Archives

Michael Gvozdenovic



Michael was admitted to practice in 2019 and called to the Bar in 2023.  He accepts briefs in all areas of law, with a particular focus on commercial, competition and consumer, intellectual property, and corporations law.

At the Bar, Michael has advised and appeared, both led and unled, for commercial and public sector clients in State and Federal Courts, including in class actions, appellate, and regulatory matters.  Before being called to the Bar, Michael practised at Herbert Smith Freehills, Clifford Chance, and Clayton Utz, and in 2020 was the Associate to the Hon Justice Wigney of the Federal Court of Australia.

Michael has an extensive academic background.  He holds a Master of Laws (James Kent Scholar) from Columbia Law School, where he studied on a Fulbright Scholarship, and a Bachelor of Laws (Hons) and Bachelor of Economics from the University of Sydney, where he remains an Adjunct Senior Lecturer.  His academic writing, including a two-volume competition law text, Current Issues in Competition Law (The Federation Press), has been cited by the Federal Court of Australia.

Michael is recognised in Doyle’s Guide as a Recommended Competition Law Junior Counsel, Australia (2024).

Maggie Kearney



Maggie accepts briefs in all areas of law, with a particular interest in commercial, corporations, equity, media and intellectual property law.

Maggie regularly appears both led and unled in NSW courts, the Federal Court, Tribunals and investigations and inquiries.

Maggie was admitted as a solicitor in 2018 and called to the Bar in 2022. Before coming to the Bar, Maggie was a Senior Associate in commercial litigation at Corrs Chambers Westgarth.  Maggie was previously tipstaff to the Hon. Justice Hammerschlag.

Maggie holds a Master of Laws with distinction from the University of Sydney, where Maggie was awarded the Ross Waite Parsons Scholarship, and a Juris Doctor with distinction from the University of New South Wales. Maggie received the 2022 Peteris Ginters Prize for achieving the top score for the Ethics Exam in the 2022 Bar Readers’ course.

Amy Campbell



Amy accepts briefs in all areas of the law, and specialises in commercial, competition and intellectual property law.  Amy lectures in corporations law at the University of New South Wales.

Before coming to the Bar, Amy practised in disputes at Gilbert + Tobin and Minter Ellison. Amy was an associate in the Federal Court of Australia.

Amy received the Christopher Gee QC Memorial Prize for Advocacy for the September 2018 Bar Practice Course.

She is recognised in Best Lawyers 2025 as “One to Watch” in the areas of Class Action Litigation, Commercial Law and Corporate Law.

Simon Snow



Simon has over 20 years’ experience advising on contentious and non-contentious matters, with a particular focus on competition, regulatory and consumer law issues.  Simon has advised clients from a wide range of industries, including transport, retail, financial services, telecommunications, building products and utilities.

In addition to advising and acting on a broad range of commercial matters, Simon has substantial experience in acting for clients in contentious competition and consumer law matters including between private parties as well as proceedings instituted by regulators.  Simon also has experience managing investigations by regulators in relation to competition and consumer matters, including criminal and civil cartel matters, misuse of market power allegations and advising in relation to immunity and leniency applications.

Simon is a member of the Competition and Consumer Committee of the Law Council of Australia and the Antitrust Section of the American Bar Association.

Previous experience:

  • Partner in the Competition & Regulation Group, Gilbert & Tobin, 2004-2017
  • Senior Lawyer, Gilbert & Tobin, 1999-2004
  • Senior Associate and Lawyer, Blake Dawson Waldron (now Ashurst), 1995-1999

Simon is listed in Doyle’s Guide; Leading Competition Law Junior Counsel – Australia, 2022.

Matthew Darke SC



Matthew appears in and advises on a range of complex commercial, regulatory, insurance, and intellectual property matters.  He has significant experience in class actions and civil penalty proceedings.

Matthew is recognised by:

  • Chambers & Partners, in Band 1 of their Asia-Pacific senior counsel rankings for 2023;
  • The Legal 500, in Band 1 as a leading silk in commercial disputes;
  • Doyle’s Guide 2023/2024, as a Leading senior counsel in Commercial Litigation & Dispute Resolution, Intellectual Property litigation, and Class Action litigation;
  • Best Lawyers Australia 2025, in its lists for Class Action Litigation, Commercial Law, Insurance Law, Intellectual Property Law, and Litigation; and
  • Who’s Who Legal: Commercial Litigation, as a leading litigation legal figure.

