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Australia
Banking and finance
Banking and finance - ranked: tier 3
Dentons
Timothy Lipscombe heads up the group at Dentons, which is a key name in the market for project and construction finance work; recent highlights include advising a senior lending syndicate on a residential apartment syndicated construction financing and acting for Chiyu Banking Corporation on the financing of its purchase of a site in Sydney. The primarily lender-focused practice counts all four major Australian banks as clients and also acts for Macquarie Bank, Bank of China and Central Bank of PNG. Other noteworthy individuals include Anthony Walsh and Jason Morris, who joined from legacy firm DibbsBarker in 2018 along with David Carter, Jeff Baker and Peter Luke. Helen Ord and Ruth Neal left for in-house positions at the Bank of Queensland and Commonwealth Bank of Australia respectively.
Corporate and M&A
Corporate and M&A - ranked: tier 6
Dentons
Dentons’ practice, which is led by Kym Livesley, is based across Sydney, Melbourne and Perth and has grown significantly with two internal promotions, the addition of Geoff Cairns, John Reen, Paul Schmidt-Uili, and Lis Boyce in Sydney from now-defunct firm DibbsBarker, Hamish Walton joining from Dechert LLP, and Nick Stretch and Alexander Nielsen joining from now-defunct firm Nick Stretch Legal in Melbourne. Andrew Chan’s arrival from Gilbert + Tobin and Robyn Chatwood’s relocation from the firm’s London office round out the offering. The practice has strengths in the energy and natural resources sectors as well as in life sciences and healthcare, and regularly advises clients with operations in Papua New Guinea (PNG) and the Pacific, most recently acting as PNG counsel to listed Canadian entity Cobalt 27 Capital. It also handles a notable amount of Chinese investment work, capitalising on the firm’s network in the region. Nielsen, who is valued for his ‘excellent approach and communication’ and is ‘trusted to give sound advice’, is advising Bayer on the Australian aspects of its sale of selected crop science businesses to BASF ahead of Bayer’s acquisition of Monsanto.
Dispute resolution
Dispute resolution - ranked: tier 5
Dentons
Dentons possesses broad commercial litigation capabilities; practice head Louise Massey is acting for a major financial institution as co-defendant in a mortgage fraud case and Ben Allen represented FAL Group in proceedings in the New South Wales Supreme Court regarding losses caused by unauthorised transactions and misapplication of funds by the defendant. Lisa Wright is also singled out.
Labour and employment
Labour and employment - ranked: tier 5
Dentons
Dentons' 'exceptional' practice is headed by 'excellent communicator' Mark Sant and includes director Brendan Milne, who is 'responsive, professional and possesses a sharp legal mind'. Sant is active in the hotels and leisure industries and Milne is a key name for industrial relations and enterprise bargaining work; Sant recently advised VenuesLive Management Services on the renegotiation of its third generation enterprise agreement and assisted AccorHotels with its general employment work; Milne acted for Qube Ports on multiple issues relating to its stevedoring workforce including roster variation and notification matters, unfair dismissal claims and Fair Work Commission disputes.
Natural resources (transactions and regulatory)
Natural resources (transactions and regulatory) - ranked: tier 4
Dentons
Dentons ‘provides excellent legal support across PNG and Australia’; its very established practice ‘has performed exceedingly well over a long period of time’. Notable PNG-related work included advice to Bougainville Copper on corporate issues arising from major shareholder Rio Tinto selling its over-50% share to both the PNG government and the autonomous Bougainville government. David Perks assisted Ganfeng Lithium with acquiring a stake in the Mt Marion lithium mine. Regional head of energy and resources Kym Livesley leads the 12-partner team, which grew through the promotion of transactions lawyer Sally Weatherstone, who regularly acts for resources companies.
Real estate
Real estate - ranked: tier 5
Dentons
Dentons provides a 'consistently exceptional service' and is noted for its ‘sound, practical advice and very good response times’. The practice has significantly expanded following its merger with DibbsBarker; Matthew Rollason, who ‘genuinely cares about his clients, going above and beyond to ensure a brilliant service', joined alongside David Sharpe, Mahoney Smith and Kristen Pike . The team covers the full spectrum of real estate matters and regularly acts for real estate investors and developers such as Bridgehill, Crown Group and Mirvac. Highlights included acting for Penrith Council on a ten-year development project creating 1,400 residential units, a public plaza and retail premises. AMP Capital receives advice on its 11,000sqm Quay Quarter Sydney redevelopment.
