Formerly, I held senior roles including Partner at a large UK law firm in London, Yeutter Visiting Professor of International Trade Law at the University of Nebraska, and Executive Director of the Institute for International Trade at the University of Adelaide. I delivered technical assistance and training to trade officials from over 100 countries and taught at institutions such as the WIPO Academy and the US Foreign Service Institute.

I have negotiated on behalf of 18 sovereign countries on Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) with over 40 different trading partners; Chair of the Developed Country negotiating group ("Group B") at WIPO; negotiated on trade, development, IP, and climate on every continent except Antarctica.

Career highlights

• Represented the UK Government on FTA negotiations with Australia, New Zealand, India, the GCC, Canada, Mexico, and accession to the CPTPP.
• Advised on the international trade aspects of the largest infrastructure sale in Australian history.
• Advised a sovereign nation on its adoption of Magnitsky Act sanctions.
• External counsel to a sovereign Donor Government on its climate finance initiatives.
• Advised a pharmaceutical company (and indirectly the Australian Government) on the misinterpretation of a treaty by a trading partner. This would have cost the client several million AUD in duties and fines and subject its foreign-based employees to criminal liability. This meant working with the Australian Ambassador and DFAT to ensure the proper treatment for the client and all impacted Australian exporters going forward.
• Advised a start-up defence and dual-use goods manufacturer on choosing a business model based on regulatory requirements. I assisted them with obtaining the first brokerage permit issued by the Australian Defence Export Controls Office (DECO), and helped scale from one employee to 400+ in the first seven years of operation.