Matthew’s past and current clients include Westpac, NAB, IOOF, KPMG, Qantas, Virgin, AMP and Nuix.

Notable recent and current matters include:

  • representing Nuix in a $183 million claim by its former CEO, Eddie Sheehy, in relation to certain share options: Sheehy v Nuix Pty Ltd [2023] FCA 56;
  • representing insurers in resisting a claim for indemnity by SunWater in relation to its liability in the Queensland Floods class action: Liberty Mutual Insurance Company v SunWater Ltd (No 2) [2021] NSWSC 1582 (first instance); SunWater Limited v Liberty Mutual Insurance Company [2022] NSWCA 273 (appeal);
  • representing Virgin Australia Holdings in ongoing class action proceedings brought on behalf of purchasers of unsecured notes: Matheson Property Group Pty Ltd (Trustee) v Virgin Australia Holdings Limited [2022] FCA 1243;
  • representing JLT Risk Solutions in class action proceedings brought on behalf of NSW local councils alleging breaches of contract, negligence and breaches of fiduciary duties: Richmond Valley Council v JLT Risk Solutions Pty Ltd [2022] NSWSC 1761;
  • representing Westpac in ongoing regulatory proceedings brought by ASIC alleging insider trading and unconscionable conduct;
  • representing Meta in ongoing class action proceedings alleging anti-competitive conduct in connection with Meta’s cryptocurrency advertising ban;
  • representing Katy Perry in ongoing trade mark proceedings brought by an Australian designer styled Katie Perry (judgment reserved);
  • representing Jaguar Land Rover Australia in ongoing product liability class action proceedings concerning the diesel particular filter on certain Jaguar and Land Rover model vehicles sold in Australia.

Francis Douglas KC



In his time at the Bar, and since he took silk, Mr Douglas has been involved in a wide range of work at the highest level in constitutional and other fields of public law including public international law, and commissions of inquiry. He has been involved in cases such as the Nuclear Test Case in the International Court, and the Tasmanian Dams Case in the High Court. He was also Senior Counsel for the Applicants in both challenges to the cross-vesting legislation in the High Court. He has appeared as counsel in arbitrations in India, and sat as an arbitrator in the London Court of International Arbitration (“LCIA”) and the Singapore International Arbitration Centre (“SIAC”).

Over the course of his career he has also been involved in a wide range of cases at first instance and on appeal in most fields of commercial law, in all of the States and Territories of Australia, and in the Federal and High Courts. He is primarily interested in appellate work and work in the field of alternative dispute resolution including arbitration and mediation. He has received recognition in Best Lawyers for ADR and Commercial Litigation since 2013, and is included in Doyle’s List 2019 as a leading mediator in New South Wales. Who’s Who Legal will recognise him as among the world’s leading commercial arbitration experts for 2021. He is also a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators.

Mr Douglas is listed in Best Lawyers in Australia 2025 for his work in:

  • Alternative Dispute Resolution
  • Commercial Law
  • Litigation


Education

BA LLB Qld;
LLB (Cantab);
Diploma International Law (Cantab);
FCIArb (Fellowship Chartered Institute of Arbitrators)

David Studdy SC



David Studdy has a broad commercial practice predominantly acting for companies in the Supreme Court of New South Wales and the Federal Court of Australia involving a wide range of issues. His trial practice has included trials in the Supreme Court of Victoria, the Supreme Court of Queensland and the Supreme Court of Western Australia, appearing before arbitrators, in inquiries and in liquidators’ and other examinations. In addition, he has represented individuals in complex civil penalty proceedings brought by the ACCC and ASIC and has also acted for the regulators.

Frances St John



Ms St John specialises in intellectual property, including copyright, patents, trade marks, designs, breach of confidence, and false advertising. She regularly appears, led and unled, in the High Court, Federal Court, Supreme Court, Federal Circuit Court, and IP Australia. She is recognised as one of Australia’s leading IP junior barristers by Doyle’s Guide to the Australian Legal Profession, Best Lawyers, and Chambers & Partners.

