Minter Ellison > Adelaide, Australia > Firm Profile

‘The Special Counsel placed on our mega project has been incredibly valuable, responsive and knowledgeable. ’

‘Peter Wood has been an excellent client relationship partner and the can do attitude has been well received.’

‘ME have a large team of very competent experts which are available to give timely advice on a large range of topics.’

‘Being involved in a large number of large infrastructure projects, with experience on both client and contractor side, gives ME a very good understanding of the current market expectations and risk appetite which saves time and money for us as clients.’

‘I value Stewart Nankervis very highly as he is willing to discuss strategy and commercial issues on complex projects for my consideration whilst giving sound legal advice.’

‘MinterEllison have an outstanding major projects group with true hands-on construction expertise and an ability to leverage a deep bench of experience in all areas required to successfully develop a major project.’

‘MinterEllison are one of the few ‘one stop shops’ in the major project space. Dealing with other law firms only reinforces why we continue to use MinterEllison. ’

‘David Pearce is exceptional. Technically brilliant, commercial and pragmatic in approach and above all great to deal with.’

‘High quality work and service. ’

‘The team not only provides the highest quality legal advice, they also work collaboratively to develop strategies to resolve issues.’

‘Dan Williams is a stand out and our ‘ go to’ for difficult and high risk people issues. Trent Forno is outstanding.’

‘The Brisbane team are great to work with. They are commercial, understand our business and provide practical advice that is easily translatable.’

‘Leyla Dixon is a trusted partner. Leyla is a deep technical expert but her advice is always easy to understand.’

‘The team has the ability to quickly understand business risks and operations and to offer pragmatic advice. ’

‘Amanda Watt – quickly navigates all aspects of a matter, attention to detail whilst still pragmatic.’

‘The MinterEllison team has an incredible depth of expertise and talent for dealing with complex or intractable industrial relations issues.’

‘Outstanding and comprehensive knowledge of the law.’ 

‘Peter Bartlett – a legal counsellor in the true sense. Providing advice and guidance in its wider context.’ 

‘Dean Levitan – thorough and diligent.’ 

‘With my heightened public role, I have total confidence in the abilities of these practitioners.’

‘Minter Ellison operates at the highest level in complex defamation and media law litigation. As its success in the Roberts-Smith litigation demonstrates (in which it acted for the successful Nine defendants!)’ 

‘Peter Bartlett is the undisputed leader among solicitors who practice in media and defamation law, with an extraordinary breadth of experience and exceptional judgment. His team is also impressive, particularly Dean Levitan who will become a leader in the field.’

‘John Fairbairn – very good lawyer; highly experienced and knowledgable; excellent to deal with.’ 

‘They take the time to really get to know your business across the different departments which helps greatly in complex negotiations and helping to pre-empt your positions. They take the time to get to know you and invest in the working relationship.’

‘The prompt attention to our critical deals and issues, together with a deep understanding of our assets over many years’ experience is priceless.’

‘The team consists of highly experienced lawyers with diverse backgrounds and skill sets, all of whom have specialised knowledge. This enables the team to offer expert advice from multiple perspectives and tailored solutions for a wide range of legal issues.’

‘In my view, the firm has a client-centric and very collaborative approach with clients, always putting the client’s needs at the forefront. I feel that I am always offered personalised attention. The practice appears to be built on the principles of integrity, transparency, and dedication to achieving the best possible outcomes for its clients.’

‘The team leverages the latest technology including AI tools. This allows efficiencies in service delivery.’

‘The real estate team is very strong. They are commercially focused, transactionally focused, and generally very easy to work with.’

‘They are one of the major firms that put a huge importance on the real estate sector and has the number of partners and support staff in the eastern seaboard offices to appropriately staff matters that we need assistance with.’

‘My experience with this team at Minters is that they are incredibly practical and responsive. Their advice was always pragmatic, bearing in mind the situation we were facing, while also being spot on from a legal perspective. Despite the stress involved for all parties, the Minters team remained a pleasure to deal with throughout. ’

‘I worked predominantly with Catherine Macrae and cannot speak highly enough of the support that she provided. She was a pleasure to work with.’

‘Minter Ellison is a well respect full service legal firm with a particularly talented insolvency and restructuring team in Melbourne and Sydney.’ 

