Joanna

Managing Director

Joanna is Aspect Legal’s ‘fearless leader’ with close to 2 decades of experience behind her. She has wide experience working with a large and diverse portfolio of organisations in the areas of mergers and acquisitions, contract law, procurement, commercial law, and branding. She is the proud host of two of the top business law podcasts in Australia: Talking Law (providing smart legal tips for business), and The Deal Room (Australia’s first mergers and acquisitions podcast).

Joanna spends her spare time dreaming about ways to create the perfect business, one that breaks the traditional lawyer mould, delivers deep value to its clients, and has a positive impact on the community and the world. When she isn’t protecting her clients from the unexpected storms of business, Joanna enjoys quality time with her 2 beautiful children and husband.

Gina

Mergers & Acquisitions | Commercial Contracts & Corporate Law | 20+ Years Experience

Gina is a commercial and M&A lawyer with more than 20 years advising founders, boards and executives across the full life of a business. Her career spans private practice at leading firms and senior in-house roles as General Counsel and CEO of founder-led businesses, including a commercial-scale green hydrogen project and a sustainable aviation fuel platform. She has also been General Counsel to WaterNSW and managed external legal services for the Department of Defence.

On the deal side, her experience runs from SME business sales and acquisitions through to large, complex transactions including: the $375M buy-side Kidman & Co acquisition (ASX-regulated, cross-border), an $83M reverse takeover onto the London Stock Exchange, and national roll-ups for ASX-listed companies. She acts on both buy-side and sell-side across mining, financial services, agribusiness, energy, telecommunications and professional services, and is just as at home on capital raisings, from ASX listings and IPOs to convertible notes and Series B rounds.

On the commercial side, having sat in the CEO and GC chair herself, Gina thinks like a CFO as much as a lawyer. She covers the contracts, employment, structuring, capital raisings and governance that protect business value, and brings real depth in commercial disputes and litigation, the claims and contract fights that surface when conditions get tough. She advises the way she would want to be advised: direct, practical, and focused on the outcome that matters.

Gina holds a Master of Laws (LLM) from the University of Melbourne and a Bachelor of Laws (Honours) from the University of Canberra. She is admitted to practice in NSW.

Outside the office, Gina skis and is learning French, with enthusiasm running comfortably ahead of fluency. She is just as happy on a steep slope or a stubborn verb as she is steering a client through a tough deal.

Shan

Small Business Sales & Acquisitions | Cross-Border M&A (China) | Commercial Law | 28+ Years Experience

Shan Lai is a commercial and M&A lawyer with 28 years of experience across China and Australia. She spent 15 years in Beijing with major international law firms, including 6 years as a Corporate and M&A Partner at Bird & Bird, one of the world’s leading international firms. In Beijing she advised Chinese state-owned enterprises on global acquisitions across more than 20 countries, and advised multinational companies, including Boeing, Macquarie Group and McGraw-Hill, on entering and operating in the Chinese market. Her work spanned mining and resources, technology and private equity, aviation, satellite technology, media, infrastructure and renewable energy, including public takeovers of listed companies.

Shan is fluent in Mandarin and Cantonese, and she works directly in the language and the culture of her clients, in Mandarin or Cantonese, without an interpreter in between. For Chinese businesses that means being understood on the first instance, on the commercial detail and the cultural context together, by a lawyer who has spent most of her career inside the relationship between China and Australia.

This is the work she does every day at Aspect Legal. She acts for Chinese businesses launching into the Australian market or buying a business here, for Chinese owners already operating in Australia, for Australian businesses that source from China, and for Australian businesses selling into the Chinese market. She advises on market entry and operations, joint ventures, regulatory approvals, supply and distribution arrangements, and payment mechanism. She leads Aspect’s commercial law work with Chinese clients, and our SME business sales and acquisitions team.
Her deal experience runs at every level, from small business sales through to cross-border transactions worth hundreds of millions, on both sides of the table. Whatever the size of the matter, the rigour is the same.

Alongside the deal work, Shan handles the everyday commercial foundations a growing business needs: contracts, shareholder and partnership agreements, supply and distribution arrangements, franchise agreements and regulatory compliance. Her approach to negotiation is simple. Understand what every party actually wants, then work the deal from there.

