Experience Cornwalls
Experience Cornwalls | 1
“In every sense, we are defined by our people.”
Welcome to Cornwalls We have a reputation as a firm of high calibre people, with a wealth of industry and professional experience, exceptional legal minds who are highly regarded in their fields of expertise, and where clients are inspired and proud to deal with us. At Cornwalls we ensure that client relationships are managed at the highest level, and that our people are willing, dedicated, and commercial in their approach. Understanding your requirements, objectives and operating environment is important to us. We listen and take time to do this. We use innovative systems and processes to ensure our work is delivered at the highest standard. We look to partner with our clients to ensure we achieve the best results.
John Hutchings Chairman
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Contents About Cornwalls
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Cornerstone - Talent & Culture
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Our Values
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History
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Inclusion
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Community
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Our Vision 7 Innovation in Motion 7 Commercial
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Expertise 8 Our Multidisiplinary Approach
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Cornwalls Capital
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Key Contacts
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More than Law At Cornwalls, our purpose is to achieve excellence in all that we do: ‘Law + More’ is our motto, and it’s how we approach our clients and their businesses. We partner with our clients to seek innovative ways to help them achieve their goals and assist them in identifying and developing new goals when market opportunities arise. Each client is distinct, and we provide unique and dynamic solutions to ensure that our approach works for your business.
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About Cornwalls Cornwalls is one of Australia’s oldest and most respected independent law firms. We are multidisciplinary, dynamic and innovative. We offer a full range of commercial law services and have offices in Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane. Clients have entrusted us with their business since 1891. We are commercially astute, innovative and trusted advisors. We represent a broad array of corporations, family offices and ultra and high net worth individuals. Our clients are represented in every major industry. Our lawyers are thought leaders in legal issues critical to their areas of expertise. Our clients are integral to our firm. We work hard to understand their needs. Each client is distinct, and we
provide unique and dynamic solutions to ensure that our approach works for them. Our firm believes that legal services are much more than just the law – they are about great people, sustained excellence and exceptional client service. In every sense, we are defined by our people and practices. Our commitment to innovation and digital transformation is the cornerstone of our success. We have a reputation in the legal market as providers of premium legal services. Our multidisciplinary approach sets us apart from our competitors and makes us a firm of choice.
Cornerstone – Talent & Culture Our firm’s greatest asset is our people. We are an employer of choice and a great place to work. We focus on assessing, identifying, developing and providing a platform for our people to excel. The firm’s future rests with our talent. We get the best from our people by talent-mentoring and guiding, and through professional development and performance management. Culture is the character and personality of our organisation. It’s what makes our firm unique and is the sum of its values, traditions, beliefs, interactions,
behaviours and attitudes. Positive workplace culture attracts talent, drives engagement, impacts happiness and satisfaction, and affects performance. A client will never love a firm unless the employee loves it first. Our people enjoy coming to work. They are engaged, connected to the firm and at their very best, and they work as a team. We have instilled a feeling of trust and transparency in our people because we invest in their development, and we have a robust pipeline of potential talent.
Our Values CLIENTS ARE KEY
OUR PEOPLE MAKE US
TAKE OWNERSHIP
TEAMWORK
WORK SMARTER
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History
Inclusion
Cornwalls has a rich history dating back to 1891. Our heritage and the values exemplified by our founders define us.
Cornwalls is committed to creating and maintaining a diverse and inclusive workforce that reflects our people, our clients and our community. Our Inclusion and Diversity Policy promotes the firm’s focus on gender equality and is about empowering our people by actively addressing barriers to gender equality, to create an inclusive culture for both men and women. We recognise that we have a role in advocating for gender equality within the legal profession and for women in the law.
Our firm’s founders, Frank Cornwall and Harry Sugden, demonstrated foresight and progressiveness when they employed Grata Flos Matilda Greig (Flos), the first woman to graduate with a Bachelor of Laws degree in Victoria. Despite graduating from the University of Melbourne with a Bachelor of Laws, at the time females were not allowed to be legal practitioners.
Our FLOS program enhances the firm’s standing as a gender diverse and inclusive employer. The group aims to provide a networking platform for women, to encourage collaboration, integration and education, to foster the development and retention of women in law and to bring to the forefront issues affecting women in the legal profession.
Flos Greig successfully campaigned to allow women to enter the legal profession. In April 1903, the Parliament of Victoria passed the Women’s Disabilities Removal Act 1903 (Vic) which allowed women to practise law in Victoria. It was often referred to as the ‘Flos Greig Enabling Act’. After completing her articles with Frank Cornwall in 1905, Flos became the first female admitted to practise law in Australia, commencing her legal career with Cornwalls and going on to shape the future for women in law in Australia.