Regulatory compliance and investigations
Regulatory compliance and investigations - ranked: tier 4
Dentons
Dentons' ‘very responsive team provides great commercial advice and possesses in-depth knowledge’. It is well-versed in advising, investigating and litigating all forms of government inquiry from federal and state investigations to civil litigation, criminal trials and enforcement actions. The team is led by Ben Allen and Amber Warren, who both act for a number of large corporations and financial institutions domestically and internationally. Elise Ivory advised a financial institution on its acquisition of a banking business in two Asian jurisdictions. Stephen Schoninger is also singled out; Lynsey Edgar and Mandi Jacobson joined from K&L Gates and Baker McKenzie respectively. Ruth Neal and Iris Dielmann have both left for roles in-house.
Restructuring and insolvency
Restructuring and insolvency - ranked: tier 4
Dentons
The 'highly competent' group at Dentons is 'a reliable safe pair of hands that compares favourably to other firms in the same space', and is led by Justin Bates, who is 'incredibly easy to deal with and is always on top of the detail'. With a key focus on the SME market and the capacity to handle cross-border work, the group recently advised 20th Century Fox on the administration of Network Ten Holdings and its subsequent sale to CBS, represented Bell Group (UK) Holdings in litigation relating to the distribution of settlement funds, and assisted a syndicate of lenders with the Australian aspects of a cross-border restructuring of an ASX-listed company. David McIntosh, Hector West and Kylie Britton are key names in the team, which recently saw substantial expansion following the firm's merger with DibbsBarker including gaining the highly regarded John Stragalinos and Scott Guthrie.
Further information on Dentons
Please choose from this list to view details of what we say about Dentons in other jurisdictions.
United Arab Emirates
Offices in Abu Dhabi and DUBAI
Australia
- Banking and finance
- Corporate and M&A
- Dispute resolution
- Labour and employment
- Natural resources (transactions and regulatory)
- Real estate
- Regulatory compliance and investigations
- Restructuring and insolvency
Azerbaijan
Offices in Baku
Belgium
Offices in Brussels and Brussels
- Banking, finance and capital markets
- Competition : EU and global
- Customs, trade, WTO and anti-dumping
China
Offices in Shanghai, Jilin, Wuhan, Chengdu, Ji'nan, Chongqing, Beijing, and Guangzhou
- Antitrust and competition : Antitrust and competition: PRC firms
- Banking and finance : Banking and finance: PRC firms
- Capital markets : Capital markets: PRC firms
- Corporate and M&A : Corporate and M&A: PRC firms
- Dispute resolution : Dispute resolution: PRC firms
- Investment funds : Investment funds: PRC firms
- Labour and employment : Labour and employment: PRC firms
- Private equity/venture capital : Private equity/venture capital: PRC firms
- Projects and energy : Projects and energy: PRC firms
- Real estate and construction : Real estate and construction: PRC firms
- Shipping : Shipping: PRC firms
- Tax : Tax: PRC firms
- WTO/international trade : WTO/international trade: PRC firms
Canada
Offices in Montreal, Toronto, Edmonton, Calgary, Vancouver, and Ottawa
- Aboriginal law
- Banking and finance
- Capital markets
- Competition and antitrust
- Corporate and M&A
- Dispute resolution
- Energy and natural resources : Energy and natural resources: mining
- Energy and natural resources : Energy and natural resources: oil and gas
- Energy and natural resources : Energy and natural resources: power
- Environment
- Infrastructure and projects
- International trade
- Labour and employment
- Media and entertainment
- Pensions
- Public procurement
- Real estate
- Restructuring and insolvency
- Tax
- Technology
- Telecoms
- Transport : Transport: aviation
- Transport : Transport: other transport
Czech Republic
Offices in Prague
- Banking, finance and capital markets
- Commercial, corporate and M&A
- Dispute resolution
- Employment
- Projects and energy
- Real estate and construction
- Tax
Germany
Offices in Berlin, Frankfurt, and Munich
- Antitrust
- Banking and finance : Financial services: regulatory
- Capital markets : Structured finance and securitisation
- Compliance
- Employment
- Industry focus : Energy
- Industry focus : Healthcare and life sciences
- Intellectual property : Trade marks and unfair competition
- Public sector : Planning and environment
- Public sector : Public procurement
- Real estate and construction : Real estate
- Restructuring and insolvency : Restructuring
- Tax
Egypt
Offices in Cairo
Spain
Offices in Barcelona and Madrid
- Banking and finance
- Commercial, corporate and M&A
- Private equity
- Projects and energy
- Public law
- Real estate and construction
- Tax
- Transport : Other transport
France
Offices in Paris
- Administrative and public law
- Banking and finance : Transactional work
