CORPORATE & COMMERCIAL | FINANCIAL SERVICES | DISPUTE RESOLUTION

People

Dedicated team for Our Clients

Our directors are specialists in their respective areas of expertise. They lead an experienced team dedicated to partnering with our clients to deliver optimal, tailored solutions in a cost-effective manner. Technical excellence, responsiveness, empathy, commercial acumen and collaboration underpin our service delivery model.

Leath Nicholson
Leath Nicholson

Managing Director

Leath Nicholson
Leath Nicholson Managing Director
Profile

Leath Nicholson graduated with a Bachelor of Economics (Honours), and Bachelor of Laws (Honours) and Master of Laws (Commercial Law) from Monash University. He was admitted to practice in Victoria in 1997 and since then has practised extensively in corporate and commercial law and dispute resolution.

Background

Leath was a solicitor at Barker Gosling from 1997 to 2001. From 2001 to 2007 he was a Partner in the Corporate and Commercial Division at TressCox Lawyers, a national law firm. In 2007 and 2008 he worked briefly in the corporate sector. He co-founded the firm now known as Nicholson Ryan in 2008.

Experience

Leath has acted for a range of clients, including private companies, ASX listed public companies and government agencies.

Primary Areas of Practice
  • Corporations Law
  • Financial Services
  • Sales of Companies & Businesses
  • Mergers & Acquisitions
  • Intellectual Property
  • Information Technology
  • Insolvency & Corporate Reconstructions
  • Commercial Disputes
Professional Membership
  • Law Institute of Victoria
Education
  • LLB/BCom (Hons) and LLM. (Commercial)
Shannon Ryan
Shannon Ryan

Director, Financial Services

Shannon Ryan
Shannon Ryan Director, Financial Services
Profile

Shannon has extensive experience in all aspects of corporate and commercial law with particular depth in Corporations Act matters relating to corporate governance, capital raisings and mergers and acquisitions as well as ASX matters.

Shannon has also practised extensively in the Australian financial services sector and provides detailed advice and guidance on ASIC licensing requirements and managed investment schemes.

Shannon’s practice areas are highly regulated with detailed regulations and rules, which are constantly changing and require constant vigilance and communication with her clients.

Background

Shannon was a partner at Tress Cox before co-founding the firm now known as Nicholson Ryan in 2008.

Areas of Law

Whilst experienced across a range of commercial law matters, the areas of expertise that Shannon focuses on are:

  • Corporations Act
  • ASX listing rules
  • Capital raising (public and private)
  • Mergers and Acquisitions
  • Financial services and managed investment schemes
  • Joint ventures
  • Bitcoin transactions
  • Cryptocurrencies
  • Cryptocurrency exchanges
  • Crowdfunding
  • Crowdfunding AFSL licenses
Lee Mitchell
Lee Mitchell

Director, Corporate Advisory / M&A

Lee Mitchell
Lee Mitchell Director, Corporate Advisory / M&A
Profile

Lee is a highly experienced corporate and commercial lawyer.  He has a passion for creating positive outcomes for his clients in a no-nonsense and down-to-earth way.

Background

Lee was admitted to practice in 1996 with a Bachelor of Laws (Monash) and, subsequently, a Master of Laws from the University of Melbourne.  He has over 22 years’ experience in corporate and commercial law gained with international, national and boutique law firms including 12 months as in-house counsel at ExxonMobil and 2 years as a Partner with Middletons (now K&L Gates LLP)

Experience and Expertise

Lee’s practice involves transactional work as well as corporate, commercial and governance advice for a variety of public and private businesses – including a number of clients in the digital media, technology, financial services and property sectors.

He has particular expertise in relation to the legal and regulatory issues relevant to ASX-listed entities

Primary Areas of Practice
  • Mergers and Acquisitions (private treaty, regulated (public company) takeovers and schemes of arrangement;
  • ASX Listings (IPOs, reverse takeovers, recapitalisations, due diligence and transaction documents
  • Capital Raisings (seed raisings, private placements, entitlement issues, convertible securities)
  • Regulatory Compliance (Notices of Meeting, Corporations Act and Listing Rules advice
  • Company Secretarial services
  • Joint Ventures, Strategic Alliances and Partnerships;
  • Shareholder Agreements
Professional Membership
  • Law Institute of Victoria
Education
  • BA/LLB
  • LLM
Andrew Bini
Andrew Bini

Director, Corporate Advisory / M&A

Andrew Bini
Andrew Bini Director, Corporate Advisory / M&A
Profile

Andrew is a senior commercial lawyer with degrees in both law and science (majoring in earth science). After initially working as a geologist, Andrew qualified as a lawyer and gained over 29 years’ of experience in mergers and acquisitions and advisory matters while acting for a wide range of industry clients, including exploration and mining companies, rolling stock manufacturers and maintenance providers and major landlords.

Background

Andrew is a graduate of Monash University (B.Sc (Hons), LLB). Andrew was admitted to practice in the Supreme Court of Victoria in April 1989.