Shan holds a BA, an LLB and a Master of Laws from the University of Sydney. She is also completing a Master of Psychology, which she brings to the negotiating table to read what every party needs and find the path to agreement.

赖珊华律师是一位商业与并购律师,在中国和澳大利亚拥有28年执业经验。她在北京的国际知名律师事务所工作了15年,其中6年担任全球顶尖律所欧华律师事务所(Bird & Bird)的公司与并购合伙人。在北京期间,她为中国国有企业在20多个国家的全球并购项目提供法律意见,并为波音公司、麦格理集团和麦格劳希尔等跨国公司进入及运营中国市场提供法律支持。她的执业领域涵盖矿业与资源、科技与私募股权、航空、卫星技术、传媒、基建和可再生能源,包括上市公司的公开收购项目。

赖律师精通普通话和粤语,能够直接以客户的语言和文化背景沟通,无需借助传译。对中国企业客户而言,这意味着从一开始就能被真正理解,包括商业细节和文化背景,而与之沟通的律师大半个职业生涯都深耕于中澳两国的商业往来之中。

这正是她在Aspect Legal每天从事的工作。她的客户包括:计划进入澳大利亚市场或在澳收购企业的中国企业、已在澳大利亚经营的华人业主、从中国采购的澳大利亚企业,以及向中国市场销售的澳大利亚企业。她的业务范围包括市场准入与运营、合资企业、监管审批、供应与分销安排以及付款机制。她负责统筹Aspect与中国客户相关的商业法律业务,并领导公司中小企业买卖业务团队。
她的交易经验涵盖各个层级,从小型企业买卖到价值数亿元的跨境交易,买卖双方的角色她都担任过。无论项目规模大小,她始终坚持同样严谨的专业标准。

除交易工作外,赖律师还处理成长型企业所需的日常商业法律事务:合同、股东与合伙协议、供应与分销安排、特许经营协议以及合规事宜。她的谈判理念很简单:先了解各方真正的诉求,再从这个基础上推进交易。

赖律师持有悉尼大学文学学士、法学学士及法学硕士学位,目前正在攻读心理学硕士学位,并将这一专业背景运用到谈判桌上,帮助她准确把握各方需求,找到达成协议的路径。

Belinda

Technology & Commercial Contracts | Cyber, Data & Privacy | M&A & Corporate (Cross-border) | Corporate Governance | 18+ Years Experience

Belinda is a senior corporate and commercial lawyer with over 18 years across top-tier private practice and senior in-house roles. She trained at Baker McKenzie, where she spent 15 years advising boards, institutions and multinationals on M&A, technology and complex commercial arrangements, and she combines the technical rigour of a top-tier transactional lawyer with the commercial judgment of someone who has worked inside the business, making real decisions under real pressure. What sets Belinda apart is her ability to operate confidently in the grey zones, the areas where legal questions don’t have neat answers and commercial judgment really matters.

On the deal side, her experience covers buy-side and sell-side M&A, demergers and cross-border transactions, often coordinating deal teams across multiple Asia-Pacific jurisdictions. At Baker McKenzie she acted for HT&E on the A$246.5M acquisition of Australian Radio Network, the demerger of NZME, the sale of its regional media business to News Corp and the sale of its outdoor advertising business to Quadrant Private Equity, and for Sabre on the US$25M sale of Zuji to Webjet across Australia, Hong Kong and Singapore. She has also worked the technology side of major transactions, including the contract transfers behind the Tabcorp demerger.

On the commercial side, Belinda has particular depth in technology and commercial contracts and in cyber, data and privacy, working across energy, government and not-for-profit clients. Her team was recognised as Commercial Team of the Year in a previous role (Australian Law Awards, 2024). Her in-house years include Senior Legal Counsel (Investments) at Sunsuper, one of Australia’s largest super funds, General Counsel and Company Secretary at a listed financial services firm, and non-executive director of a not-for-profit, experience that means she understands what good legal advice looks like from the inside. She has also worked as virtual in-house counsel and in general counsel partnerships across a range of growing businesses, and is just as comfortable being that trusted first call as she is leading a major transaction. At Aspect she is helping build our AI-powered contract review and playbook systems, putting her contract and data experience to work on how legal advice gets delivered, as well as what it says.

