The ser­vice sec­tor con­sti­tutes the bulk of Australia’s econ­o­my, con­tribut­ing an esti­mat­ed 80% of val­ue added and 88% of employ­ment. A diverse sec­tor, encom­pass­ing clean­ing ser­vices to med­i­cine to account­ing and man­age­ment con­sult­ing which means dif­fer­ent ser­vice indus­tries oper­at­ing in very dif­fer­ent ways.

Growth in many ser­vice indus­tries (includ­ing finance, ICT and trans­port) has out­paced the goods sec­tor by a sig­nif­i­cant mar­gin over the past few decades. Our expe­ri­ence and deep exper­tise across this vast sec­tor helps set us apart in the mar­ket place.

We are renowned for our com­mer­cial legal exper­tise and indus­try knowl­edge, which means we can expert­ly guide our clients through each stage of their busi­ness cycle.

Our Team

Portrait photograph of James Skelton
James Skelton
Partner
Portrait photograph of Angela Harvey
Angela Harvey
Partner
Portrait photograph of Marc Baddams
Marc Baddams
Partner
Portrait photograph of Michael Treeby
Michael Treeby
Partner
Portrait photograph of Michael Hayter
Michael Hayter
Partner
Portrait photograph of Gerald Carides
Gerald Carides
Partner
Portrait photograph of Michael Byrnes
Michael Byrnes
Partner
Portrait photograph of Nick Dale
Nick Dale
Partner
Portrait photograph of Anna Sharpe
Anna Sharpe
Consultant
Portrait photograph of Esther Khoo
Esther Khoo
Special Counsel
Portrait photograph of John Trinh
John Trinh
Special Counsel
Portrait photograph of Jennifer Hold
Jennifer Hold
Special Counsel
Portrait photograph of Kellie Van Munster
Kellie Van Munster
Special Counsel
Portrait photograph of Daniel Miller
Daniel Miller
Senior Associate
Portrait photograph of Rebecca Priem
Rebecca Priem
Senior Associate
Portrait photograph of William Clement
William Clement
Senior Associate
Portrait photograph of Kathryn Schultz
Kathryn Schultz
Associate
Portrait photograph of Hugo Mahony
Hugo Mahony
Associate*
Portrait photograph of Peter Kim
Peter Kim
Senior Associate
Portrait photograph of Jess Hui
Jess Hui
Senior Associate

We can assist you with all of your legal needs includ­ing struc­tur­ing your busi­ness, draft­ing con­tracts, pri­va­cy and data require­ments, pro­tect­ing your brand and intel­lec­tu­al prop­er­ty and buy­ing or sell­ing businesses.

Use­ful links:

No mat­ter how rou­tine or com­plex the busi­ness issues you face, Mer­i­tas’ net­work of law firms is with you every step of the way. Mar­ket-lead­ing firms offer a full range of legal ser­vices, which enable you to do busi­ness any­where. Wise coun­sel and prac­ti­cal solu­tions are just a phone call or e‑mail away. Dis­cov­er the breadth and depth of the prac­tice and indus­try sec­tor capa­bil­i­ties avail­able to you through Meritas.

Publications

Impor­tant Work­place Rela­tions Changes Effec­tive 1 July 2026

Employ­ers and employ­ees alike should be aware of impor­tant changes in the work­place rela­tions are­na, effec­tive 1 July 2026. From that date:the…

Strata Plan 92183 v Samdora Pty Ltd [2026] NSWSC 406 | 'Substantive Control' over Works & s37 of the DB&P Act

In this case, the plain­tiff (Stra­ta Plan 92183) brought pro­ceed­ings alleg­ing defec­tive res­i­den­tial build­ing work in rela­tion to 9 town hous­es…

Dis­clo­sure: When is enough enough?

Dis­clo­sure, the fam­i­ly law equiv­a­lent of dis­cov­ery in oth­er kinds of civ­il pro­ceed­ings, is a foun­da­tion­al part of fam­i­ly law matters. The Fed­er­al…

In the News

Michael Byrnes was quot­ed in the arti­cle, ​“What HR can learn from the Ste­fanovic saga”, pub­lished in HR Leader on 26 June 2026

Michael Byrnes was quot­ed in the arti­cle, ​“What HR can learn from the Ste­fanovic saga”, pub­lished in HR Leader on…

Michael Byrnes appeared on the Game Chang­ers Radio pod­cast host­ed by Craig Bruce and Irene Hulme on 26 June 2026 to dis­cuss the lat­est devel­op­ments in the pro­ceed­ings brought by Jack­ie ​‘O’ Hen­der­son against ARN

Michael Byrnes appeared on the Game Chang­ers Radio pod­cast host­ed by Craig Bruce and Irene Hulme on 26 June 202…

Michael Byrnes appeared on Break­fast with David Pen­berthy and Will Good­ings on FIVEAA on 26 June 2026 to dis­cuss the employ­ment of Karl Ste­fanovic with the Nine Net­work (from 23:25 to 28:45)

Michael Byrnes appeared on Break­fast with David Pen­berthy and Will Good­ings on FIVEAA on 26 June 2026 to dis­cuss the employ­ment…