To be the first, Flos had to overcome extreme adversity. She was a true trailblazer in every sense of the word.
Community As a firm we are dedicated to our community. Our sense of community starts at home and extends naturally into areas of society that may benefit from our assistance. Supporting communities is a passion that runs deep within the firm and we give our people the opportunity to participate in causes that are close to their hearts.
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Grata Flos Matilda Greig (Flos)
We are proud of our firm’s culture; our people are happy and willing to contribute their time and efforts in giving back to the community. Many of our employees have taken up board appointments for not for profit organisations, providing hundreds of hours of pro bono legal advice each year. We have proudly advised and supported countless organisations through our people’s ongoing dedication. As part of our commitment to the community, we also regularly donate to various charities, not for profit organisations and community projects. We have a dedicated working group that focuses on developing our community initiatives and support in the spirit of good will.
Innovation in motion
Commercial Value
Our innovation objective is to be recognised as a firm that uses technology and innovation to achieve successful outcomes for our clients. We foster an innovation culture through engagement and recognition, and align our strategic focus with digital transformation.
We adopt a practical and commercial approach to the fees we charge.
Cornwalls embraces innovation in all aspects of our work, and maximises growth opportunities created by innovation to create a platform that empowers employees, not only to come up with ideas, but also to actually do something with them.
We offer our clients various fee options which include fixed fees, hourly rates and value billings.
Our Cornwalls cohort of Innovation Champions are leading the way for the firm in delivering the strategy while continuing to develop and highlight the amazing work being accomplished across all the teams.
We ensure the provision of an effective and efficient allocation of resources for each legal matter, resulting in cost effective legal solutions for our clients.
For further details on rates please reach out to one of our key contacts.
Our Vision To be the best at all we do Experience Cornwalls | 7
Expertise We are a leading, multidisciplinary commercial law firm with broad expertise across key areas of practice. Our combined expertise has enabled us to build a practice that meets our client’s legal and commercial needs.
Asia
Debt Recovery
Our team at the Asia Service Desk provides the expertise, experience and support for Asian clients’ needs in this rapidly evolving Australian business environment. We are known for our close relationships with foreign commercial partners and our strategic approach to accessing the Australian market.
Our talented and dedicated debt recovery team services all industries with all aspects of their debt recovery needs. Client focused and results driven, our decades of experience enables us to maximise recovery results for our clients’ high or low volume recovery requirements.
Banking & Finance
Employment, Workplace Relations & Safety
We work with Australian and international clients including financial institutions, alternate financiers and private lending funds, helping them to navigate regulatory change and advise on complex and sophisticated transactions. We also work with volume clients that require fast turnarounds. We tailor our service offering to assist the needs of our clients including by providing dedicated online reporting platforms.
Building & Construction Our Building & Construction team provides a full range of front-end, back-end and regulatory services. Our team understands construction projects and disputes. We focus on providing a competitive advantage for our clients, often using creative or alternative approaches to achieve the best solution.
Canon We are one of the leaders in Canon Law in Australia. We work closely with Church leaders and ensure our advice complies with Church regulations and statutory law, to reach successful outcomes and resolutions.
Corporate & Commercial Our Corporate & Commercial team has expertise across a range of industries and understands the elements driving our clients’ endeavours. We give legal advice that takes account of the commercial context in which they operate. 8 | Experience Cornwalls
Our Employment, Workplace Relations & Safety Team advises on all aspects of employment, industrial relations and safety law. Our clients value our broad expertise and our responsive, pragmatic and commercial approach.
Fintech, Privacy & Emerging Technologies We understand the opportunities and challenges faced by both established companies and startup businesses. We work closely with our clients and can offer them our decades of experience in working across various industries and in different markets.
Intellectual Property Our team has extensive expertise in providing intellectual property advice that is tailored to meet the needs of any business, from small entrepreneurs to large multinational corporations. We assist clients in all types of matters, including generally advising on intellectual property, disputes, and transactional work.
Litigation & Dispute Resolution We are aggressive, decisive, determined litigators and leaders in the field. Our standards are high and we know that results matter. In order to achieve results, we know that our people, our experience and our focus on our clients’ needs are key.
Maritime
Tax
The maritime and boating industry has its own laws, language and customs. It also faces problems not found in other industries or other areas of law. Having experience not just as maritime lawyers but with added practical experience gained from marine business ownership and marina operations, we know how to deal with these challenges – legally and commercially.
We provide clients with expert advice on all taxation matters. Our advice is delivered in a practical and commercially minded manner, and our experts comprise talented legal and accounting professionals.
Migration We provide a full ecosystem to accompany our clients through every step of their journey, from the moment they aspire to a future in Australia until they obtain their citizenship. Specialising in servicing the South East Asia market, our migration specialists are well trained in legal practice with qualifications from top Australian universities.
