Profile
Year of Call:
1996Year of Silk:
2013Overview
A preeminent King’s Counsel and Chartered Tax Adviser with an Australia-wide practice, Mark specialises in revenue and trust law.
Mark has provided complex advice to, and appeared for, commonwealth and state revenue authorities, Australia’s leading corporate groups, high net wealth individuals, as well as foreign investors in relation to proposed and completed domestic and cross-border transactions (including in estate and family law contexts). He accepts direct briefs from accounting firms to advise, to settle objections and private ruling applications, and he represents parties at Australian Taxation Office interviews and before the GAAR Panel. He is also briefed to appear before various alternative dispute resolution forums on behalf of his clients.
With chambers in both Brisbane and Sydney, Mark is an active proponent of tax reform and has recently assisted the Queensland Bar Association with its submission on the re-write of the Trusts Act 1973. He regularly delivers papers before legal and taxation industry forums in Australia and internationally, and numerous papers he has prepared have been published in taxation journals and law reviews.
Experience
Before being called to the Bar, Mark worked as an Associate to Justice Hartigan of the Federal Court, at PriceWaterhouse and at top-tier law firm, Blake Dawson Waldron (now Ashurst). Having previously lectured at Bond University lecturing in contract law, Mark has maintained his interest in academia, teaching post-graduate subjects in trust law and taxation.
Mark holds a Bachelor of Civil Law from the University of Oxford and a Doctor of Juridical Studies from the University of Sydney. His Doctoral Thesis concerned the rights of beneficiaries in a capital gains tax context and his suggested tax reforms formed the basis for the Tax Institute of Australia, the Institute of Chartered Accountants Australia and the Australian Society of Certified Practising Accountants’ submission to the Tax Law Improvement Project. He also holds a Bachelor of Laws (with honours) and a Bachelor of Business (Accountancy) (with distinction) from the Queensland University of Technology.
Recommendations
Chambers & Partners Asia Pacific 2017-2022 – Listed as a leading QC for Tax “a go-to man for more cutting-edge work“, “reputed in the New South Wales and Queensland markets“, “he is completely fearless as an advocate, very fast and very quick on his feet” and “the guy you want for when prospects seem limited or when you have run out of ideas; he’ll come up with them“.
Chambers & Partners Global 2021-2023 – Listed as a leading QC for Tax.
Australian Financial Review’s Best Lawyers
2022-24 – Listed for Tax Law and Trusts and Estates
2017-2021 – Listed for Tax Law. Recognised in 2021 as ‘The Best Lawyer’ in Tax Law in the location
Doyle’s Guide to the Australian Legal Profession – Leading Tax Barrister (Queensland) 2015-2019 & 2022-23, Preeminent 2020-2021; (Australia) Leading 2015
Who’s Who Legal – Leading Corporate Tax: Advisory (Barrister, Australia, 2018, 2021 & 2022)
Appointments
2013 Appointed as Queen’s Counsel
1996 Admitted to the Bar (Queensland)
1993 Admitted to the Bar (New South Wales and ACT)
Appointed the Australian correspondent for the journal Trusts & Trustees
Member
Appointed as Queen’s Counsel
Chartered Tax Advisor, The Tax Institute
Education
1996 Doctor of Juridical Studies: University of Sydney
1992 Bachelor of Civil Law: University of Oxford
1990 Bachelor of Laws (Honours): Queensland University of Technology
1990 Bachelor of Business (Accountancy): Queensland University of Technology
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