Taxation & Revenue – Sixth Floor

Eugene Chan

Eugene has a broad practice in tax and commercial litigation, and accepts briefs in all areas of law. Immediately before coming to the Bar, Eugene was a solicitor in litigation at King & Wood Mallesons, the international arbitration team at Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer in Frankfurt, and the disputes team at the ATO. In 2019, Eugene was the Associate to the Hon Justice Steven Rares of the Federal Court of Australia.

Eugene has a BCL from the University of Oxford, and a BSc (Adv)/LLB (Hons I) (majoring in Physiology) and a LLM from the University of Sydney. He is a contributor to Robson’s Annotated Corporations Legislation and a reporter for the New South Wales Law Reports.

Brendon Green

Prior to coming to the Bar, Brendon was a Senior Associate in the Commercial Litigation group of Norton Rose Fulbright Australia. He has experience acting in a broad range of complex commercial and public law (including regulatory) proceedings for both corporate and public sector clients.

Brendon was admitted as a solicitor in 2015 and called to the Bar in 2024. He has acted for clients in the High Court of Australia, Federal Court of Australia, NSW Supreme Court (including the Court of Appeal and Court of Criminal Appeal), NSW Land and Environment Court, NSW District Court, Administrative Appeals Tribunal and NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal.

Brendon accepts briefs in all areas of law, including commercial and public law proceedings. He is listed in Best Lawyers’ 2023, 2024 and 2025 editions of ‘Ones to Watch in Australia (Litigation)’.

Stephen Lloyd

Stephen came to the Bar in 1998, taking silk ten years later. His practice ranges across all areas of public law, with a particular emphasis on Constitutional Law, Judicial Review, International Law and Revenue Law. He also practices extensively in Native Title (in which field he is a co-author of the leading textbook) and in regulatory pricing and economic matters.

Stephen has an extensive appellate practice, having appeared in the Full Court of the High Court in over 60 proceedings (not counting special leave applications). He has appeared before the Federal Court in over 500 cases, as well as appearing in the Supreme Courts of several States, and other courts and tribunals. He acts in proceedings in all Australian states and (internal) territories. Prior to coming to the Bar, Stephen held senior executive positions in the Commonwealth public service (including as a diplomat based in Washington DC, and as the Director of Research of the Administrative Review Council). He was also the co-head of the Constitutional and Native Title Unit, in the Commonwealth’s Office of Litigation.

Houda Younan

Houda was admitted to the New York State Bar in 2006, and the New South Wales Bar in 2007. Houda was appointed Senior Counsel in 2020.

Prior to admission, Houda worked a senior legal officer in the Office of International law in the Commonwealth Attorney-General’s Department in Canberra, which included cases before the Appellate Body of the World Trade Organization.

Houda was formerly an associate to Chief Justice Spigelman of the Supreme Court of New South Wales.

Houda graduated with a BA/ LLB from the University of Sydney, both with first class honours, and a LLM from Cambridge University, under the tutelage of the late Judge James Crawford of the International Court of Justice, where she was awarded first class honours and the Clive Parry Prize for International Law.

Houda appears in the High Court and Federal Court of Australia, as well as State and Territory Supreme Courts, at both trial and appellate levels. She also appears in national tribunals, international courts of arbitration, and commissions of inquiry. Her clients include Commonwealth, State, Territory and foreign governments, as well as private entities.

Celia Winnett

Celia practises primarily in commercial and public law. She appears in courts and tribunals at all levels, including the High Court, where she has been junior counsel in 13 final hearings and multiple special leave hearings. Her practice also involves advice work and appearances in compulsory examinations for and against regulators.

Celia joined the Bar in 2016. Prior to that, she served as Counsel Assisting the Commonwealth Solicitor-General, Justin Gleeson SC. In that role, she drafted legal opinions, assisted in preparing cases for hearing in domestic and international tribunals, and appeared as junior counsel for the Commonwealth. Celia previously worked as a lawyer within the Australian Government Solicitor, in the Banking & Finance and International Arbitration teams of Mallesons Stephen Jaques (Sydney), and as Associate to Justice Crennan of the High Court of Australia.

Celia has an LLM from Columbia Law School, which she attended on a Fulbright Scholarship. She also holds a BA/ LLB (First Class Honours, University Medal) from the Australian National University.

Celia is a Centre Fellow of the UNSW Gilbert + Tobin Centre of Public Law, a member of the NSW Bar Association’s Human Rights Committee, and NSW Co-Convenor for the Australian Association of Constitutional Law.