Technology We have a dedicated commercial technology practice that advises clients on a diverse range of commercial matters and transactions including: acquiring IT business assets and the entities that hold IT assets; software and services; digital commerce including establishing and utilising e-platforms for the delivery of services; data protection and privacy including dealing with data breaches; and contracting for the development of IT software and infrastructure.
Telecommunications Property In the dynamic property market, individuals and businesses need to be able to access comprehensive legal services, often within tight timeframes. Our Property team is known for its quick grasp of our clients’ commercial objectives, as well as the legal and commercial issues associated with the property market, including the sale and purchase of commercial or industrial property, leasing, licencing, subdivisions and property development.
We are the ‘go-to’ team for the property and tenure needs of Australia’s major telecommunications providers. With no site too big or too small, we have been helping highprofile carriers acquire secure tenure for almost a decade. In doing so, we have put in place a process that was uniquely designed for the high-volume needs of our clients.
Wills & Estates Restructuring, Turnaround & Insolvency In times of domestic and international financial uncertainty and increasingly complex business, financial and legal arrangements, more than ever corporations and individuals need to be able to turn to a firm with an impressive track record in reconstruction and insolvency, and one that also has a deep understanding of those business, financial and legal arrangements.
Our Wills and Estates team offers comprehensive legal advice in respect of all aspects of wills and estate matters including estate planning, estate administration, estate litigation and guardian & administration matters. Specifically, our team provides expert advice in relation to: Estate Planning, Estate Administration, Estate Litigation, and Guardianship & Administration.
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Cornwalls Capital Cornwalls Capital is a corporate advisory firm which assists clients to make informed investment, corporate and strategic decisions by supporting them with experienced professionals, research and knowledge. The services include investment research, capital raisings, mergers and acquisitions, public listings and restructuring. With offices in Australia, Singapore, Malaysia and Hong Kong, the team comprises corporate lawyers, investment bankers, management consultants, private equity fund managers and captains / veterans of industries. They bring a wealth of experience and expertise to the table, which combined, offers value-adding pragmatic and workable solutions that go beyond facts and figures. They are well-supported by a strong team of professionally qualified and experienced financial and research analysts, as well as sector specialists.
Our Multidisciplinary Approach At Cornwalls, we partner with like-minded businesses to enhance the firm’s multidisciplinary footprint. The multidisciplinary approach has successfully created a network of businesses that feed from each other, building broader networks and creating new revenue streams.
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Cornwalls Capital Corporate Advisory
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Connect Capital Solutions Private Lending
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Acceler8 Contributory Mortgage Fund
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OneLenz Technology Accelerator
Cornwalls (Melbourne Office) is a proud, long-standing member of ALFA International, the premier global network of independent law firms. ALFA International was founded in 1980. It was the first and continues to be one of the largest and strongest legal networks. With over 150 members firms throughout the world, ALFA International’s 80 US firms maintain offices in 95 of the 100 largest metropolitan areas. The network also includes 70 international firms located throughout Europe, Asia, Australia/New Zealand, Africa, Canada, Mexico and South America.
“The team believes that clients deserve their best, hence the personal attention of the partners, and also the best possible solutions they can give them. In striving to achieve this, they think out of the box. They believe in being innovative and imaginative, while remaining critical and sensible.” 10 | Experience Cornwalls
BRISBANE
Key Contacts
Ian Heathwood
Paul Agnew
Paul Evans
John Hutchings
Levent Shevki
Radhika Kanhai Nick Amore
MELBOURNE
Partner Building & Construction
Chairman/Partner
Michael Kohn
Chief Executive Officer/Partner
Martin Alden
Partner Litigation & Dispute Resolution
Partner
Shanice Hoang
Len Hickey
Tax
Paul McCann
Mayank Gupta
Glenn Hughes
Sarah Bullock Partner Corporate & Commercial
Partner Banking & Finance
Partner Building & Construction
Litigation
Partner Migration
Partner Litigation & Dispute Resolution
Brent Turnbull
Partner Corporate & Commercial Banking & Finance
Partner Employment, Workplace Relations & Safety
Partner
SYDNEY
Partner Banking & Finance
Partner Corporate & Commercial
Partner Intellectual Property
Robert King
Partner Employment, Workplace Relations & Safety
Bianca Quan
Simon Jay
Myles Harry
Carolyn Falcone
Richard Hutchings
Partner
Partner Building & Construction
Partner Banking & Finance
Partner Property
Partner Corporate & Commercial
Telecommunications
Andrew Sutherland Partner Litigation & Dispute Resolution
Matthew Kennett
Emeritus Professor Mark Aronson
Partner Litigation & Dispute Resolution
Consultant Litigation & Dispute Resolution
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