Rob is a skilled senior lawyer with deep experience in business-critical litigation, regulatory investigations, class actions, Royal Commissions and Inquiries, and enforcement matters. His expertise spans regulatory affairs, corporate governance, AML/CTF, gaming, compliance, and corporations and financial services law.
With a unique combination of private, in-house and public sector experience, Rob regularly supports clients navigating complex, high-stakes issues. This includes advising on regulatory inquiries, reputational risk, and internal investigations as well as guiding litigation strategy. He is known for bringing clarity, commerciality and composure to high-pressure environments.
Rob’s human-centric approach to regulatory and investigative matters, shaped by first-hand experience of the pressures clients face, ensures individual wellbeing is carefully managed alongside legal and commercial risk.
Experience
- Assisted in engagement with and defended proceedings commenced by numerous regulators, law enforcement agencies and government bodies on behalf of clients, including AUSTRAC, ASIC, AFP, VGCCC, and state law enforcement bodies.
- Acting for a major gaming and hospitality entity during multiple concurrent regulatory investigations and Royal Commissions, including:
- engagement with investigatory bodies through multiple public and private hearings, including managing witness interviews, acting as counsel during interrogations and hearings, and advising Boards and senior executives on strategy and risks.
- leading an organisational remediation project under the control of a first-of-its-kind statutory manager, including responding to information requests and managing the statutory manager relationship, and assisting with concurrent issues from a change of control event arising due to a takeover bid.
- leading responses to ASIC investigations into corporate governance issues, successfully avoiding any adverse findings.
- advising on engagement with media, liaising with multiple Federal regulators and law enforcement agencies, and advising on business restructuring and public relations issues.
- Represented one of Australia's largest life insurers in its engagement with and response to the investigation conducted by the Royal Commission into Misconduct in the Banking, Superannuation and Financial Services Industry.
- Represented 75 Victorian public health organisations in their engagement with, and response to, the Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety, including acting as counsel in public hearings.
- Acting for a large drinks retail and hospitality business in Australia, overseeing key regulatory matters and incidents across the group’s brands.
- Defending regulatory prosecutions and disciplinary actions commenced against major gaming entities, including managing key regulatory relationships during and after prosecutions.
- Advising clients on key legal issues relating to organisational governance, risk management, anti-money laundering (AML), gaming and liquor, safer gambling, and commercial matters impacting these areas.
- Acting for several ASX-listed companies in response to investigations commissioned by ASIC into suspected breaches of securities trading legislation.
- Represented the one of Australia’s largest banks in its response to allegations of fraud made by customers in litigation and in settlement negotiations.