Brendan Donohue
Brendan is a Senior Associate specialising in complex disputes and contentious regulatory matters.
Brendan has deep experience in strategic litigation, major business risk issues, complex regulatory investigations and royal commissions. He has a wealth of experience in managing responses to regulatory notices, evidence preparation, engaging with regulators, remediation processes and, where necessary, courtroom litigation. In addition to his legal experience, with an honours degree in structural engineering and as a former project engineer, Brendan is highly regarded for his proactive and efficient project management of complex proceedings and regulatory investigations.
Brendan has acted in matters of both a criminal and civil nature, which have typically entailed a significant regulatory component. Brendan acted for a major Australian retail bank in the Royal Commission into Misconduct in the Banking, Superannuation and Financial Services Industry. Brendan has deep experience in proceedings commenced by regulators, including proceedings which sought declarations of contraventions and material penalties. Brendan has engaged with regulators such as ASIC and the ACCC on complex and emerging regulatory risks. He has prepared evidence for the ACCC in relation to a cartel investigation, and defended proceedings commenced by ASIC. Brendan was previously an Associate at the Federal Court of Australia, where he was involved in several proceedings commenced by regulators which resulted in some of Australia’s largest companies paying substantial penalties.
Background
Juris Doctor (University of Melbourne). Brendan was admitted to practice in 2015.
Experience & expertise
Selected matters
- a major Australian retail bank: secondment in Regulatory Legal team which manages ASIC and ACCC matters
- a major Australian retail bank, in the Royal Commission into Misconduct in the Banking, Superannuation and Financial Services Industry
- a major Australian retail bank: ASIC investigation and Federal Court proceeding concerning responsible lending obligations, including advice as to responsible lending compliance and a remediation program
- an ASX-listed Australian retailer: ASIC investigation and administrative hearing regarding alleged insider trading and breaches of continuous disclosure obligations
- a major Australian energy company: ACCC investigation concerning the east coast gas market
- various other commercial disputes, including class actions in the Victorian Supreme Court and New South Wales Supreme Court, and complex commercial litigation in the Western Australia Supreme Court
