Tom Dougherty
Tom is an experienced advisor and litigator with a focus on energy, projects, real estate, renewables and resources.
Tom advises corporate and government clients who are leading the energy transition, building city-shaping projects and critical infrastructure, delivering large-scale urban developments, working on significant M&A and real estate deals, and navigating complex environment and planning litigation.
Tom has extensive energy and renewables sector experience working on the delivery of wind, solar, battery, hydrogen, pumped hydro and hybrid projects across Australia, including related acquisitions, disposals and financing. He also advises across other key sectors, including infrastructure (airports, healthcare, ports, rail, roads, waste and water), defence, housing, mining and real estate.
As an environment and planning specialist, Tom is a leading advisor to local and international clients on Commonwealth and State environmental assessment and approval processes, biodiversity impacts and offsets, climate change, ESG, heritage, pollution and significant land contamination, land access, acquisition and disposals, contractual risks and disputes, project-specific and portfolio due diligence, native title and cultural heritage, waste and water law, incident prevention and crisis response, regulatory compliance and risk management, and statutory reform. He also acts for clients in related specialist litigation in Australian courts, including the Land and Environment Court of NSW and Federal Court of Australia.
Tom provides pragmatic, solutions-focused advice while working with clients in an integrated and collaborative way to identify and manage legal, technical and other risks across a major project lifecycle, a high-profile transaction, or a complex dispute.
He is a senior member of our Environment, Planning and Communities team within the Projects, Energy and Infrastructure group and participates in peak industry bodies such as the Clean Energy Council and Clean Energy Investor Group.
Background
Tom holds a Master of Laws from the University of Sydney. He also holds a Bachelor of Laws and Bachelor of Business each from the University of Newcastle. He is admitted in the Supreme Court of New South Wales and the High Court of Australia.
Market recognition
- Young Private Practice Lawyer of the Year (30 or under) | Australasian Law Awards 2017.
Insights
- Delivering major clean energy projects in NSW: Review of NSW Statutory Planning Approvals Processes Clean Energy Investor Group and Herbert Smith Freehills | December 2023
- Environment, Planning & Communities Notes Visit our blog for Tom’s latest updates and legal insights for a range of sectors.
Experience & expertise
Selected matters
- AGL Energy and Idemitsu Australia | advising on the joint venture 500MW Muswellbrook Pumped Hydro Energy Storage project, a Critical State Significant Infrastructure project for NSW.
- Firm Power and Terrain Solar | advising on the $250 million sale of their Australian development portfolio, comprising solar and 6.1 GW of grid-scale BESS projects, to AGL Energy.
- Mainstream Renewable Power and Someva Renewables | advising on the successful joint venture bid for a renewable energy investigation permit from the Forestry Corporation of NSW, an industry-first in NSW to deliver the proposed Sunny Corner Wind Farm in a State Forest with a potential capacity of approximately 500 MW.
- Major clean energy projects | advising developers, bidders and financiers on leading renewables projects across Australia, including solar projects (including Acacia, Beryl, Bomen, Darlington Point, Finley, Glenellen, Glenrowan, New England, Polldale, Walla Walla and Wellington North), wind projects (including Bango, Boco Rock Stage 2, Bodangora, Cattle Hill, Cobar, Lake Victoria, Piambong, Pottinger, White Rock and Winterbourne) and battery energy storage projects (including Calala).
- Confidential global mining company | advising on current mining operations and a proposed pumped hydro energy generation facility at Mount Arthur in NSW.
- Australian Industrial Energy | advising on the $250 million Port Kembla Gas Terminal, a Critical State Significant Infrastructure project in NSW.
- Origin Energy | advising on the $200+ million Hunter Valley Hydrogen Hub in the Newcastle industrial and port zone, one of the first hydrogen projects for the area.
- Health Infrastructure | advising on critical multi-million-dollar health facility projects in NSW, including Eurobodalla, Maitland, Shellharbour and Tweed.
- Defence Housing Australia | advising on large-scale mixed-use redevelopments, including the 136 ha Nirimba Fields (NSW) and 131 ha Lee Point (NT) projects.
- Orica | advising on complex property developments and divestments, planning approval pathways, contaminated land management, regulatory response, significant land transactions, including the $82+ million Banksmeadow sale and the $71+ million Villawood sale of industrial sites in NSW, and successfully challenging environmental licensing action in the Land and Environment Court of NSW.
- Nippon Paper Industries and Opal Packaging Australia | advising on the $1.72 billion acquisition of the Orora’s Australasian fibre packaging and paper business and acting in related proceedings in the Supreme Court of Victoria.
- Investec Australia | advising on an urgent crisis management response, regulatory and key stakeholder engagement, and cost recovery relating to a major fire and clean-up at commercial warehouses in Newcastle, NSW.
- CPB Contractors | advising on environmental compliance, incident response and defending regulatory action for Critical State Significant Infrastructure projects in NSW, including the Sydney Metro – Western Sydney Airport and Warringah Freeway Upgrade.
- Lendlease | advising on State significant urban development projects in Sydney, including Circular Quay Tower within the $2.2 billion Sydney Place redevelopment.
- Scape Australia | advising on redevelopment projects in NSW and the acquisition of the $2 billion Urbanest and $680 million Atira student accommodation portfolios in Australia.