Malcolm Cooke is a Partner in the Litigation section in Freehills’ Perth office. His approach to disputes is to first understand his clients’ commercial objectives and then work with the client to devise a legal strategy aimed at achieving a resolution consistent with those objectives.  

Mal’s principal areas of practice include major contractual and regulatory disputes and class actions. He has a particular focus on the energy and resources, IT&T and financial services sectors.

Mal regularly acts in proceedings in both State and Federal jurisdictions, and has worked with his clients to resolve their disputes through alternative dispute resolution mechanisms where appropriate. Significant recent matters have included:

Energy and resources

• assisting a client in the energy sector to manage risks arising out of an explosion at a major infrastructure facility in Western Australia
• acting for a junior listed mining company facing a shareholder class action arising from allegations of breach of mining and planning legislation
• representing a client in litigation commenced by its joint venture partner in relation to development rights over an offshore gas reserve
• representing a client challenging a State government refusal to permit a contentious mining development

Financial services

• acting for receivers and their appointers in a range of proceedings arising out of a high profile receivership
• acting in litigation for a major bank in respect of liability to a number of clients of its financial advice subsidiary

Information technology and telecommunications

• acting for a telecommunications company involved in the 2009 Victorian Bushfires Royal Commission
• representing a telecommunications client in a prominent shareholder class action
• acting for an IT company in a significant claim brought by a utility arising from the implementation of a new electronic billing system

Mal also gained valuable experience of the client’s perspective of litigation during a secondment leading the internal dispute resolution team of a client in the telecommunications industry.

Mal’s skills have been widely acknowledged by external legal publications. These include:

Best Lawyers Australia

• recognised in the litigation category (2010, 2011)

Asia Pacific Legal 500

• “an extremely dedicated litigator” who is “practical, and leaves no stone unturned in achieving exceptional results for his clients” (2008/09)
• “he has a great manner with witnesses, and thinks tactically” (2010/11)

Chambers Global

• ranked ‘Up-and-Coming’ in Dispute Resolution (2009, 2010)
• “sources praise his commercial understanding and solution-focused attitude”  

ALB Technology, Media & Telecommunications

• recognised for Telco and IT litigation (2009)
  

Mal is a member of the Board of PILCH (Vic) Inc.