Clayton Utz

Partnership Directors: Caroline Bush, Emma Covacevich (Chief Executive Partner), Jamie Doran, Paul James, Elizabeth Humphry, Shae McCartney and Ross McInnes (Chair).

External Directors: Elizabeth Hallett and Jane Halton.

Senior Leadership Team: 

• Chief Executive Partner: Emma Covacevich
• Deputy Chief Executive Partner: Nick Cooper
• Chief Financial Officer and Chief Operating Officer: Graeme Johnson

National Practice Group Leaders: 

• Banking & Financial Services: Alexander Schlosser
• Corporate, M&A and Capital Markets: Stephanie Daveson
• Commercial Litigation: Greg Williams
• Competition: Bruce Lloyd
• Environment & Sustainable Development: Claire Smith
• Forensic & Technology Services: Paul Fontanot
• IP & Technology: John Collins
• Major Projects & Construction: Graham Read
• Pro Bono: Jessica Morath
• Public Sector: Cain Sibley
• Real Estate: Andrew Steele
• Restructuring & Insolvency: Nick Poole
• Tax: Angela Wood
• Workplace Relations, Employment & Safety: Dan Trindade

Number of Partners: 176

Number of Lawyers: 700+

Firm Overview

A reputation for standing out. And for being outstanding. 

For over 180 years, our confident approach to complex transactions and litigation has seen us grow into one of Australia's premier firms. Now, with 176 partners and over 700 lawyers across across Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne, Canberra, Perth and Darwin, we continue to strengthen our reputation for innovative and incisive advice.

With a genuine commitment to client service, Clayton Utz is a trusted adviser to a range of government departments and agencies, as well as leading Australian and international corporations. As a full-service commercial law firm, we have lawyers with diverse and broad-ranging legal experience across a range of industry sectors. Our strength lies not only in the range of skills and depth of expertise held by our individual lawyers, but also in our ability to work together effectively as a full-service national team.

Main Areas of Practice and Expertise

Services

Clayton Utz operates with the highest level of legal excellence, helping our clients meet their commercial goals across five key service areas:

Advisory 

Advice - it's at the core of all legal services. Clayton Utz's clear, sharp, commercial advice spans many areas of law and issues, but ultimately our experts' advice all does the same thing: it gives our clients a clear view of where they are, where they can go, and how to get there. That's why our advice is sought by Australia's largest organisations – private sector and government – whether they need a sense-check, or are ready to embark on a new venture.

Disputes 

As one of Australia's leading dispute practices, Clayton Utz are experts in complex commercial disputes, investigations and regulatory engagement. Our team includes pioneers in class action defence, litigation support technology and customer remediation. We help our clients to identify and address areas of risk or prepare for a dispute, guiding them through the process be it courtroom, regulator engagement or alternative dispute resolution.

Projects 

As Australia's premier projects practice, Clayton Utz has done the heavy lifting on many of the country's most important and complex projects. We've learnt that our clients don't just need technical excellence from their lawyers - they need a steady hand to manage their legal needs as they evolve through the project and create a true team.

Regulatory 

Regulators perform a valuable function in a modern economy, whether it's keeping the market fair, ensuring compliance with the laws, or creating sensible guidelines. Whatever the regulator, Clayton Utz has a strong track record of successfully dealing with them openly, frankly and focused on solutions. It's an approach which informs our advice and transactional work, so our clients know quickly what a regulator needs and have an experienced guide through the regulatory maze.

Transactions 

Whether it's a transaction to buy a product, a service, real estate or a company, within Australia or across the world, Clayton Utz helps our clients get over the line and get them there first, with the right mix of transactional expertise. From structuring, finance and negotiations, through to specific issues such as tax, competition, or regulatory clearance, we've worked on some of the biggest and most sophisticated transactions, mergers and acquisitions in Australia, supported by our market-leading disputes and advisory practices.

Sectors

Clayton Utz recognises that dynamic industries need dynamic and commercial legal advice. We provide legal advice across a range of sectors, including:

• Banking & Financial Institutions
• Consumer & Retail
• Digital Economy
• Energy
• ESG & Sustainable Business
• Government
• Healthcare & Pharmaceuticals
• Housing
• Infrastructure
• Logistics & Supply Chains
• Mining & Critical Minerals
• Private Capital
• Sports & Media

Expertise

Across our 14 practice groups, five service streams and multiple sectors, Clayton Utz has the expertise to support our clients no matter their business needs. Our expertise covers:

• Advertising and Marketing
• Agribusiness and Food
• Alternate Investment Funds
• Alternative Lending
• Anti dumping and importation
• Asset Finance
• Australian Consumer Law
• Banking & Finance
• Capital Management
• Capital Markets and Securities
• Class Actions
• Climate Change and Sustainability
• Competition
• Competition law enforcement cartels and dawn raids
• Copyright
• Corporate / M&A
• Corporate Finance
• Corporate Governance
• Corporatisation and Privatisation
• Cyber Security
• Data Analytics
• Debt Capital Markets
• Derivatives Debt
• eDiscovery
• Environment & Sustainable Development
• Equity Capital Markets / IPOs
• Financial Services Regulatory
• Foreign Investment in Australia
• Forensic Accounting
• Forensic & Technology Services
• Franchising
• Funds Management
• Governance and Compliance
• Infrastructure Access and Regulation
• Insurance and Risk
• Intellectual Property
• International Arbitration
• International Trade
• Leveraged Finance
• Litigation and Dispute Resolution
• Major Projects & Construction
• Merger Clearance
• Mergers and Acquisitions
• Native Title
• Patents
• Privacy
• Private Equity
• Project Finance
• Real Estate
• Regulatory Enforcements & Investigations
• Renewables
• Restructuring & Insolvency
• Retail Banking
• Securitisation
• Structured Finance
• Structured Products
• Superannuation and Pensions
• Taxation
• Taxation Disputes
• Telecommunications Media and Technology
• Trade Marks
• Water
• Workplace Relations, Employment and Safety