Practice Expertise

  • Litigation and disputes
  • Employment
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Areas of Practice

  • Employment
  • Litigation and disputes
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  •  

WSG Practice Industries

Profile

As a litigator, I regularly conduct proceedings before the Fair Work Commission, the Federal Court of Australia, the Federal Circuit Court of Australia, and other courts and tribunals.

I have a background in IT and have developed a range of apps in my practice. Most recently, I was certified in Neota Logic – an environment used to develop expert systems (rule-based artificial intelligence apps) for web and mobile platforms. 

Career Highlights

  • Commonwealth Bank of Australia – successfully acted in the landmark High Court of Australia decision that determined that the implied term of trust and confidence was not part of Australian law (Commonwealth Bank of Australia v Barker [2014] HCA 32) – described by Professor Joellen Riley as “one of the most important employment law decisions this century”
  • Australian Building and Construction Commission – advised and represented the organisation and its predecessors in a series of successful Federal Court prosecutions against the Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union, and others
  • Regularly appears for a range of clients on industrial matters. As part of this, has obtained orders against industrial action for Arnott’s Biscuits Limited, Boeing, Coles, DP World Australia Limited, Lendlease, Peabody Energy and Thales
  • Successfully defended one of the first bullying claims under the Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth), acting for both a company and a general manager
  • Metso Australia Limited – acted in Federal Court proceedings and obtained Anton Piller orders against three former employees/consultants and their new employer in relation to the alleged taking of confidential and copyright information, resulting in a settlement for $20 million plus costs at the start of the hearing
  • Part of the team that won MinterEllison’s Hackathon for developing an app to provide automated advice on risks and processes when dismissing employees
  • Praise from Chambers Asia-Pacific – lauded as a “person you want in the room” for “amazing technical expertise” and “encyclopaedic knowledge of case law” ; “especially well known for handling of contentious industrial relations issues”; “technically the best lawyer I’ve ever come across” 

 


Education
BA, LLB (Hons)

Areas of Practice

  • Employment
  • Litigation and disputes

Professional Career



Articles

  • COVID-19: Managing the effects on your workplace. Your top five questions answered.

    In this time of uncertainty and rapid change, organisations need to take proactive steps to ensure that they are managing the risks to workers and the general public, as well as managing broader operational issues.  Below we summarise the top five questions that MinterEllison has been asked over the past week.

  • The successful prosecution of the CFMEU over a strike at Barangaroo
    MinterEllison is acting on behalf of the Australian Building and Construction Commission in the successful prosecution of the CFMEU over a strike at Barangaroo, and the ongoing appeal.
  • Q&A with Gareth Jolly - one of the FT's Top 10 legal innovators in APAC

    Sydney Workplace Partner, Gareth Jolly, has combined his legal expertise with a love of programming and an appetite for learning new skills to become recognised as one of the Financial Times' (FT) Top 10 legal innovators in the Asia-Pacific for 2019. Gareth's Definition Checker app was also runner-up in the Legal Technology Awards.

  • HR&IR Update: What you need to know coming into 2019

    We summarise some of the major developments – including some things that should be top of mind as you start thinking about 2019 and at least one thing you need to be looking at right now, before Christmas.

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