‘Brendon Watkins is a tenacious legal advocate with a strong technical mind. He is a passionate advocate for his clients and has a wealth of insolvency and restructuring experience that he has built up over many years.’ 

‘Catherine Macrae is an emerging star in the industry. Highly regarded by the lenders and insolvency practitioners she is increasing sort after for her advice and advocacy.’

‘The Minters’ restructuring and insolvency team is known as one of the preeminent teams in the Melbourne market. The partners are known for high quality work and significant experience in complex matters. The team collaborates with other capabilities within Minters to bring a full service offering to its clients. They have excellent communication skills and we enjoy working with them.’

‘Catherine Macrae has excellent technical capabilities, strong commercial lens, excellent communication skills, client-focussed mindset.’

‘Minter Ellison has a very strong tax practice. The team conveys balanced views and is forthright in the advice they give.’ 

‘Craig Bowie is an exceptional special counsel. He is technically strong, communicates very well, and can convey risk and other issues to consider.’ 

‘ME’s banking and finance team are exceptional. They are a tight cohesive team and are brilliant at what they do. Each of the lawyers within their team can pick up a matter and progress it which is key to their efficiency strategy and continuity functions which is optimal for a recipient of their services.’ 

‘Partner – Leigh De Jong: Extremely commercial and able to focus on important parts of a transaction and problem solve to ensure the best outcome for his client’ 

‘The Team. lead by Darren Sumich provides strong, accurate and timely support to my requirements across a diverse industry mix and many different asset types. ’

‘Darren Sumich provides clear, sensible, timely and balanced legal advice combined wit balanced commercial acumen.’

‘Strong knowledge of the Agri Sector. An engaging team with access to both partner and associates in all dealings and matters. Strong experienced team.’

‘Matt Cunningham and his team provide excellent legal assistance with prompt and efficient service levels in meeting deadlines set.’ 

‘I know the broader team well having worked there 15 or so years ago. They are extremely commercial and very strong on general finance and project finance and its intersection. ’

‘Geoff Earl is our go-to and is a star. His global experience in London and throughout Europe in the buyout markets gives him the technical edge because he has seen so much complexity in the debt markets, including restructuring. ’

‘Collaborative team with strong expertise.’

‘Haydn Flack is an excellent business partner – highly engaged and responsive. His expertise and advise are highly valued.’

‘Great to work with, high client focus, pragmatic and solutions focused’

‘Haydn Flack has been excellent at helping us navigate a number of highly complex matters from a competition law perspective’

‘I have always found the Minter Ellison team I have worked with to be both experts in the interpretation and application of M&A law, but also to be commercial in the application of said law to the projects we have worked on together.’ 

‘Shaun Clyne, M&A partner, has a deep knowledge of the law, aided by decades of experience, but also is able to apply a commercial lens where necessary.’ 

‘Deep experience of the statutory provisions, court processes and prior rulings and case law relating to public company takeovers, both as acquirer and acquiree meant an efficiency of effort when exploring scenarios and advising our board on both the legal requirements of our objectives and possibilities and tactics in prosecuting those objectives. ’

‘Bart Oude-Vrielink was the engagement partner for us and notwithstanding his seniority within Minter Ellison, he was always available for us.’ 

‘The team are a pleasure to work with, technically very proficient having regard to the complex transactions that our business is required to execute and do their best to ensure that fee estimates are adhered to.’

‘Joseph Pace is outstanding at navigating through difficult issues and developing solutions. Daniel Bell, Korey Barbousas and Hannah Dixon also provided invaluable transactional support across our complex acquisitions.’

‘Minters has a very strong litigation team and is a clear first choice for bet-the-company litigation. Two things that stand out are exceptional client engagement and efficiency when running cases.’

‘Beverley Newbold is a standout litigator and is the Australian market leader for the aviation industry. She is highly experienced, an excellent communicator and very pragmatic. She thinks many steps down the line, and ensures that her team is across her thinking.’

‘They have breadth and depth of expertise in the areas we need assistance. They are good at understanding our needs, and delivering solutions that are responsive to those needs.’

‘Tom Fletcher always delivers pragmatic options that are able to be successfully implemented.’

‘Tom is always responsive to our tight timeframes and understands what we need.’

‘The team at Minters provide high quality advice and support and insights into the energy landscape. They are a key asset for us and give us exactly what we need in terms of expert external legal services.’

