About Julian

Julian is a leading corporate lawyer, highly regarded for his pragmatic commercial approach, and for his capacity to work through complex and strategic legal issues and transactions. Julian works closely with clients at all stages of the business lifecycle – from setting up and buying a business through to restructuring, disposing of businesses and assets, disputes and succession planning.

Julian advises on all forms of commercial agreements and negotiations, shareholder agreements, joint ventures and supply and distribution arrangements. He has practised in the area of mergers and acquisitions for more than 20 years, across a broad range of industries.

Julian has a deep understanding of the Australian financial services landscape, where he provides regulatory, licensing and compliance advice. He also applies his pragmatic and strategic legal skills to resolving his clients’ commercial disputes, and is adept at assisting clients to work through conflict and regulatory challenges.

Julian is also the head of the firm’s Corporate and Commercial practice group. He is recommended by the Legal 500 Asia Pacific (2023) guide for his work in Fintech and Financial Services Regulatory.

Experience

• Mergers and acquisitions

  Julian acts for buyers and sellers of businesses and companies across a wide range of sectors. Julian provides advice in the preparatory stage of M&A, including on due diligence, exclusivity and confidentiality issues, and pre-transactional stages. He also provides transactional advice, including acting in complex negotiations and effecting transaction programs; finance and equity negotiations; vendor and purchaser transaction structuring advice; and completion management.

• Corporations law

  Julian advises on all aspects of Australian corporations law, including corporate governance, directors’ duties, financial assistance, share buy-backs and capital reductions. He advises clients on restructuring and succession planning; share capital restructuring, capital raising and private equity investments; resolving disputes; and on structuring. He also advises on establishment, expansion, succession planning and divestment issues for businesses, incentive structures and employee share plans.

• Commercial disputes and governance

  Julian assists clients involved in shareholder, partnership and joint venture disputes. He also advises on governance issues, and all pre-litigation dispute resolution. Julian works closely with the firm’s Litigation team to ensure seamless service delivery for his clients between our Commercial and Litigation teams.

• Funds management and financial services

  Julian advises on the establishment of wholesale property and equity funds, the establishment and licensing of innovative financial services businesses, financial services industry M&A and complex AFS licensing and compliance issues.

• Distressed assets

  Julian’s extensive transactional experience, means he efficiently manages complex and urgent transactions in distressed sale situations. Julian has acted in transactions across a range of sectors, including in professional services, automotive and property. His experience includes restructures and business-line divestments; refinancing and de-leveraging; and equity and quasi-equity raisings. He also advises clients on asset sale programs for receivers and liquidators and urgent asset and business sales.