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Stephen Puttick



Stephen has a broad commercial and public law practice.

 

Stephen has published almost 30 chapters, articles, and notes in legal books and journals on various subjects, including diversity in legal education and the profession. He is the co-editor of Current Issues in Competition Law: Context and Interpretation (The Federation Press, 2021) and Current Issues in Competition Law: Practice and Perspectives (The Federation Press, 2021).

 

Prior to coming to the Bar, Stephen was the Researcher to the Equity Division of the Supreme Court of New South Wales for Justice J K Ward, now President of the New South Wales Court of Appeal, and was a solicitor at Clayton Utz.

 

Stephen is a Reporter for the Commonwealth Law Reports, and previously for the New South Wales Law Reports and the Federal Law Reports. He has held various sessional academic positions and remains an Adjunct Research Fellow at The University of Western Australia.

 

Outside of practice, Stephen is completing his doctorate at the University of Sydney. His thesis re-evaluates the principles of equitable estoppel.

 

Jonathan Adamopoulos



Jonathan was called to the bar in 2018 and accepts briefs in all areas of law. He has particular expertise in intellectual property, building and construction, employment and safety, and commercial and corporate disputes.

Prior to being called to the bar, Jonathan was a senior associate at Allens, where he maintained a diverse litigious and advisory practice. He also acted for clients in response to regulatory investigations and prosecutions. He has acted for and advised government departments and private sector clients in a variety of industries and sectors including financial services, telecommunications, pharmaceutical, transport, property investment and FMCG.
Jonathan is a sessional lecturer in law at Western Sydney University where he lectures in civil procedure and arbitration, and work health and safety law. He is also an adjunct lecturer in advocacy at the College of Law. Jonathan is a co-author of Zuckerman on Australian Civil Procedure, one of the leading texts on civil litigation, and a contributor to National Work Health and Safety Law. He is also a headnoter for the Intellectual Property Reports.

Jonathan was again recognised as a recommended junior in Doyles Guide’s latest Leading New South Wales Construction & Infrastructure Junior Counsel – New South Wales, 2023.

Thomas Liu



Thomas regularly advises and appears in public law and commercial matters. He has significant experience in disputes involving government agencies, regulators, revenue authorities and statutory corporations. His commercial practice includes class actions, corporations law, consumer law and equity.

Thomas also accepts briefs in criminal law matters and is on the Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions external junior counsel panel.

Before joining the Bar, Thomas was a solicitor at Herbert Smith Freehills and Clayton Utz where he worked on tax disputes, corporate regulation, representative proceedings, corporate insolvency and administrative law. Thomas was also a legal officer in the human rights section of Legal Aid NSW.

Thomas was the Associate to Justice Buchanan in the Federal Court of Australia from 2014 to 2015.

Thomas speaks fluent Chinese (Mandarin).

Martin Smith



Prior to commencing at the Bar in 2011, Martin practised as a commercial litigation solicitor (including at Freehills) for four years and spent 18 months as associate to a Judge of the Federal Court of Australia.

Martin practises in corporate and commercial law, building and construction law, property law (particularly lease disputes), employment law (often including restraints of trade and confidential information issues) corporate insolvency/bankruptcy, trade practices (particularly involving misleading and deceptive conduct and passing off), insurance and administrative law.

Martin has appeared led and unled in commercial matters in all of the principal courts in New South Wales as well as the Federal Court. He often appears (usually as sole counsel) for Commonwealth departments in judicial review and related appeal proceedings in the Federal Circuit Court, the Federal Court and the High Court.

Martin has a substantial advice practice and is also regularly briefed to appear in urgent interlocutory applications in relation to property, restraint of trade and corporations law matters.

Recent significant or reported matters:

• Successfully defended a large international engineering firm in a professional negligence and misleading or deceptive conduct action brought against it. The amount claimed was in excess of $50 million and it occupied over five weeks of hearing time: Downer EDI Rail Pty Ltd v John Holland Pty Ltd and Ors (No 4) [2018] NSWSC 326.

• Northern Sydney Local Health District v Amaca Pty Ltd (under NSW administered winding up) [2017] NSWCA 251; insurance; double compensation

• SZTAL v Minister for Immigration and Border Protection [2017] HCA 34; High Court of Australia – statutory construction; interaction between the Convention against Torture and the Migration Act (successful, led by the Commonwealth Solicitor-General)

• Acted for respondent Minister in a judicial review case in the Federal Court involving allegations of bias arising from comments made by the Minister on public radio (successful, unled for the Minister against silk) – Zaburoni v Minister for Immigration and Border Protection [2017] FCA 654

• CGU Insurance Limited v AAI Limited [2016] NSWCA 335 – insurance, statutory interpretation

• Lock v Australian Securities and Investments Commission (2016) 111 ACSR 318 – class action involving allegations of negligence; misfeasance in public office (for ASIC)

• Various insolvency proceedings, acting for liquidators, companies and revenue authorities

• Acting for a director in a significant case involving allegations of breach of directors of duty and insolvent trading

• Various professional negligence actions against solicitors (briefed by insurers)

• Acted for the successful defendants in a three-week confidential information trial. Indemnity costs were awarded in the defendants’ favour.