‘Fiona Lewis is our contact partner and she is excellent. Professional, knowledgeable, pragmatic, practical as well as very personable. She understands our business and tailors her approach to best fit our needs. She has assisted us with various large projects and we have found her to be invaluable.’

‘In our view, Minters has unparallelled energy regulatory expertise. No other firm has their level of specialist expertise. We go to Minters for the most complex/technical matters. ’

‘Fiona Lewis is the most trusted and knowledgeable advisor when it comes to energy regulatory matters, and matters regarding the energy national framework. ‘

‘MinterEllison is a large firm meaning the diversity of specialisation areas are all in house. My key contact partner is able to bring in relevant experts to assist resolve legal matters across an array of specialisations.’

‘The key partners I work with at MinterEllison are highly professional, consistently provide clear and concise advice suited to the purpose and cognisant of cost efficiency. Fiona Lewis is a central contact, coordinating experts from across the firm for an array of complex energy commercial contract matters.’

‘The team are strong in both regulatory compliance and commercial issues. This combination is important with the complexities in the regulation of energy in Australia. ’

‘Fiona Lewis has deep industry knowledge and speaks with confidence on key issues impacting the sector. She is also lovely to deal with – responsive, caring, genuinely interested in the issues impacting our business. ’

‘The practice provides practical, commercial legal advice. The practice has a deep understanding of our business and the risks facing both our business and the broader resources industry.’

‘Simon Ball, a partner based in Sydney, has invested significant time, effort and energy in developing personal relationships within our business and with understanding the risks and challenges facing the business and sector.’ 

‘The team are accessible and provides timely advice and solutions. Use of technology-based share files makes for prompt turnarounds and ease of consolidation of comments and instructions. ’

‘I have found Luke Walker to be cost conscious and works with the client to achieve acceptable outcomes ’

‘Minter Ellison is a full-service firm, that of itself is not unique, but their range and breadth of services and their deep industry and government expertise is appreciated, and always right. They are a go-to firm.’ 

‘I work with Kemsley Brenner and Kathryn Rigney. Their combined knowledge of the insurance and reinsurance industry is amazing, particularly given their exposure to government and policymakers.’ 

‘They are prompt and efficient. Information, advice & recommendations are simple and clear to understand.’

‘The Minter Ellison IP team are a fantastic team to work with and provide expert IP advice that is both intelligent and commercially savvy.’

‘Zeina Milicevic and John Fairbairn are fantastic partners and their copyright and trade mark expertise is incredible.’

‘Very capable team. Well structured team formation with good mix of experience to ensure efficiency and high quality. Great expertise and experience in all areas of IP and related contract, damages and litigation procedure to effectively address difficult IP matters. ’

‘Robert Cooper has excellent expertise and experience in relation to complex IP matters. Very comfortable with the scientific and technical aspects, which are seamlessly interwoven in the legal advice. Highly strategic. Great attention to detail.’

‘Very friendly team which give detailed, timely advice.’

‘Robert Cooper is a font of knowledge and leads a capable, industrious team.’

‘John Fairbairn is an expert advisor on copyright and privacy matters and has a deep knowledge of the media and entertainment industry, including fair dealing, licensing, collecting societies and brand protection. He provide cost effective, strategic and timely advice.’

‘Their people and market knowledge are exceptional with an outcomes-based approach that leads to success.’

‘They are all very skilled, experienced, knowledgeable, and approachable. They are great problem solvers, who were great to work with generally.’

‘For them, nothing was too hard or not achievable, they helped support strategically important work for my organisation.’

‘Kylie Diwell brought unique skills and experience and were incredibly responsive.’

‘Kylie Diwell has extensive experience in the contracting and commercial management of both the managed service and the selected vendor. She quickly understood the implications of technical issues and challenges in the program and what this meant in commercial terms, providing clear, consistent advice on how to best manage that.’

‘Kylie Diwell’s client service was exceptional, and she could work with minimal instruction to develop correspondence to the vendor.’

‘Nicholas Pascoe is highly engaged and helps to ensure complex transactions are managed in a sensible and coherent way. Nick’s knowledge of the market position on legal and risk matters in IT/TMT arrangements is exceptional.’

‘Nicholas Pascoe has provided excellent service and expertise, assisting with major outsourcing contracting and negotiations, as well as providing advice and assurance to our board.’

