Beau is a partner in the Quinn Emanuel Australia office. Before joining the firm in early 2014, Beau was a Managing Partner at King & Wood Mallesons based in Sydney, where he was responsible for leading the firm’s global dispute resolution practice. Prior to that he was Partner-in-Charge of the firm’s Perth office.
Beau has led strategic litigation on some of Australia’s largest and most complex disputes, in all jurisdictions of Australia. His experience is wide and deep, covering major disputes involving:
- Private Equity (he has acted for almost all global PE firms)
- Shareholder issues, including board / governance disputes, founder disputes, contested buyouts and director duties
- Insolvency and restructuring, including strategic and contested restructurings
- Energy and resources, including offshore petroleum
- Private companies (HNW / UHNW) – demergers, trusts (including family law issues)
- Infrastructure disputes, including rail, gas and aviation - access and pricing
- Securities investigations and continuous disclosure – regulatory investigations, prosecutions and civil claims
“STRATEGY IS EVERYTHING”
Beau is particularly known for his ability to identify strategic pathways for listed and private boards, private equity - including being able to reduce any problem (and options for a solution) to a one page diagram / flowchart (his “green pages” are infamous).
His strategic pathways often extend well beyond legal solutions, including utilising novel levers to achieve the desired commercial outcome (often avoiding litigation or regulatory action). As a result, he is often retained by boards and PE firms to provide strategic advice on problem issues where a panel firm has already been retained and/or litigation is already on foot.
Beau has been repeatedly recognised by clients and peers as one of the outstanding lawyers in his field. Beau has been recognised as a leading individual in insolvency, restructuring, dispute resolution, and litigation by a range of industry publications, including Doyle’s Guide, IFLR 1000, Chambers Global Guide, Legal 500 Asia Pacific, Asia-Law Leading Lawyers, Best Lawyers and Who’s Who Legal.
- Representing Aurizon in Supreme Court litigation prosecuting rights under a Right of First Refusal Deed – amount involved >$2bn
- Numerous Private Equity representations, including for: Bain Capital, KKR, EQT, Blackstone, Crescent Capital, Castleton Commodities, Macquarie Capital
- Representing Santos Limited in Federal Court proceedings brought by Environmental Defenders Office threatening progress on the Barossa Project >$4bn
- Representing UHNW client in prosecuting arbitration proceedings for forced exit of co-founder - >$350m
- Representing the Connective Group of Companies in oppression and other proceedings - >$200m
- Representing Aurizon in Supreme Court proceedings against Glencore and others concerning an expansion deed - >$500m
- Representing numerous public and private companies and individuals in ASIC and other regulatory investigations and prosecutions
- University of Western Australia
(LLB 1992) - Royal Military College, Duntroon
(1984-1985)
- Admitted to High Court of Australia, Federal Courts of Australia, Supreme Courts of New South Wales and Western Australia
- Qualified LEADR Mediator
- Mallesons, Stephens Jacques, Perth
- Partner, 2001-2013
- Partner in Charge, 2008-2011
- Senior Associate. 1997-2000
- Solicitor, 1993
- King & Wood Mallesons, Sydney
- Managing Partner, Clients and Markets, 2012-2013
- Best Lawyers in Australia 2020-2022 – recognized for Alternative Dispute Resolution, Energy Law, Insolvency and Reorganization Law, Litigation, Mining Law, Natural Resources Law, and Regulatory Practice
- Doyle’s Guide – recommended as a Leading Commercial Litigation & Dispute Resolution Lawyer Rankings - NSW, 2019
- Legal 500 Asia Pacific 2019 – Australia – recognized for Dispute Resolution
- Who’s Who Legal Australia – 2018 – ranked for Restructuring & Insolvency
- Best Lawyers Australia – 2017 – recognized as a Leading Lawyer in Distressed, Investing & Debt Trading, Litigation, Regulatory Practice
- Chambers Asia-Pacific – 2011-2013 – recognized as Key Individual, Restructuring
- Chambers Australia – 2004-2013 – recognized as Key Individual Restructuring
- IFLR1000 – 2008-2013 – recognized as Leading Lawyer Restructuring
- Best Lawyers – 2009-2013 – Recognised as a Leading Lawyer Restructuring, Litigation, Regulatory
- Asia-Law – 2009-2013 – Recognized as a Leading Lawyer
- Legal 500 Asia Pacific 2019 – Australia – recognized for Dispute Resolution
- Who’s Who Legal Australia – 2018 – ranked for Restructuring & Insolvency
- Best Lawyers Australia – 2017 – recognized as a Leading Lawyer in Distressed, Investing & Debt Trading, Litigation, Regulatory Practice
- Chambers Asia-Pacific – 2011-2013 – recognized as Key Individual, Restructuring
- Chambers Australia – 2004-2013 – recognized as Key Individual Restructuring
- IFLR1000 – 2008-2013 – recognized as Leading Lawyer Restructuring
- Best Lawyers – 2009-2013 – Recognized as a Leading Lawyer Restructuring, Litigation, Regulatory
- Asia-Law – 2009-2013 – Recognized as a Leading Lawyer
- B Deleuil, E Sasson and J Oakley, ‘Angels on your shoulders: observations on private equity involvement in Australian distressed debt scenarios’ [2021] (Oct) Financier Worldwide Magazine 65
- “Australian Finance Law” (Chapter 22, Insolvent Transactions), Thomson Reuters, 2008
- Beau has also given numerous papers in external seminars, including IES, LexisNexis conferences and the Insolvency Practitioners Association of Australia. He has also given a number of papers to the Australian Corporate Lawyers Association and to in-house teams at Westpac, National Australia Bank Limited, Wesfarmers and Woodside.