Belinda holds a combined Bachelor of Laws / Bachelor of Media (Writing) (Hons) from Macquarie University. She is admitted to the Supreme Court of New South Wales and the High Court of Australia.

Outside the office, Belinda has recently rediscovered her love of horseriding. She also enjoys time at the beach, camping and surfing, even better when she gets to do it with her kids.

Fiona

Special Counsel

Fiona brings over 30 years of legal expertise to our clients. Her expertise extends to all facets of Employment and Industrial Law, and includes more than a decade honing her employment litigation skills as a barrister. Along with her experience, Fiona’s meticulous eye for detail allows her to help clients navigate the complex Australian employment law landscape with ease.

From performance review procedures and navigating and complex Fair Work Act prosecutions, to advice on unfair dismissal, discrimination, and general protection matters, Fiona’s expertise in legislative interpretation, enterprise agreement matters, and employment claims ensures that our clients receive practical, down to earth and results-driven advice when they need it most.

Nicole

Special Counsel

Nicole has more than 20 years of experience in providing commercial advice across a diverse range of businesses from startups, privately-owned companies and listed public companies. Nicole is your one-stop shop for commercial law issues. She handles her clients’ cases from inception to resolution, providing advice and applying her keen negotiation skills and legal and industry knowledge to ensure that clients achieve excellent commercial outcomes. Nicole’s areas of expertise include franchising, mergers and acquisitions, restructuring and drafting of commercial leases.

Robyn P

Special Counsel

With 20 years of practice as a commercial lawyer, Robyn’s ability to provide commercial advice to business owners across a range of legal areas is extensive. She regularly advises clients, large and small, on a wide range of commercial contracts and agreements, as well as on mergers and acquisitions, intellectual property law and general contract law disputes.

Robyn is exceptionally dedicated to her clients. She approaches every matter with care, offering responsive and personalised service. This means her clients receive legal advice that is responsive, comprehensive and pragmatic but also feel genuinely supported and understood. 

When she is not working alongside clients, Robyn enjoys spending time with her husband and two children and taking care of her fur baby – a cheeky bunny that likes to cause mischief!

Amy

Special Counsel

Currently specialising in commercial litigation and insolvency, Amy has past experience spanning 20 years in the commercial field including extensive experience litigating matters for corporate, government, and individual clients in disputes, and advising on matters involving contracts, property and trusts, partnerships, directors, shareholders of companies, securities over real and personal property, guarantees, consumer law, insurance, debt recovery and enforcement, and wills and deceased estates. 

Amy loves to travel and during her free time, she can be found pottering around in her beautiful garden or working out!

Thari

Associate

Thari is not your ordinary Legal Project Manager. With her sharp legal mind and impeccable attention to detail, she has fearlessly navigated the complex world of compliance, contracts and legal procedures for 10+ years. 

Thari is a master at organising and coordinating projects, and can be extremely persuasive when need arises. She thrives as a key point of contact for her clients, and her extensive knowledge and quick thinking provides invaluable support during business sales and acquisitions.

With a Masters of Law sitting alongside her LL.B. (with Honours) from the University of London and years of experience as an in-house legal counsel, Thari is not just a legal officer – she’s a force to be reckoned with.

When Thari isn’t busy moving deals, she unleashes her inner detective by binge-watching true crime documentaries and is always on the lookout for the next delicious discovery. The only thing she can’t stand? A poorly drafted contract… and gardening.

Tiana

Associate

With more than 6 years in the legal domain, Tiana is like a seasoned chess grandmaster in the realm of business and contract law. 

Honing her skills at the distinguished University of London has equipped her with both a Bachelor of Laws and unbeatable strategies needed to navigate the world of Australian business contracts. She skillfully moves across the board of business sales, conveyancing and property law, keeping clients across her next move along the way. 

