Find Lawyers in Australia for Government Practice
Bruce is a highly regarded and experienced Government advisor with broad commercial expertise including property, procurement and probity advice gained over 25 years of practice. His wide experience in many areas of government practice has made him particularly valuable to client agencies as a strategic adviser, or for working on sensitive or risk laden projects. As probity advisor, Bruce works with clients to ensure their grants, procurement or asset sales processes are defensible and can wi...
Robin has extensive expertise in administrative law, both in practice and academia. Robin is Emeritus Professor of Law in the College of Law at the Australian National University, where her research is focused mainly on administrative law and military law. Her main research interests are in administrative law, particularly the impact of judicial review cases, statutory interpretation, and the position of tribunals in the Australian system of government. Robin’s current teaching interest...
Philip has over 30 years' experience practicing in business, commercial, and corporate law. Philip's range of industry experience includes agribusiness (private sector and public sector), mining services, large commercial and residential property development projects, acquisitions and sales, manufacturing, food service, medical practices, wills, and estates. Philip's areas of expertise are: Corporate acquisitions - company and business acquisitions, mergers, buy outs, and joint ventures. Corp...
James has built a very strong reputation in the Australian Government legal and procurement sector as a dependable and outcome focused advisor who provides real world solutions that reflect the political, policy and commercial imperatives of his clients. James’ main areas of practice are government contracting and procurement including general contracting law, governance and probity, intellectual property and information and communications technology. He has a particular focus on techno...
About Maxine Maxine is a safety and disputes lawyer who works with private and public sector clients, including employers and insurers. She leads our State Compensation team in Canberra. What she does Maxine specialises in common law and statutory claims arising from work incidents, work health and safety (WHS) matters, coronial inquests, workplace behaviour and code of conduct matters. She advises on litigated and non-litigated matters, investigations and inquiries, regulatory compliance and...
James is Partner in our Planning and Environment practices with a reputation for exceptional advice across the areas of planning and development approvals, planning litigation and dispute resolution, infrastructure, land valuation and the compulsory acquisition or resumption of land. James has over 20 years’ experience advising developers, local government and State government authorities on all aspects of front-end and litigious planning and environment law including for major property...
Sean is a highly regarded commercial advisor and lawyer with significant experience acting for the Australian Government, private sector and non-profit clients. He has significant experience in commercial law, process structuring and governance. He has wide ranging commercial and contracting experience including outsourcing, procurement of major capital acquisitions and services, funding agreements and MOUs. Sean practices in general contract law, procurement and tendering, governance and pro...
About Stuart Stuart concentrates on Commonwealth statutory classes of insurance and administrative law. He is one of the firm's most experienced practitioners in these areas and has advised Commonwealth agencies on a range of issues regarding their statutory functions. He has represented clients in proceedings in the Administrative Appeals Tribunal and Federal Court at the Commonwealth level, as well as in various local and state courts.Stuart is currently seconded part-time to a Commonwealth...
Khory is a highly experienced litigator, negotiator and strategist with over 30 year’s experience. He provides wide-ranging issues management and conflict advice to corporate and government decision makers at the highest levels. Khory has advised clients across a multitude of industries including energy, resources, finance, building and construction, government, health and education. He advises clients on commercial and industrial disputes and disruptions, strategic risk and issue manag...
About Ben Ben primarily practises in procurement, contracting and negotiations for government agencies in relation to information technology, platforms and services. During the last five years, he has been involved in a number of significant projects. What he does Ben provides pragmatic and commercial advice on major projects. He recognises that major projects are successful only where the legal aspects are integrated with the project operational requirements and financial constraints to ensu...
About Anthony Tony practises in the firm's Insurance and Government Groups and has worked with the government sector for more than 35 years. He is an accredited mediator and has appeared on the Best Lawyers in Australia list for Government since 2013. What he does Tony assists government and private sector clients with litigated and non-litigated claims in tort or under statutory schemes. He has acted in equity and civil claims as well as for clients in administrative law, employment, health ...
About Sharon Sharon is a trusted and experienced contracting and procurement lawyer, with a focus on intellectual property. What she does Sharon advises clients on contracting and procurement projects, including drafting and negotiating contracts, and advising on contract breaches and disputes. She also advises on intellectual property matters, including commercialisation and licensing. Sharon regularly provides tailored legal training to clients, usually on contracting and intellectual prope...
About Phillip Phillip served as the firm's National Managing Partner from 2016 until March 2022. Phillip served the firm and its people by leading the implementation of its strategy with the vision of being a world-class independent Australian law firm that clients value for our people and performance. What he does Before becoming National Managing Partner in March 2016, Phillip was a partner in the Government Group and advised governments on high profile and complex projects spanning major p...
