Gareth McCasker
Senior AssociateGareth is an experienced lawyer who helps his clients resolve commercial and regulatory disputes and their international trade regulation problems.
Gareth has broad experience in common law, equitable and statutory claims. He frequently acts in commercial disputes involving breach of contract, negligence and misleading or deceptive conduct and has acted for and against regulators in a variety of regulatory investigations and litigation. He has acted for both plaintiffs and defendants in simple and complex litigation, including multi-party and class actions, in the High Court, Federal Court, various State courts and tribunals, as well as at the World Trade Organization (WTO) and in international arbitration under ICC and UNCITRAL Arbitration Rules. Further, he is adept at guiding clients through alternative dispute resolution procedures such as settlement negotiations and mediations.
As to international trade regulation, Gareth advises clients on sanctions, export controls, foreign investment review board approvals (FIRB), WTO law, bilateral investment treaties, anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing (AML/CTF) and quarantine laws.
Gareth works across many sectors with recent experience in the agriculture, manufacturing, energy and resources, construction, property development and technology sectors.
He is recognised by clients for his attention to detail and his ability to reduce complicated legal and factual issues into winning or otherwise best outcome strategies.
EXPERIENCE
- Acted for award-winning plaintiff prawn farming company against seafood importers and the Australian Government in an USD80m tort claim in the Federal Court in relation to damages suffered from the importation of the exotic aquatic disease WSSV.
- Acted for insurance company in defence of large-scale class action proceedings in the Supreme Court of Victoria concerning the sale of motor vehicle add-on insurance products.
- Acted for a defendant multinational US engineering company in Supreme Court of Queensland proceedings in relation to alleged USD250m design and construction defects on a major Australian bridge and motorway.
- Acted for a global mining and exploration company making misleading or deceptive conduct and tortious conspiracy claims in the Supreme Court of Queensland.
- Represented Ansarada in the Supreme Court of NSW to obtain approval for a scheme of arrangement under Part 5.1 of the Corporations Act 2001 (Cth) in relation to its USD236m acquisition by Datasite.
- Advised Australian subsidiary of US defence manufacturer on compliance with Australian export controls for dual-use technology.
- Acted for multinational industrial company in relation to compliance with the Australian sanctions' regime arising out of the indirect shareholding of a sanctioned Russian individual, including representation in Australian Sanctions Office investigations.
- Represented a defendant joint venture contractor in international arbitration under ICC Rules seated in Singapore in relation to over USD1bn in alleged construction defects in a major Australian LNG facility.
- Acted for a multinational gold and copper company to obtain disclosure of documents from an Australian mining engineering company in aid of HKIAC international arbitration proceedings.
- Advised on potential claims against various company officers and advisers arising out of a USD100m investment in an Australian mining project.
- Advised Australian bank on sanctions and anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing risks, compliance and termination options.
- Represented the Australian subsidiary of a US proprietary trading firm in responding to a section 33 notice issued by ASIC for the production of documents in relation to a cryptocurrency investigation.
- Advised energy company to successfully resolve a pre-litigation dispute with a major waste management company from the supply of contaminated materials.
- Acted for the Australian Government defending challenges to Australia's tobacco plain packaging laws in:
- an Investor-State dispute under the Hong Kong – Australia Bilateral Investment Treaty commenced by Philip Morris Asia.
- World Trade Organization disputes commenced by Ukraine, Honduras, Indonesia, the Dominican Republic and Cuba.
- Acted for a Queensland property developer in Supreme Court of Queensland proceedings in relation to the termination of a property development management agreement for a mixed-use master planned development encompassing commercial, residential, hotel and entertainment areas.
- English
Georgetown University, Master of Laws (International Business & Economic Law), 2011
Queensland University of Technology, Bachelor of Laws, 2008
- University of Queensland, Bachelor of Commerce, 2005
Memberships and Affiliations
- Queensland Law Society