Link to curriculum vitae (Click Here)

Nicholas is a commercial barrister who practises in private and public law dispute resolution.

Before being called to the Bar, Nicholas worked as the High Court of Australia’s Legal Research Officer. He then practised as a solicitor in Melbourne and worked most recently as special counsel at a boutique firm in Perth that specialises in commercial dispute resolution, mining, energy, and resources. He has had the carriage of litigation in the High Court of Australia, Federal Court of Australia, Supreme Court of Western Australia, Warden’s Court, and lower courts and tribunals.

Nicholas has published numerous books and articles on private and commercial law and has worked at University College London, the University of New South Wales, and the University of Western Australia.  Nicholas publishes and has taught in the areas of contract law, commercial equity, trusts, remedies, unjust enrichment, jurisprudence, legal history, and commercial law. He is the general editor of the Journal of Contract Law and an Adjunct Associate Professor in Private Law at the University of Western Australia.

Nicholas holds a Doctor in Philosophy (Law) from University College London which he completed as the inaugural Peter Birks Memorial Scholar, a Master of Laws (Dist) from University College London (where he was ranked first in his year and studied on the Sir John Salmond Scholarship) and a Bachelor of Laws (Hons I) from the University of Western Australia. A list of his academic prizes and publications can be found in his curriculum vitae.

Practice Areas

Administrative law             Energy, mining and resources

Commercial law                  Equity

Constitutional law              Property law

Consumer law                     Torts

Contract                               Trusts

Liability limited by a Scheme approved under Professional Standards Legislation.

Link to curriculum vitae (Click Here)

Liability limited by a Scheme approved under Professional Standards Legislation.

Link to curriculum vitae (Click Here)

Liability limited by a Scheme approved under Professional Standards Legislation.

Mark has 30 years’ experience in civil law, with a particular focus on tort, contract and insurance law and vocational regulation.

Mark appears as counsel in the District and Supreme Courts of Western Australia, the State Administrative Tribunal and the Coroner’s Court of Western Australia.  He also appears in the Western Australia Court of Appeal and the High Court of Australia, as well as before other courts, tribunals, boards and government inquiries.

Mark has acted in some of Western Australia’s significant insurance and tort cases, including Zurich Australian Insurance v Metals & Minerals Insurance, Newcrest Mining v Thornton and AME Hospitals v Dixon in the High Court of Australia and Speno Rail Maintenance Australia v Hamersley Iron and Barr v Farrell in the Western Australia Court of Appeal.  In other jurisdictions, he advised the successful party to a House of Lords appeal arising from the Piper Alpha disaster.  He represented Allied World Assurance Company in The Cosmetic Institute class action in the Supreme Court of New South Wales.  He also represented a prominent insurer in its COVID-19 business interruption claims across Australia.

Mark holds a Bachelor of Laws with First Class Honours.  He has been recognised by Chambers Asia Pacific as a leading individual in insurance and is listed in Doyle’s Guide as a pre-eminent medical negligence lawyer.  He is recognised consistently as one of Australia’s leading insurance, medical malpractice and professional malpractice lawyers in The Best Lawyers of Australia.  He was named  Lawyer of the Year (Perth) in Professional Malpractice Litigation in the 2020, 2021 and 2025 Editions.

Mark’s full curriculum vitae is available upon request.

Liability limited by a Scheme approved under Professional Standards Legislation.

Link to curriculum vitae (Click Here)

Liability limited by a Scheme approved under Professional Standards Legislation.

Link to curriculum vitae (Click Here)

Liability limited by a Scheme approved under Professional Standards Legislation.

Liability limited by a Scheme approved under Professional Standards Legislation.