‘Very good industry knowledge and experience across a range of different transaction types.’ 

‘Andrew Corletto has excellent industry knowledge and experience in a wide range of transactions.’ 

‘The team has a unique understanding of the history of our company’s operations, the commercial and regulatory context in which we operate and the current, strategic imperatives of the company.’

‘Simon Scott and Jordan Phillips – for their strong leadership and direction of their team, their responsiveness and ongoing efforts to ensure delivery of practical and fit-for-purpose advice; Ben Fox – for his technical excellence and significant regulatory expertise.’ 

‘The team is ultra-reliable, collaborative and helpful. Gives great commercial astute advice.’

‘Simon Scott are both extremely smart, commercially astute and energetic.’

‘David Perks has extensive experience in the legal sector.’ 

‘Breadth of experience and industry expertise.’

‘Minters has a very strong litigation team and is a clear first choice for bet-the-company litigation. Two things that stand out are exceptional client engagement and efficiency when running cases. Teams are appropriately sized and resourced, and the client is kept in the loop at all stages: the aim of “no surprises” is achieved.’

‘Minters has excellent lawyers and trains them well, and their work product is fantastic. They are enthusiastic users of technology (eg tech assisted review, electronic briefing) to cut down costs.’

‘Beverley Newbold is a standout litigator and is the Australian market leader for the aviation industry. She is highly experienced, an excellent communicator and very pragmatic. She thinks many steps down the line, and ensures that her team is across her thinking. Beverley is very effective at resolving disputes before hearing, and often without formal mediation, by identifying shared commercial objectives and imperatives, and finding common ground.’

‘Their ability to meet our often short timeframes has been impressive.’

‘Our strong relationship with specific Minters staff has been a differentiator.’

‘They are extremely well-organised and can mobilise additional resources promptly. They are very good at working with counsel—keeping them up to date, notifying them of timelines, providing support, and integrating into a team.’

‘They provided very high-quality work in reviewing materials and offering views.’

‘They have leading knowledge of the industry and market expectations. They have an excellent reputation for having advised on a range of innovative and complex matters.’

‘Ian Lockhart provided commercial, concise advice and was very responsive.’

‘Tze Ting Liew is an outstanding lawyer who brings the right mix of technical knowledge, commercial acumen, and responsiveness to each engagement.’

‘Minter Ellison has been a pleasure to deal with. Responsive and professional.’

‘Craig Boyle has been excellent. He is extremely knowledgeable and helped steer us through a very difficult situation. Very thorough and always available. ’

‘The team is able to not only to provide expert legal and strategic advice, but advise the organisation on the implementation of complex legal amendments and updates to the legislation.’

‘The practice provides exceptional legal service. The advice is always in plain English, precisely and easily understood. The team provide valuable industry-specific insights and legal updates. The team are always willing to assist and are willing to drop everything if the advice sought is extremely urgent.’

‘The Minter Ellison WHS practice is market-leading in expertise and experience. Partner availability and engagement is exceptional and advice is always practical and solutions-focused. Highly recommended.’

‘Deanna McMaster is extremely knowledgeable in her space while also being commercial and practical and willing to ‘roll up the sleeves’ when necessary. Deanna works across Australia on WHS matters and therefore is able to provide solutions and answers to issues immediately and based on real experience, which is very valuable. She is also available to assist as and when required and on limited notice – extremely important in WHS matters.’

‘Deanna McMaster approaches her work with reassuring and pragmatic advice.’

‘They are consistently friendly, reliable, and collaborative. They are flexible with their work product as our requirements evolve. If they hold a differing view on an issue, they communicate it respectfully.’

‘The team members I worked with were diligent from the start, taking the time to review and refine the scope of work to ensure clarity before proceeding. Their communication was proactive, with regular updates on progress.’

‘Christina Graves is always a pleasure to work with. She possesses immense knowledge of government priorities and concerns, which she effectively addresses in her work. Her expertise in privacy law is excellent, and she consistently produces high-quality legal advice.’

‘Christina Graves is courteous, pleasant, and punctual, always communicating promptly if delays arise.’

‘They are well-resourced, reasonably billed, and client-focused. Sonja Read is approachable, commercially minded, and prompt with responses. She provides timely advice, pays great attention to detail, and offers a personalised approach.’