Best Lawyers in Australia for Litigation
Scott Guthrie draws on his more than 25 years’ of expertise to advise clients in the finance, insolvency and property industries. A significant part of Scott’s practice involves acting for various stakeholders in the unsecured and secured insolvency market. Scott regularly advises and acts for receivers, liquidators, administrators and bankruptcy trustees in identifying, preserving and recovering assets for secured and unsecured creditors. Scott also represents directors and compa...
Natalie Abela is a director in Cowell Clarke’s Dispute Resolution team, and also leads our Estate Administration and Insurance teams. Natalie practices predominantly in commercial litigation, with specialist expertise across corporate and personal insolvency, business and contract dispute resolution, probate and estate dispute resolution and defamation law. Having had significant experience in complex litigious matters for both national and international clients, Natalie also has a focu...
Nathan is an experienced insurance litigator with more than 20 years' experience advising insurers on workers' compensation, CTP and liability claims. Currently, Nathan advises clients on CTP litigation with particular experience in major claims and catastrophic injury, including the application of the Lifetime Care and Support Scheme; administrative law; public liability litigation; recovery under s151Z of the Workers Compensation Act 1987 (NSW); recovery under the Safety, Rehabilitation and...
Mr Gibson obtained a B.A. and LLB (Hons 2A) from the University of Queensland in 1975. He was called to the Bar in 1976 and appointed Queen’s Counsel in 1989. He practices principally in the fields of contract, commercial, property (including planning and environment and mining and resources), administrative law and appellant proceedings. He has appeared in the High Court of Australia, the Supreme Court of Queensland, the Federal Court of Australia (in all capital cities), the Planning ...
Tom is a Principal in the firm’s disputes practice. Tom joined DMAW Lawyers in April 2007 as a senior associate, following previous roles at Clifford Chance in London and Hicksons Lawyers in Sydney where he acted in major litigation matters. Tom specialises in commercial disputes. He has acted in a full spectrum of complex commercial litigation, construction, superannuation, transport and trade matters. Tom's experience includes advising and representing a variety of clients, ranging fr...
Rob Comazzetto is the Managing Director of Cowell Clarke and a Director in the firm’s Insolvency and Reconstruction team. Admitted as a lawyer for over 30 years, Rob has worked both in industry and legal practice and continues to sit on the board of several companies. The experience which Rob brings from being involved in commerce is reflected in his practical approach to issues and the often stressful situations faced by clients. He always focuses on finding a resolution that maximises...
Nuala accepts briefs in all areas of commercial law but has special expertise in complex, high–value engineering and construction disputes. She regularly appears in the Federal Court of Australia, the Court of Appeal New South Wales, the Supreme Court of New South Wales and in private arbitrations and mediations.
Ali Erskine is a Principal at Harwood Andrews and heads the Dispute Resolution and Litigation team. Ali has more than 15 years post qualification experience. Ali joined Harwood Andrews with significant experience in all areas of commercial dispute resolution and regularly advises business clients to resolve disputes and manage risk. Ali is a specialist in relation to terminal and non-terminal insolvency, securities, and security enforcement. Ali also has significant experience relating to sha...
Richard Cowen is a top attorney recognized by Best Lawyers in the practice area(s) of Insolvency and Reorganization Law and Litigation. Richard, who practices law in Brisbane, Australia, has been recognized since 2025. This recognition is based on an exhaustive peer-review survey, reflecting the high esteem in which Richard is held by other top lawyers in the same geographic and legal practice area.
Since joining WRP Legal in 2018, Sam has led the Litigation and Dispute Resolution team with expertise honed as special counsel at a major national law firm. Renowned for his skill in insolvency litigation, consumer law, construction, property, and leasing disputes, Sam has represented international corporations, national and local businesses, SMEs, and high-net-worth individuals. A skilled advocate, negotiator, and strategist, he crafts tailored approaches that deliver favourable outcomes, e...
Michael was called to the Bar in 2005 and was appointed Senior Counsel in 2019. He has a wide practice, specialising in the areas of revenue law, commercial law, Corporations law and public law. Michael acts for a diverse range of corporate, private and government clients. He frequently appears both for and against the Commonwealth and its regulatory agencies, including the Commissioner of Taxation, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission and the Australian Securities and Investmen...
Tony is a senior lawyer with more than 35 years' experience in complex agreements and disputes, particularly across intellectual property (IP), information technology (IT), life sciences, and franchising. Tony also has broad international experience, particularly in the USA, UK, and Asia. Tony has been involved in many seminal deals and cases. His experience includes cases involving expert evidence and cross jurisdiction co-ordination with an emphasis on technical and parallel issues. Tony ha...
John was admitted as a solicitor in 2013 and called to the bar in 2023. He has a diverse practice across commercial, public, and criminal law. Before coming to the Bar, John was a Senior Associate in the litigation team at Arnold Bloch Leibler. He acted for companies and individuals on a wide range of commercial disputes, regulatory investigations and enforcement action, white collar criminal matters, and public inquiries. Prior to joining ABL in 2020, John was a senior solicitor at the North...
Ian has broad experience across diverse jurisdictions and areas of law with a specialisation in commercial litigation, building and construction, and insurance law. He also has experience in professional negligence claims, leasing disputes, and personal injury. Ian is recognised by his peers in The Best Lawyers in Australia list in dual fields of litigation and insurance law. His broad experience, including his regularly acting for both plaintiffs and defendants, enables him to provide a bala...
Imtiaz has a broad practice, including in the areas of commercial and corporations law, equity, competition law, product liability and insolvency law. He has appeared in the High Court, Federal Court and State Supreme Courts, including in a number of significant commercial and class action proceedings. He has acted for investment and retail banks, publicly listed and multi-national corporations, regulators and government instrumentalities. Imtiaz was called to the Bar in 2010 and appointed Se...
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.