Andrew has practised exclusively as a commercial transactional/advisory lawyer since commencing practice.

Experience and Expertise

After admission to practise, Andrew gained significant exposure to major mergers and acquisitions matters involving the disposal of various large-scale manufacturing businesses. With a background in earth science, Andrew soon focused on exploration and mining mergers and acquisitions matters and developed a practice acting for listed public mining companies involved in projects across Australia and in South Africa. Andrew has acted for high net worth individuals, some of the country’s largest privately held mining companies and listed public companies. Andrew’s expertise includes the preparation and negotiation of complex commercial transaction documents relating to major projects.

Primary Areas of Practice
  • Mergers and Acquisitions
  • Corporations Act and ASX Listing Rules advice, including IPO’s, rights issues and compliance advice
  • Competition and Consumer Act advice
  • Franchising Code of Conduct advice
  • Retail and commercial leasing advice
Professional Membership
  • Law Institute of Victoria
Education
  • Bachelor of Laws – 1989
  • Bachelor of Science – Honours (Earth Science) – 1983
Veroshan Sripragasan
Veroshan Sripragasan

Senior Associate, Corporate Advisory / M&A

Veroshan Sripragasan
Veroshan Sripragasan Senior Associate, Corporate Advisory / M&A
Profile

Veroshan is a Senior Associate within Nicholson Ryan’s corporate advisory / M&A practice. He aims to deliver pragmatic and tailored solutions, supported by a deep understanding of his clients’ business and commercial objectives.

Background

Veroshan graduated with a Bachelor of Commerce and Law (Honours) from Deakin University. He joined the firm as a graduate in mid-2015 and was admitted to practice in the Supreme Court of Victoria in October of that year.

Experience and Expertise

Veroshan is a transactional lawyer who practices primarily in the areas of mergers and acquisitions, capital markets and corporate advisory. He acts for both listed and unlisted companies across the full spectrum of corporate and commercial matters, with industry experience spanning FMCG/CPG,  industrials, automotive, technology and financial services.

Primary Areas of Practice
  • public takeovers and schemes of arrangement;
  • carve-out transactions;
  • negotiated acquisitions and disposals (including competitive sale processes);
  • solvent reconstructions and restructurings;
  • IPOs and fundraising (public and private);
  • shareholder and joint venture arrangements;
  • corporate governance and securities laws;
  • early and expansion stage venture capital and private equity; and
  • advising borrowers on corporate and acquisition financing, including corporate facilities, syndicated funding, security and inter-creditor arrangements.
Professional Memberships
  • Law Institute of Victoria
Education
  • BCom / LLB (Hons) – Deakin University
  • Graduate Certificate of Corporate Finance (National Dux) – Kaplan Australia
Gerard Maxted
Gerard Maxted

Senior Associate, Dispute Resolution

Gerard Maxted
Gerard Maxted Senior Associate, Dispute Resolution
Profile

Gerard is a Senior Associate with Nicholson Ryan’s dispute resolution and litigation team. Gerard works extensively on major and complex litigation matters, leveraging a deep understanding of his client’s businesses and objectives to deliver pragmatic and commercial solutions.

Background

Gerard graduated from RMIT with a Bachelor of Business (Economics & Finance) (Hons) in 2011, and went on to graduate with a Juris Doctor from the University of Melbourne.

Experience and Expertise

Gerard is a litigation lawyer who has acted for clients in various matters across a range of Australian jurisdictions including in Victoria, New South Wales and Western Australia, and has also acted for clients internationally. He acts for both publicly listed companies and private clients in matters concerning the automotive industry, financial technology services, and cyptocurrency.

Primary Areas of Practice
  • Contractual and commercial disputes
  • Australian Consumer Law
  • Insolvency and bankruptcy
  • Corporations and financial services litigation
  • Intellectual property disputes
  • Shareholders disputes
Professional Memberships
  • Law Institute of Victoria
Education
  • BBus (Hons)
  • JD
Stuart Hogg
Stuart Hogg

Senior Associate, Dispute Resolution

Stuart Hogg
Stuart Hogg Senior Associate, Dispute Resolution
Profile

Stuart is a Senior Associate within Nicholson Ryan’s dispute resolution and litigation team. In a short amount of time he has made a name for himself as a strong advocate, skilled negotiator and trusted advisor, and for his ability to think strategically having regard to client interests. Stuart takes a holistic approach to providing advice and to the achievement of client specific objectives. He always demonstrates a willingness to understand a client’s business and circumstances, and takes pride in the relationships that he builds in doing so.

Background and Experience

Stuart graduated Monash University in 2017 with a Bachelor of Commerce and a Bachelor of Laws. After practicing as a construction lawyer, Stuart joined Nicholson Ryan Lawyers in 2018 as a commercial litigator and in this role has gained experience in many areas of law.

He has represented a broad array of clientele including public and private companies and individuals, and in both state and federal courts and tribunals.

Areas of Law
  • Commercial litigation and dispute resolution
  • Australian consumer law
  • Insolvency
  • Construction law
  • Employment law
  • Commercial law