Staff Directory Michael Legg
Senior Lecturer LLM University of California Berkeley USA, LLB UNSW, M.Com (Hons) UNSW, B.Com (Hons) UNSW Admitted to practice before the Supreme Court of New South Wales, Federal Court of Australia and High Court of Australia. Attorney and Counselor-at-Law New York Bar and Attorney of Southern and Eastern Districts of New York Federal Court.
Contact Details Telephone:  +61 2 9385 9653 Email:  m.legg@unsw.edu.au Office:  Law Building 324

Michael joined the Faculty in February 2009 after more than 10 years in practice with leading Australian and US law firms. Michael specialised in the areas of class actions, regulatory and commercial litigation. Michael’s major matters in Australia included:

• advising ASX 200 companies on various areas of compliance with the Corporations Act including directors duties, continuous disclosure, accounting and auditing requirements, and the operation of management investment schemes.
• defending cartel proceedings commenced by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission.
• defending a company director facing an Australian Securities and Investments Commission criminal prosecution for market manipulation and misleading representations.
• defending a telecommunications submarine cable consortia in proceedings brought by a group of trawl fisherman alleging that submarine cables prevented fishing.
• acting for a major international airline in two Federal Court class actions involving the aviation industry.
• advising institutional investors on litigation funding and participation in shareholder class actions, such as the proceedings against ABC Learning and AWB.
• a number of contractual and joint venture disputes, including Esso Australia Resources Pty Ltd v Southern Pacific Petroleum NL & Ors [2005] VSCA 228, a leading decision on the implied term of good faith.

Michael was also an Associate with Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP in New York for 3 years where he represented Fortune 500 companies in product liability, patent and bankruptcy matters. During that time he was involved in the successful defence of novel class actions in the state courts of West Virginia and Texas. The former being reported in The American Lawyer’s “Big Suits”, December 2002, p.52. He also prepared the expert witnesses for a national punitive damages defence to product liability claims. Michael also acted for one of the Big 4 audit firms in auditor liability litigation and class actions in the federal courts of New York and California.