Ben is a Partner in our Melbourne centre, who helps clients navigate difficult and complex commercial disputes.
He regularly advises clients on contractual interpretation issues, and disputes arising from transactions. He has also acted in many consumer protection matters and regulatory disputes. He is a leading investigations and inquiries lawyer, who has investigated serious corporate misconduct, and led major teams acting for Royal Commissions (and clients being investigated by them).
Clients describe him as "fantastic … and a highly experienced litigator", with a "very professional manner that made what was an incredibly stressful and high pressure environment much more manageable", and as someone who is "strategic, pragmatic and commercial … [who] always takes the time to understand our business, continuing outside of specific cases. He understands our commercial needs including suggesting innovative ways to run matters, whilst keeping in mind our risk appetite."
- Yoo-rrook Justice Royal Commission - lead solicitor assisting Australia's first truth and justice royal commission examining current and past injustices against First Nations people in Victoria.
- Royal Commission into National Natural Disaster Arrangements — co-lead solicitor assisting the Commission, responsible for evidence gathering and hearing preparation for Australia's first virtual royal commission.
- IOOF — defending shareholder class action concerning alleged failure to disclose market sensitive information regarding misconduct.
- Lochard Energy — representing Lochard in its $1BN damages claim for breach of contract and misleading and deceptive conduct arising out its purchase of the Iona Gas Storage Facility.
- Medibank — defending strategically significant Federal Court proceedings, and appeal, by the ACCC concerning allegations of misleading and unconscionable conduct arising out of changes to diagnostic services arrangements.
- ASX20 companies — advising on numerous confidential disputes with suppliers of business critical technology platforms, and their termination.
- trivago — defending Federal Court litigation brought by the ACCC concerning the operation of trivago's metasearch website hotel ranking algorithm.
- Internal investigations — conducting numerous investigations for major corporate clients into potential misconduct (including whistle-blower complaints and allegations spanning multiple jurisdictions).
- Telstra — defending claims concerning IT transformation projects in the Federal and Supreme Courts.
- Ben also has an active public law practice, representing the Chief Justice of Nauru during Nauru's constitutional crisis, and the successful plaintiffs in Rowe v Electoral Commissioner, an urgent High Court constitutional challenge that enabled 100,000 additional Australians to vote.
Ben is a Director of the Human Rights Law Centre, Australia's leading human rights law and advocacy NGO.
