Having developed a wealth of litigation and corporate experience, Luke’s practice focuses on financial services and securities market regulation.

Clients describe Luke as giving ‘strong practical advice’ and having an ‘understanding of the wider implications of matters’.

Luke’s financial services clients include Citigroup, Macquarie Bank, CBA, Goldman Sachs, UBS, JPMorgan, Deutsche Bank and Bank of China.

Luke also advises both the public and private sector across a range of other industries.

Major projects have included acting in the following areas for:

Financial services and securities markets (contentious regulatory)

• Citigroup in the landmark Federal Court proceeding brought by ASIC alleging a failure to adequately manage conflicts of interest and insider trading. All of ASIC’s claims were dismissed.
• Major broking houses, investment banks, corporations and individuals in relation to securities market investigations and prosecutions by ASIC, ASX and APRA.
• Financial institutions advising on financial sanctions, counter terrorism, and anti-money laundering regulations in Australia.

Mergers and acquisitions

• Various clients in contested applications before the Takeovers Panel.
• Various clients in numerous merger and demerger schemes of arrangement.

Appeals

• CSR in its successful appeal in connection with the demerger of its sugar business, Sucrogen.
• Bendigo & Adelaide Bank in its successful appeal in relation to the acquisition of Macquarie Bank’s margin lending business.

Commissions of inquiry

• ActewAGL in the coronial inquiry into the 2003 Canberra bushfires.
• Lend Lease in the coronial inquest into the landslide at Thredbo Village, New South Wales, and subsequent civil litigation.
• Bovis Lend Lease (formerly Civil & Civic) in the Royal Commission into the Australian Building and Construction Industry,  the Royal Commission into the Building Industry in New South Wales and the Royal Commission into the Leasing of Centenary House.

Class actions

• Commonwealth Bank of Australia in relation to the ‘exception fee’ class action.
• Ross Mining in relation to landowner class actions in the Solomon Islands.

Other

• The Northern Territory Government in relation to the constitutional challenge to the Jabiluka uranium mine.
• Australis Media in its pay television disputes with Albert Hadid.
• Ten Network in its disputes with Capital Television.

He represents clients in the Supreme Court of New South Wales and the Federal Court of Australia as well as before commissions of inquiry.

Luke also participates in the firm’s pro bono program, having undertaken a secondment at Kingsford Legal Centre, a community legal service affiliated with the University of New South Wales.