She ensures our clients are always one step ahead, and ready with responsive and pragmatic solutions when their turn arrives. Her commitment to service excellence is not merely a strategy, but a standard she upholds with every move.

When she’s not strategically navigating the legal chessboard, Tiana exchanges her queen’s crown for a good murder mystery with a side of pizza – a taste for suspense with a side of pepperoni if you will.

Dee

Associate

Dee brings more than 15 years of legal experience, spanning legal process outsourcing, corporate governance and private practice. She trained as an Attorney-at-Law and later qualified as a Chartered Corporate Secretary, then spent 2 years as a case manager seconded to Irwin Mitchell Solicitors in the UK, running a 12-person legal operations team through uninsured loss recovery claims so well the team was shortlisted globally for excellence in operations. She went on to found and run her own boutique legal and corporate advisory practice for 10 years, drafting contracts, trade mark filings and company secretarial documents for her own clients.

At Aspect, Dee supports our IP Practice Group on trade mark applications and related work, from responses to examination reports through to licence agreements and assignments. She’s usually the first person our clients and the examiners at IP Australia hear from on a trade mark matter, and she keeps a close eye on the statutory deadlines that make or break a filing. She also picks up general commercial work such as NDAs and contracts, and lends a hand on M&A and business sale documentation when the team needs it. Everything she prepares is reviewed and signed off by one of our Australian-admitted lawyers before it reaches a client, but the groundwork, and the deadline tracking that keeps trade mark matters on schedule, is hers.

Outside work, Dee’s creative side and logical side have called a truce. She writes children’s books with a tech twist, designs her own convertible clothing and has strong opinions about nature’s engineering. Home is a lively place, kept in order by her 10-year-old daughter, a very opinionated white Persian cat and her husband.

Pethmi

Paralegal 

Pethmi supports the legal team across mergers and acquisitions matters, bringing strong foundational legal knowledge and a detail-focused approach to her work. As a law graduate from the University of London, she has experience in drafting legal documents, assisting with filings and supporting clients throughout the course of a matter.

Her work spans document preparation, transaction support and coordination across internal teams and stakeholders. Pethmi plays a key role in maintaining efficient workflows and ensuring matters progress smoothly, with a focus on accuracy, organisation and clear communication.

Outside the office, she enjoys reading, listening to music and occasionally singing, providing a creative balance to her structured and detail-oriented work.

Jessica

Junior Associate

Jessica is the legal world’s answer to a DJ star in the making. With a Masters of Law from West London sitting alongside her Bachelor of Laws, she’s been bopping to the beat of civil and corporate law for over five years.

Jessica has the ability to transform the complexities of law and legal process into easy listening and streamlined solutions for our award-winning business sales and acquisitions team. She has an incredible ability to ensure colleagues hit the right note every time, keeping clients in tune without missing a beat.

As Aspect Legal’s official playlist connoisseur, Jessica switches off from legal by dropping earbud bass on the weekends or may turn the occasional page of a good book while hear earbuds (or eardrums) are recharging.

Jay

Sales & Client Success Manager

Jay approaches Client Success like an expert barista-she knows the perfect blend, and tailors each enquiry to order, ensuring a great client experience from the first sip. With a masters degree on her top shelf and 9+ years of experience in marketing, Jay is a masterind at brewing up fresh ideas for our client onboarding, next leveling our client experience and generally excels at ensuring that every client need is met with responsive, award-winning advice.
Whatever your reason for enquiry may be, Jay ensures your next steps are clear and your questions are answered – in a nutshell, she makes sure your Aspect Legal experience is seamless.
When she’s not crafting the perfect client solutions, you’ll likely find Jay enjoying a walk, reading her latest fiction novel, or planning her next tennis match – watch out, her forehand is ferrocious.

Ratheesh

Digital Marketing Executive

Ratheesh knows the right mix of data and creativity to brew our digital campaigns, ensuring that we bring clients and followers tips, tricks and award-winning insights. With 10+ years of experience in the digital marketing landscape, whether you’re a client looking for the latest legal update or a partner we’re working with on an event, he’s our go-to for optimising marketing strategies that not only engage but also convert.

