our key point of contact and is always available, approachable and extremely knowledgeable. James will go out of his way to help in any way he can.‘

‘The Hamilton Locke team appear to have a slightly different DNA than other firms, with a real focus on providing specialist commercial legal advice. The technical output is excellent and the ability to quickly identify what the issues are and how best to approach them in a commercial and realistic manner. Each member of the firm that I am introduced to is easy to work with and seems to really enjoy the client service aspect of the role, not just the technical component.‘

‘Hamilton Locke lawyers are proactive in communications and thinking ahead of any potential legal issues. They truly understand what the client needs and able to strike a balance between dealing with counter party and legal protection for their clients. Their responsive time is extremely fast and the quality of work is outstanding. They are always on top of what they are doing and make you feel confidence and comfortable working with them.‘