- Derivatives, structured finance and securitisation
- Dispute resolution : Commercial litigation
- Dispute resolution : International arbitration
- Dispute resolution : White-collar crime
- EU, competition and distribution
- Employment
- Industry focus : Energy
- Industry focus : Healthcare and life sciences
- Industry focus : IT, telecoms and the Internet
- Industry focus : Luxury goods
- Insolvency
- Intellectual property : Patents
- Intellectual property : Trade marks, designs and copyright
- Media and entertainment
- Mergers and acquisitions
- Private equity : Fund formation
- Project finance
- Real estate
- Tax
Georgia
Offices in Tbilisi
Ghana
Hong Kong
Offices in Hong Kong
Costa Rica
Offices in San Jose
- Banking and finance
- Corporate and M&A
- Dispute resolution
- Intellectual property
- Labour and employment
- Real estate
- Tax
Hungary
Offices in Budapest
- Banking and finance
- Capital markets
- Commercial, corporate and M&A
- Competition
- Dispute resolution
- Employment
- Intellectual property
- Projects and energy
- Real estate and construction
- TMT
Italy
- Administrative and public law
- Banking and finance : Borrower side
- Banking and finance : Lender or arranger side
- Commercial, corporate and M&A
- Dispute resolution
- Employment
- Industry focus : Energy
- Industry focus : Retail
- Industry focus : TMT
- Intellectual property
- Private equity
- Real estate and construction
- Restructuring and insolvency
- Tax
Jordan
Offices in Amman
Kuwait
Offices in Kuwait City
Kazakhstan
- Banking, finance and capital markets
- Commercial, corporate and M&A
- Dispute resolution
- Energy and natural resources
- IP and TMT
- Real estate and construction (including projects)
- Tax and customs
Luxembourg
Offices in Luxembourg
- Banking, finance and capital markets
- Commercial, corporate and M&A
- Dispute resolution
- Investment funds
- Private equity
- Real estate and construction
- Tax
Morocco
Offices in Casablanca
- Banking, finance and capital markets
- Commercial, corporate and M&A
- Projects and public law
- Tourism and real estate
Mauritius
Offices in Port Louis
Mexico
Offices in Mexico City
Netherlands
Offices in Amsterdam
- Banking and finance : Financial services regulatory
- Commercial, corporate and M&A
- Construction
- Dispute resolution : Commercial litigation
- Dispute resolution : Mediation
- EU and competition
- Employment
- Environment and planning
- Industry focus : IT
- Industry focus : Retail
- Insurance
- Intellectual property : Trade marks, copyrights and design rights
- Real estate
- Restructuring and insolvency
Oman
Offices in Muscat
Papua New Guinea
Offices in Port Moresby
Poland
Offices in Warsaw
- Banking and finance
- Capital markets : Debt
- Capital markets : Equity
- Commercial, corporate and M&A
- Competition/antitrust
- Construction
- Dispute resolution
- Employment
- Energy and natural resources
- Intellectual property
- Investment funds
- Private equity
- Public law
- Real estate
- Restructuring and insolvency
- TMT
- Tax
- White-collar crime
Panama
Offices in Panama City
Qatar
Offices in Doha
Romania
Offices in Bucharest
- Banking and finance
- Commercial, corporate and M&A
- Dispute resolution
- EU and competition
- Employment
- Energy and natural resources
- Real estate and construction
- Restructuring and insolvency
- TMT
Russia
Offices in Moscow and St Petersburg
- Banking and finance : Lender or arranger side
- Commercial, corporate and M&A : Moscow
- Commercial, corporate and M&A : St Petersburg and elsewhere
- Competition
- Dispute resolution : Arbitration and mediation
- Dispute resolution : Litigation
- Employment
- Energy and natural resources
- Intellectual property
- PPP and infrastructure projects
- Real estate and construction
- TMT
- Tax
- Transport
South Africa
Offices in Johannesburg and Cape Town
Singapore
Offices in Singapore
Slovakia
Offices in Bratislava
- Banking, finance and capital markets
- Commercial, corporate and M&A
- Dispute resolution
- Employment
- Real estate and construction
Saudi Arabia
Offices in Riyadh
Turkey
Offices in Istanbul
Ukraine
Offices in Kiev
- Banking, finance and capital markets
- Commercial, corporate and M&A
- Competition
- Dispute resolution
- Employment
- Energy
- Intellectual property
- Real estate and construction
- Tax
United States
Offices in San Francisco, New York, Rancho Sante Fe, Orange County, San Diego, Washington DC, St Louis, New York, Kansas City, Chicago, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Washington DC, Atlanta, Albany, Los Angeles, Denver, San Diego, San Francisco, Dallas, Phoenix, Short Hills, Silicon Valley, Downtown, Atlanta, Boston, Miami, New Orleans, McLean, Houston, and Mclean
- Dispute resolution : Corporate investigations and white-collar criminal defense
- Dispute resolution : General commercial disputes
- Dispute resolution : Product liability, mass tort and class action: toxic tort - defense
- Dispute resolution : Securities litigation: defense