Prior Experience

  • Intellectual property litigation groups in two major commercial law firms (2010-2015)
  • Federal Court of Australia, Associate to Justice Greenwood (2009)


Education
Australian National University: Master of Laws (First Class) (2014)
University of Queensland: Bachelor of Laws (Hons) (2007)

Ms St John is recognised in Chambers & Partners 2024 Global and Asia-Pacific rankings for intellectual property. Doyle’s Guide 2023 has listed Ms St John as “Preeminent” junior counsel in intellectual property and “Leading” junior counsel in technology, media & telecommunications. She is also named in Best Lawyers Australia 2025 for intellectual property.

Neil Murray SC



Neil specialises in intellectual property law and chiefly practises in patent, copyright, trade mark, confidential information, consumer protection and other commercial/equity matters.  He has appeared in some of Australia’s leading intellectual property cases including:

  • Apotex v sanofi-aventis (patentability of methods of medical treatment, High Court)
  • Northern Territory v Collins (indirect patent infringement, High Court),
  • AstraZeneca v Apotex (patent obviousness, High Court)
  • Roadshow Films v iiNet (liability of ISPs for copyright infringement, Full Federal Court)
  • EMI v Larrikin (the Down Under/Kookaburra case, reproduction of a substantial part of a well-known children’s song in a famous rock song, Full Federal Court)
  • Apple v Samsung (the Australian chapter of multinational patent litigation over smartphone and tablet technology, Federal Court).

Neil appears for, and advises, clients across a range of industries, including pharmaceuticals (originator and generic), mining, information technology, telecommunications, music, consumer goods, liquor, gaming, finance and local government. He appears chiefly in the Federal Court of Australia in Sydney and Melbourne, and elsewhere as required.  He also appears in the Supreme Court of New South Wales, the Patents Office, the Trade Marks Office, and the Copyright Tribunal; and at mediations.

Before joining the Bar, he was a senior associate specialising in intellectual property disputes in a leading Australian-based multinational law firm. He was admitted as a legal practitioner in 1998.

Information about Neil’s listings in the legal rankings, guides and directories identifying leading counsel may be found in his CV, which can be downloaded below.

Angus Lang SC



Experience

  • Barrister, Tenth Floor Selborne/Wentworth Chambers; 2006 – present
  • Freehills (2000 – 2006), Senior Associate, Intellectual Property
  • Judge’s Associate, Hon. Justice Lehane, Federal Court of Australia (1999)


Teaching
Guest lecturer, Comparative Intellectual Property Law, Humboldt-Universität, Berlin; Martin-Luther-Universität Halle-Wittenberg, Germany (2007-present)
Friedrich-Schiller- Universität Jena, Germany (2017-present)


Publications
(2008) 75 IP Forum 42
(2008) 21 International Journal for the Semiotics of Law 1
Bar Brief No. 140 May 2007, 7
(2001)14 Aust. Intellectual Property Law Bulletin 1
(1999) 7 Journal of Law and Medicine 53


Professional memberships
Intellectual Property Society of Australia and New Zealand
Law Council of Australia Intellectual Property Committee; Europe Focus Group
Deutsch-Australisch-Pazifische Juristenvereinigung e.V.

 

Education
New South Wales Bar Examinations, 2006 (P. Lashki Prize)
Humboldt Universität, Berlin, LLM (University Medal) (2004-2005)
University of Sydney, BA (1st Class Honours, University Medal), LLB (1st Class Honours) (1992 – 1997)
TER 100.00
NAATI qualified translator, German-English

Mr Lang practises in commercial and intellectual property matters. He is recognised in Chambers & Partners 2023 Asia-Pacific rankings for Intellectual Property Law. Doyle’s Guide 2023 has named him as Recommended Intellectual Property senior counsel for NSW, and he is also listed in Best Lawyers Australia 2025 for his work in Intellectual Property Law. Legal 500 2023 also recognises him as a leading silk in Intellectual Property.

John Hennessy SC



Mr Hennessy is recognised as one of Australia’s leading intellectual property silks according to Chambers & Partners, Doyle’s Guide to the Australian Legal Profession and World Trademark Review. He regularly appears in the Federal Court of Australia, both at first instance and on appeal, and has appeared in a number of leading intellectual property cases in the High Court of Australia. He also appears in the Australian Patent Office, the Australian Trade Marks Office, the Copyright Tribunal of Australia and in arbitral proceedings.

Practice areas include: patents, trade marks, copyright, designs, passing-off, confidential information, trade names and misleading advertising, and all other aspects of intellectual property; broadcast and media; information technology; and telecommunications.

