Archives
Michael Lyons
While Michael accepts briefs in all areas of commercial litigation, he has developed particular expertise in complex, lengthy and high-value commercial, construction and resource disputes.
Michael has ranked as one of the leading junior counsel in Queensland in both commercial litigation and construction disputes, and as one of the leading junior counsel in Australia in construction disputes.
Bachier Mawassi
Bachier accepts briefs in all areas of law.
Bachier holds a Bachelor of Laws (First Class Honours) and Bachelor of Optometry (Hons).
He received numerous academic prizes, including the University Medal for law.
Prior to joining the Bar, Bachier practiced across a wide range of jurisdictions and areas of law, including commercial litigation, property law, tax and criminal law.
Bachier was previously a tipstaff to the Honourable Tobias, Sackville and Campbell AJJA, in the New South Wales Court of Appeal.
Bachier has also previously worked as an Optometrist across Australia in metro and rural practices.
Michael Orlov
Michael was called to the Bar in NSW in 1995. Since then he has practiced predominantly in commercial and construction law. He has acted for and against principals, developers, contractors, design professionals and their insurers in complex commercial, contract, negligence and misleading or deceptive conduct claims arising out of a wide range of civil, industrial, mining, commercial and residential construction projects in all States and Territories. In more recent years Michael’s particular area of interest and expertise has focused on claims by owners corporations and strata lot owners to recover the cost of repairs to common property in multi-storey residential and mixed use strata developments in NSW and the ACT and the circumstances in which recourse may be available under residential building works insurance policies in NSW or under the fidelity fund scheme operating in the ACT.
Michael has a reputation for thorough preparation, mastery of detail in factually complex matters, giving pragmatic and accurate legal advice, and as an effective advocate and negotiator. He accepts briefs to appear in NSW and the ACT.
Michael was recently appointed as a sessional Senior Member of the ACT Civil and Administrative Tribunal.
David Smith
David practises primarily in corporations/insolvency, equity and trusts and general commercial litigation.
Since joining the Bar in 2018, David has appeared in the NSW Court of Appeal, the Supreme Court of NSW, the Federal Court of Australia, the District Court of NSW, the Local Court of NSW and the NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal. Appearances have included final hearings (including cross-examination), both led and unled.
Prior to joining the Bar, David earned a broad range of litigation experience working for 10 years as a solicitor at leading firms in Sydney, London and Hong Kong.
David Birch
David has a BA and LLB from the University of Sydney, including being awarded a University Medal in Philosophy. He also has an LLM from the University of Cambridge and was awarded the Chancellor’s Medal for English Law. David was awarded the Christopher Gee QC Memorial Prize for Advocacy and Evidence for the May 2016 Bar Practice Course.
David principally practises in commercial and public law. David has appeared led in the High Court, and has appeared led and unled in various federal and New South Wales courts and tribunals.
David is a contributor to Robson’s Annotated Corporations Law.
Prior to coming to the Bar, David practised as a solicitor in the Commercial Litigation group at Clayton Utz for 4 years and was the tipstaff for Justice J C Campbell in the NSW Court of Appeal.
David has also been a casual tutor at the University of Sydney in public law, constitutional law and equity.
Nathan Li
Nathan accepts briefs in all areas of law.
Prior to joining the Bar, He was a solicitor at Allens and Herbert Smith Freehills working on a range of commercial, taxation, regulatory and public law matters.
Nathan was previously the Associate to Justice Edmonds in the Federal Court of Australia.
Nathan holds a Bachelor of Laws (Hons I) and Bachelor of Arts from Sydney University and a Master of Laws from Harvard Law School.
Nathan is also a reporter for the Federal Court Reports and Federal Law Reports.
Rhea Thrift
Rhea accepts briefs in all areas of law.
Prior to coming to the Bar, Rhea worked as a solicitor at King & Wood Mallesons. As a solicitor, Rhea worked on a wide range of commercial matters, specialising in insolvency litigation. She has acted for insolvency practitioners, public companies and government clients.
Rhea has a Bachelor of Civil Law with Distinction from the University of Oxford.
Rhea was previously a Tipstaff in the New South Wales Court of Appeal.
Peter Gaffney
Peter accepts briefs in all areas of civil law.
Prior to coming to the Bar in 2015, he was a Senior Associate at Herbert Smith Freehills. As a solicitor, Peter worked on a wide variety of complex commercial matters, particularly in relation to public law, joint ventures, cross-border disputes, corporations law, and gambling law.
Peter has lectured in civil procedure and alternative dispute resolution at the University of New South Wales. He was formerly Tipstaff to the Honourable Justice PA Bergin of the Supreme Court of New South Wales.
Peter holds a Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Laws with Honours (First Class) from Macquarie University.
Michael Wells
Michael practises in commercial law, corporations law, bankruptcy and insolvency, equity and trusts, and taxation and revenue. He has appeared both led and unled in trials and appeals in a range of courts and tribunals. He has recently appeared led in the High Court of Australia and unled in the New South Wales Court of Appeal. He regularly appears in the Supreme Court of New South Wales and Federal Court of Australia and is entitled to practise in all Australian jurisdictions.
Before coming to the Bar, Michael practised as a solicitor in the commercial litigation and dispute resolution groups at Allens and Herbert Smith Freehills specialising in class actions, complex contractual and corporate disputes, and taxation and financial services regulatory investigations and disputes. He was also previously the Tipstaff and Researcher to the President of the New South Wales Court of Appeal, the Hon Justice Allsop AO.
Michael is a member of the Law Council of Australia Taxation Committee, Australian Bar Association Taxation Committee, Tax Institute Dispute Resolution Technical Committee, Tax Bar Association and International Fiscal Association. He is also a member of the New South Wales Bar Association Costs and Fees Committee.
Michael is a reporter for the Commonwealth Law Reports, New South Wales Law Reports and Australian Tax Reports.