- Finance : Financial services regulation
- Finance : Structured finance: securitization
- Government : Government contracts
- Government : Government relations
- Industry focus : Energy litigation: conventional power
- Industry focus : Energy: renewable/alternative
- Industry focus : Energy regulatory: conventional power
- Industry focus : Energy transactions: conventional power
- Industry focus : Environment: regulatory
- Industry focus : Environment: transactional
- Industry focus : Healthcare: health insurers
- Industry focus : Healthcare: life sciences
- Industry focus : Healthcare: service providers
- Industry focus : Insurance: advice to insurers
- Industry focus : Insurance: non-contentious
- Intellectual property : Patent litigation: full coverage
- Intellectual property : Patent: prosecution (including reexamination and post-grant proceedings)
- Intellectual property : Trade secrets (litigation and non-contentious matters)
- Intellectual property : Trademarks: non-contentious (including prosecution, portfolio management and licensing)
- Labor and employment : ERISA litigation
- Labor and employment : Employee benefits, executive compensation and retirement plans: design
- Labor and employment : Employee benefits, executive compensation and retirement plans: transactional
- Labor and employment : Immigration
- Labor and employment : Labor and employment disputes (including collective actions): defense
- Labor and employment : Workplace and employment counseling
- M&A/corporate and commercial : M&A: middle-market ($500m-999m)
- M&A/corporate and commercial : Venture capital and emerging companies
- Media, technology and telecoms : Media and entertainment
- Media, technology and telecoms : Outsourcing
- Media, technology and telecoms : Technology: transactions
- Media, technology and telecoms : Telecoms and broadcast: regulatory
- Media, technology and telecoms : Telecoms and broadcast: transactional
- Real estate : Construction (including construction litigation)
- Real estate
- Tax : Financial products
- Tax : International tax
- Tax : US taxes: contentious
- Tax : US taxes: non-contentious
Uzbekistan
Offices in Tashkent and Tashkent
London
Offices in London
- Corporate and commercial : Commercial contracts
- Corporate and commercial : Equity capital markets
- Corporate and commercial : Flotations: small and mid-cap
- Corporate and commercial : Private equity: transactions
- Finance : Asset finance and leasing
- Finance : Islamic finance
- Insurance : Insurance: corporate and regulatory
- Projects, energy and natural resources : Infrastructure (including PFI and PPP)
- Projects, energy and natural resources : Mining and minerals
- Real estate : Commercial property
- Real estate : Construction
- Real estate : Environment
- Real estate : Planning
- Real estate : Property finance
- Real estate : Property litigation
- Real estate : Social housing: finance
- Real estate : Social housing: local authorities and registered providers
- TMT (technology, media and telecoms) : PATMA: Patent attorneys
Scotland
Offices in Aberdeen, Glasgow, and Edinburgh
- Corporate and commercial : Corporate and commercial: Edinburgh and Glasgow
- Corporate and commercial : Corporate and commercial: elsewhere in Scotland
- Corporate and commercial : Corporate tax
- Corporate and commercial : EU and competition
- Crime, fraud and licensing : Crime: fraud
- Crime, fraud and licensing : Crime: general
- Dispute resolution : Commercial litigation
- Dispute resolution : Debt recovery
- Finance : Banking and finance
- Human resources : Employment
- Human resources : Health and safety
- Human resources : Immigration
- Human resources : Pensions
- Insurance : Professional negligence
- Private client : Personal tax, trusts and executries
- Projects, energy and natural resources : Energy (excluding oil and gas)
- Projects, energy and natural resources : Oil and gas
- Projects, energy and natural resources : Projects
- Public sector : Education
- Real estate : Commercial property: elsewhere in Scotland
- Real estate : Construction
- Real estate : Environment
- Real estate : Planning
- Real estate : Property litigation
- TMT (technology, media and telecoms) : Intellectual property
- TMT (technology, media and telecoms) : IT and telecoms
- TMT (technology, media and telecoms) : Media and entertainment
- Transport
South East
Offices in Milton Keynes and Watford
- Corporate and commercial : Corporate and commercial: Beds, Bucks, Herts, Middx
- Dispute resolution : Commercial litigation: Beds, Bucks, Herts, Middx
- Dispute resolution : Debt recovery
- Finance : Banking and finance
- Finance : Insolvency and corporate recovery
- Human resources : Employment: Beds, Bucks, Herts, Middx
- Human resources : Immigration
- Insurance : Professional negligence
- Real estate : Commercial property: Beds, Bucks, Herts, Middx
- Real estate : Construction
- Real estate : Property litigation
- TMT : IT and telecoms