Clients for whom Mr Hennessy regularly appears include: inventors, manufacturers, pharmaceutical and technology companies, film studios and production companies, television and radio broadcasters, internet service providers, software designers, content providers, record companies, print publishers, regulatory authorities and industry associations.

Please see attached CV below for list of selected cases.

Mr Hennessy is named in Band 1 of Chambers & Partners 2023 Asia-Pacific Guide for Intellectual Property. Doyle’s Guide 2023 has listed Mr Hennessy as Leading Technology, Media & Telecommunications Senior Counsel and Recommended Intellectual Property Senior Counsel. Mr Hennessy is recognised in Best Lawyers Australia 2025 for his work in Intellectual Property Law. Legal 500 also recognises Mr Hennessy as a Band 1 Leading silk in the areas of Technology, Media & Telecommunications and Intellectual Property.

       

Shereef Habib SC



Shereef has an extensive practice in commercial litigation, including complex multi-party litigation and class actions. Shereef also practices in intellectual property, principally in patent, trade mark and consumer protection. He has appeared for and advised a wide range of clients including major Australian and foreign banks, large international pharmaceutical companies, and major insurers such as NRMA and Hannover.  Shereef’s recent matters include:

  • Appearing for the class in the Supreme Court of NSW in representative proceedings against Suncorp with respect to superannuation fees;
  • Appearing for the class in the Federal Court of Australia in representative proceedings against Nulis (formerly an NAB subsidiary) with respect to superannuation fees;
  • Appearing for the respondent in the Full Federal Court against Avant concerning significant insurance issues relating to the notification of claims. I appeared before the High Court on Avant’s special leave application which was dismissed;
  • Appearing in the High Court for the appellant on novel questions concerning the assessment of damages for the loss of use of motor vehicles;
  • Appearing for Apotex, Alphapharm & Aspen in patent infringement litigation brought by Lundbeck – Federal Court of Australia;
  • Appearing for Apotex prosecuting significant claims on various undertakings as to damages given in patent litigation- Federal Court of Australia;
  • Appearing for the Applicant in an investor class action funded by IMF concerning an alleged misleading prospectus and alleged contravention of continuous disclosure obligations – Federal Court of Australia;
  • Defending NRMA in commercial litigation concerning allegations relating to its preferred repairer programme – Supreme Court of Queensland;
  • Appearing for the Commonwealth in a substantial claim brought by OPEL (an Optus and Elders joint venture vehicle) concerning the roll out of broadband to regional Australia – Supreme Court of NSW;
  • Appearing for a major software integrator in a dispute with Optus concerning its wholesale business – Supreme Court of NSW.

Before joining the bar, Shereef was a visiting scholar at Stanford University Law School in California. After returning to Australia, Shereef was an associate to Wilcox J in the Federal Court of Australia, a solicitor at Freehills in the commercial and intellectual property divisions and for approximately 15 months a prosecutor at the Commonwealth DPP.

Shereef is regularly briefed by the top tier Australian commercial law firms.

Stefan Balafoutis SC



Stefan advises and appears for corporations, government agencies and individuals in complex commercial disputes.  He is recognised in Best Lawyers Australia 2025 for his expertise in Commercial Law.  He has a particular interest in contracts, property law, taxation, regulatory disputes, corporations law and intellectual property.

Contractual, property and regulatory disputes: clients include Ford Motor Company, Lendlease, Optus, Westpac, Qantas, the ACCC and the Australian Energy Regulator.  He also acts for medium size businesses and property developers in a broad range of disputes.

Taxation: Stefan is regularly briefed by the Chief Commissioner of State Revenue and taxpayers.  He has appeared in leading cases about stamp duty, payroll tax and land tax.  Recent matters include appearances in the NSW Supreme Court and Court of Appeal about whether the purchase of power stations should attract stamp duty, whether medical centres’ payments to doctors should be subject to payroll tax, and the extent of the employment agency and relevant contracts provisions.

Corporations law: Stefan has been awarded an Advanced Certificate in Insolvency from ARITA and is a professional member of ARITA.  He appears for liquidators and corporations.  Stefan has experience in oppression proceedings, matters alleging breach of directors’ duties and proceedings seeking the recovery of unfair preferences and uncommercial transactions.

Intellectual property: clients include Universal Music, Phonographic Performance Company of Australia and Sony.  Stefan has acted in substantial trade mark and copyright disputes in the Federal Court and Copyright Tribunal.