Areas of Specialisation

Contracts | Corporations Law | Competition Law | Intellectual Property | Product Liability | Product Distribution | Mergers & Acquisitions | Business Structures and Succession Planning | Pharmacy Sales

In his 30 plus years of practice, John has developed broad skills in the Commercial arena and for most of those years he has acted for a multinational pharmaceutical company and its Australian subsidiary and their animal health affiliates. John also acts for companies engaged in diverse industries including

• Diagnosis and treatment of sleep apnoea
• Commercialisation of patented encapsulation and controlled release technology
• Software development and licensing
• Container recycling technology
• Pharmacy
• Road construction technology
• Clothing manufacture, distribution and retailing
• Outdoor advertising
• Mobile screen rental
• Public relations

On a day to day basis, John works closely with his clients on all aspects of running their businesses including advising on:

• Business acquisitions and divestitures (whether by way of purchase/sale of shares, assets or goodwill) and related due diligence and negotiation and preparation of associated heads of agreement and/or contracts including any necessary applications for FIRB and/or ACCC clearance.
• What is the appropriate business operating structure eg company, partnership, sole trader, discretionary trust, unit trust, service trust; and what agreements (eg shareholder agreements, buy/sell agreements, put and call options) are necessary to support those arrangements.
• Negotiation and preparation of confidential disclosure agreements and intellectual property licence, research and development and commercialisation agreements.
• Negotiation and preparation of co-marketing, distribution and sales agency agreements for a wide range of clients and products.
• Avoidance or minimisation of exposure to breach of restrictive trade practice provisions of the Trade Practices Act.
• Marketing and promotional materials to ensure compliance with relevant industry codes and to guard against contravention of the Trade Practices Act prohibitions against misleading and deceptive conduct.
• Employment contracts, employee performance issues and termination of employment.
• Purchase and sale of retail pharmacy businesses and Medicare Australia Approval Numbers and associated dealings with retail lessors.

Affiliations & Memberships

Law Society of New South Wales | City of Sydney Law Society | Commercial Law Association | Intellectual Property Society of Australia and New Zealand | American Chamber of Commerce in Australia | Business Law Section of the Law Council of Australia | Licensing Executives Society of Australia and New Zealand | Business Network International