About Rushil Rushil is an experienced commercial lawyer who provides commercially pragmatic and trusted legal advice to Commonwealth Government agencies across a range of procurement and contracting, probity, privacy and freedom of information (FOI) matters. What she does Rushil works with clients on contracting issues and disputes as well as significant procurement projects and probity requirements, including drafting contracts and tender documentation. She is an experienced FOI and privacy ...
Julius Skinner is one of Western Australia’s leading planning and environment lawyers, advising clients throughout all stages of the planning and environmental approval processes. He has acted for clients across all industry sectors in respect of planning & subdivision approvals, environmental permits, Works Approvals & Licences, land acquisition & compensation, heritage, contaminated sites and all forms of regulatory compliance. He has conducted numerous State Administrativ...
About Robert Robert is a government procurement specialist experienced in advising on complex acquisitions, technology and communication assets, and logistics. He also has experience in advising private sector clients on tendering strategies. What he does Robert advises departments and agencies on all aspects of major projects and commercial transactions, including procurement strategies, tender and contract development, intellectual property, risk and performance management, probity, complia...
About Col Col is Sparke Helmore's General Counsel – Probity—a unique position that reflects his specialist experience advising government agencies on probity compliance for major procurement and funding projects. Col's experience has also seen him receive an Excellence Award in Government Legal Services from the NSW Law Society and frequent listings in the AFR's Best Lawyers in Australia list for Government. He has also been a Ranked Government Lawyer in the Chambers Asia-Pacific ...
About Alexandra Alexandra is a leading Government, IT and telecommunications lawyer, known in the market for her skilful management of significant Commonwealth and state government procurement projects. What she does Alexandra is a member of the Government team and advises on technology, data protection and the acquisition of services where availability and security are critical. She is recognised in Best Lawyers and Chambers for her expertise in government and technology. In these roles Alex...
About Liana Liana makes her clients’ lives easier by providing practical, commonsense advice backed with exceptional knowledge of commercial law as it relates to Commonwealth entities. Provided she’s had her coffee. What she does Liana is a problem-solver. She advises on major procurement activities, contractual disputes and probity challenges. Her experience covers property and construction, ICT (including call centres), IP and brand management, professional services and labour h...
About Luke Luke advises on Commonwealth statutory classes of insurance and administrative law. He regularly appears in the Administrative Appeals Tribunal in merits review proceedings and the Federal Court of Australia in judicial review proceedings. Luke is listed in the AFR's Best Lawyers in Australia 2019 list for Government Practice. What he does Luke's expertise lies in providing strategic litigation and claims management advice. He advises on matters of liability, quantum and settlement...
Government Practice Definition
The term ‘Government’ is used broadly below to refer to a nation state, a government department or agency, or a quasi-government body at any level. Government Practice can encompass:
- acting for Government in legal matters; and
- acting for an individual or entity in legal matters against Government.
In Australia, Government is subject to particular legal and policy requirements, and has particular rights and responsibilities, which do not apply to individuals or other entities. These are sometimes imposed or granted to comply with international treaties or agreements; to provide additional transparency, accountability, or probity in the use of public money; to prohibit unfair, uneconomic, or unethical practices; or to assist in implementing other laws. For example, a Government body may be subject to particular legal restrictions when purchasing goods or services, or commencing or defending legal claims, that do not apply to private citizens in the same jurisdiction.
Government Practice requires a specialist understanding of the particular legal, regulatory, and policy requirements and other issues and considerations (such as practices or processes) which apply to the matter solely because Government is involved in the matter, in addition to understanding any legal issues which apply to the matter regardless of Government involvement. Therefore, Government Practice intersects with many other legal practice areas, including commercial law, contract law, construction, real estate, litigation, and employment.
For example, a legal practitioner in Government Practice could specialise in advising Government on commercial contracts. Such a practitioner would need to be a specialist in contract and commercial law generally and also in understanding and advising on the additional regulatory requirements which apply to Government when undertaking commercial contracting.
In addition to having specialised expertise in another practice area, it is also likely that a Government Practice practitioner will have specialised expertise in a specific jurisdiction (eg Australia) and a specific level of Government (eg federal, state, or local) within that jurisdiction. This is because the regulatory and policy framework which applies to Government activities often differs substantially between jurisdictions and between levels of Government in those jurisdictions.
Government Practice is distinct from Administrative Law in that Government Practice may not involve advising on Government decision-making or rule-making powers or the exercise of those powers, but could encompass advising on any matter, transaction, or dealing undertaken by, or relating to, Government.
Our Methodology
Recognition by Best Lawyers is based entirely on peer review. Our methodology is designed to capture, as accurately as possible, the consensus opinion of leading lawyers about the professional abilities of their colleagues within the same geographical area and legal practice area.
The Process
Best Lawyers employs a sophisticated, conscientious, rational, and transparent survey process designed to elicit meaningful and substantive evaluations of the quality of legal services. Our belief has always been that the quality of a peer review survey is directly related to the quality of the voters.
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