Neil Williams

Neil Williams came to the Bar in 1989 and was appointed Senior Counsel in 2001. He appeared in a wide range of major cases both at first instance and on appeal including, major environmental and planning issues, major tax matters, major constitutional issues, a wide range of general administrative law matters, competition and consumer law matters, broadcasting matters, and criminal appeals. He appeared in all Australian jurisdictions, the Solomon Islands, Fiji and Nauru.

He now does advising work in those fields.

David Thomas

David Thomas SC appears across Australia in a broad range of commercial and civil matters. He has a particular interest in class actions, regulatory, revenue and constitutional law. David appears at both trial and on appeal, including in the High Court.

Commercial and corporate law: Recent clients include HSBC on appeal in the Dick Smith litigation, IAL in the Greensill disputes, Channel Seven in claims against Cricket Australia, the Rinehart children in litigation against Gina Rinehart, NAB in proceedings concerning the Bank Bill Swap Rate and Brickworks in a landmark oppression action.

Class actions: Clients include National Australia Bank, Westpac, RBS, Suncorp, NULIS, Star Entertainment, Multiplex and subsidiaries of BHP. David has been appointed amicus by the Federal Court and NSW Supreme Court to provide submissions in novel matters.

Regulatory and civil penalty:David regularly acts for companies and individuals in proceedings brought by ASIC. Recent clients include Macquarie Bank, Westpac, Rio Tinto, MLC Nominees, NAB and MLC Insurance. David has also acted for ASIC and the ACCC respectively in High Court appeals concerning the operation of the MIS and cartel regimes. David represented NAB in the Banking Royal Commission.

Revenue law: David appears for both taxpayers and the Commissioner. Recent matters have involved Crown, Tabcorp, Tatts and Uber. David has also appeared for the Commissioner in High Court appeals concerning franking credits and charitable trusts, and for high net-worth individuals in income and tax residency matters.

Constitutional law: Notable matters include High Court challenges to the mining tax, carbon tax and the reform of parliamentary pension entitlements. He recently appeared in the first High Court challenge under s 90 of the Constitution since Ha.

David has been recognized in range of professional publications, including Best Lawyers in Australia, Legal 500 and Who’s Who Legal.

David was awarded University Medals in both Law and History at the University of Sydney. David subsequently received a BCL (with Distinction) from the University of Oxford, while holding the Menzies Memorial Scholarship in Law. Prior to coming to the Bar, David was Associate to Justice Gummow at the High Court of Australia and a solicitor at Mallesons Stephen Jaques (now King & Wood Mallesons).

Stephen Speirs

Stephen has a broad practice, with a focus on commercial and regulatory disputes, class actions and corporate crime. Stephen also regularly advises on regulatory investigations and search warrants.

Before coming to the Bar, Stephen was a Senior Associate at Ashurst and practised as an attorney at a leading law firm in New York. Before that, he was Tipstaff to the Honourable Ian G Harrison of the Supreme Court of New South Wales.

Stephen is a co-author of the textbook, Corporate Misconduct & White-Collar Crime in Australia: Regulation, Investigation & Enforcement (Thomson Reuters, 2022). He is also a Senior Teaching Fellow at the University of Melbourne and UNSW.

Stephen holds law degrees from Sydney University and Columbia University in New York, and a Bachelor of Advanced Arts (Hons 1) from Sydney University. He was admitted to practice as a solicitor in 2013.

Jordan Smith

Jordan accepts briefs in all areas of law. He has particular interest in contract, corporations, equity, insolvency, and intellectual property.

Prior to being called to the Bar in 2022, Jordan was a lawyer at Arnold Bloch Leibler where he practised primarily in commercial litigation and white-collar crime. In 2018, Jordan was Associate to the Honourable Justice Robertson of the Federal Court of Australia.

Jordan holds a Master of Laws degree from the University of Chicago and combined Bachelor of Laws / Bachelor of Science (Advanced) degrees from the University of Sydney, with Honours in nuclear physics.

Matt Sherman

Matt was admitted to practice in 2011 and was called to the bar in 2017. He accepts briefs in all areas of law but has a particular focus on commercial, regulatory and public law matters, including class actions, competition, corporations, consumer, equity, administrative law, civil penalty, revenue and judicial review proceedings.

Prior to joining the Bar, Matt worked as a solicitor in the dispute resolution and competition teams at King & Wood Mallesons and as an associate to Justice Robertson of the Federal Court. He holds a Bachelor of Laws (Hons) and Bachelor of Commerce from the Australian National University and a Bachelor of Civil Law (Distinction) from the University of Oxford.