• Shrestha v Migration Review Tribunal (2015) 229 FCR 301 (Full Federal Court); SZWBH v Minister for Immigration and Border Protection (2015) 229 FCR 317 (Full Federal Court); AAV15 v Minister for Immigration and Border Protection (2015) 230 FCR 454) – procedural fairness; scope of the Court’s summary dismissal power (all unled for the Minister)

• New South Wales Netball Association Ltd v Probuild Construction (Aust) Pty Ltd [2015] NSWSC 1339 – change of position under the Building and Construction Industry Security of Payment Act 1999 (NSW)

Brin Anniwell



Brin is a leading junior barrister with wide ranging expertise in crime, regulatory proceedings, inquiries and professional disciplinary proceedings.  She is part of the 7th Floor’s White Collar Crime Team.

Brin is briefed by the Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions to prosecute serious indictable criminal matters from terrorism offences to large scale tax fraud.  She has appeared unled in numerous jury trials and led in serious Supreme Court trials.

Brin represents individuals, executives and corporations charged with ‘white-collar’ offences arising in a variety of markets, including the banking and construction sectors.  She acted in defence of a Citibank executive in criminal proceedings alleging cartel conduct in the context of a capital raising, represented a corporation in a novel prosecution in the NSW Land and Environment Court for enforcement of a prat 3A major development approval and acted for an individual charged with foreign bribery offences in connection with overseas foreign aid projects.

Brin has represented law enforcement agencies in high profile proceedings, including making a claim of public interest immunity on behalf of the Australian Federal Police over documents called by respondents in the Ben Roberts-Smith defamation proceedings

Brin appears in inquiries and professional disciplinary proceedings and recently appeared as junior counsel for the ACT Director of Public Prosecutions in the ACT Government inquiry into the trial of R v Bruce Lehrmann.  Brin is a member of the NSW Bar Association’s Professional Conduct Committee.

Prior to coming to the Bar, Brin was a Senior Lawyer at the Australian Government Solicitor and also practiced in banking litigation in the UK at Hogan Lovells International LLP.  Prior to coming to the Bar, Brin was a Senior Lawyer at the Australian Government Solicitor and also practiced in banking litigation in the UK at Hogan Lovells International LLP.  She has a Master of Laws from the University of New South Wales (listed on the Dean’s List for Academic Excellence), and has a Bachelor of Laws (First Class Hons.) and Bachelor of Finance from the University of Newcastle.

John West KC



John has maintained a wide-ranging practice throughout his career appearing in Courts of first instance, at intermediate and appellate level, and in the High Court of Australia. He has regularly appeared in both State and Federal Courts and tribunals in NSW and across Australia.

While the bulk of his work over many years has been in the commercial area, he has also developed a substantial speciality in industrial law and employment law generally. In this latter area he has appeared in many leading cases involving the Australian mining industry, the transport industry, and also in the Waterfront dispute.

John appeared in the HIH Royal Commission and also in the Glenbrook Rail Inquiry. His work in commercial arbitration includes the lengthy proceedings consequent upon the closure of the submarine re-fit program at Cockatoo Island Dockyard, and also in international arbitrations. He has also considerable experience in coronial inquiries involving, for example, the aftermath of a collapse in a metalliferous mine.

For some 10 years John has practised in commercial mediation both as counsel and more regularly as mediator in a broad range of matters involving such diverse fields as alleged breaches of directors duties, disputes concerning franchise agreement and other contractual disputes of various types including financing contracts, employment contracts, leases, and building and construction contracts.

John has been an active member of the Inter-Pacific Bar Association over many years, culminating in his appointment as Regional Co-ordinator for the Asia Pacific region from 2011 to 2013.

As well as Arbitration, John has recently been recognised in Doyles guides latest Leading Workplace Health & Safety Law Senior Counsel – NSW, 2019 and Leading Employment Law Senior Counsel – Australia, 2020

Mark Steele SC



Mark came to the Bar in 1995 after working as a commercial lawyer at Hedderwick Fookes & Alston in Melbourne and Linklaters & Paines in London and then ten years as an investment banker at Salomon Brothers and Goldman Sachs in London, New York and Sydney. He took silk in 2013.

He has acted in a wide range of commercial and company disputes and has been involved in a number of complex and long running commercial cases.

Mark has acted both for and against ASIC in relation to a large number of corporate governance and civil penalty matters, including investigations and litigation arising out of major corporate collapses, such as One.Tel, Allco Financial Group and ABC Learning, and recently appeared for ASIC in the Royal Commission into Misconduct in the Banking, Superannuation and Financial Services Industry.

Mark also has a depth of experience in larger, employment related matters (restraints of trade and alleged breaches of employment contracts) in the Federal and Supreme Courts.