When he’s not brewing up innovative campaigns or exploring the latest marketing-tech platforms, you’ll find him clocking up steps in or around the gym, or deep diving into a gripping thriller novel.

Rajitha

Head of Operations & Performance

Rajitha is one of the operational engines behind the scenes at Aspect Legal. With more than 15 years’ experience across Administration, Procurement, HR, finance, IT and governance. She is known for cutting through complexity, improving performance, enhancing systems, processes and keeping teams aligned and thriving.

As Head of Operations & Performance, she works alongside our Managing Director to turn strategy into action, build scalable systems and keeps the firm running with precision and accountability.

Outside the office, you’ll find Rajitha exploring new skills to learn with a caramel latte in hand (or a single malt), with Coldplay on in the background or planning her next travel adventure (or just unwinding with Netflix and catching up with friends).

Zikra

Senior Executive Assistant, Legal Operations & Client Support

Zikra is our Senior Executive Assistant, Legal Operations and Client Support, working as the right hand to our senior solicitors across complex M&A and commercial matters. She is often the first person clients, brokers and other parties speak with, and she owns the matter tracker end to end, keeping every deadline visible before it becomes urgent.

She combines sharp organisational instincts with an AI-first mindset. Where a task repeats itself, she looks for a faster way to do it, pairing AI tools with advanced document and matter management skills to keep things moving cleanly and on time. Calm under pressure and careful with detail, she is the person the team relies on to have everything in hand.

Beyond her professional interests, Zikra enjoys travelling and discovering new cultures, finding inspiration in diverse perspectives and global experiences. She is an enthusiastic badminton player and enjoys staying active, while baking serves as her creative outlet and way of unwinding. A keen reader of classic literature, she has a deep appreciation for timeless stories and lifelong learning. She also has a strong interest in digitisation and world affairs, reflecting her curiosity about how technology and global developments shape the way people live and work.

Jenny

Senior Operations Coordinator, Legal Team

Jenny is our Senior Operations Coordinator for the Legal Team, working across executive support and the systems that let the team scale. She partners with senior solicitors and Legal Project Managers on M&A and commercial matters – running daily check-ins, owning the matter tracker, and keeping calendars, correspondence and client coordination running smoothly so the team can focus on the work that matters most.

With more than 12 years of experience supporting senior professionals, Jenny brings a systems-first mindset to the role. She is quick to spot a repetitive or clunky process and build something better in its place, using AI tools, templates and SOPs to keep the legal team running without constant oversight. She adapts easily to different working styles and stays composed when several things land at once.

Outside work, Jenny makes a point of travelling to at least one new destination each year and loves experiencing different cuisines along the way. She unwinds with a good book, a K-drama binge, or her favourite music, and rates a proper night’s sleep among her top hobbies too.

Rue

HR Manager & Executive Assistant (to MD)

Rue comes with 19 years of diverse work experience. She has worked as an Instructor in a small IT school, as a PR officer in an Engineering firm and then for 17 years at an international, cultural and educational organisation working in Customer Services, HR, as an Executive Assistant and as an Administrative Manager performing various HR, Admin and operational duties. 

Rue has a 6-year-old daughter who keeps her on her toes most of the time. When she is not working she spends time with her family and friends. When time permits Rue likes to have a little ‘me’ time by watching a movie or ‘doing nothing’ and travelling to new places and gaining new experiences.

Lorena

Finance & Operations Assistant

Lorena is a steady hand behind the scenes. Like a perfectly brewed coffee, strong, reliable, and essential to keeping everything running smoothly. With experience across account management, business development, and project management, she brings both client-facing confidence and operational precision to her role as Finance & Operations Assistant.

She is known for her clear communication, responsiveness, and ability to keep workflows moving, supporting teams across finance, administration and systems to maintain efficiency and consistency in day-to-day operations.

Outside the office, Lorena channels the same discipline into early morning runs and goal-setting (fuelled, of course, by strong coffee – and water, water is good too…), or slows things down with a quiet nature view—often with gospel music playing and her next culture-filled travel destination already on her list.

Marie

Marketing, Sales & Partnership Coordinator

Marie is one of the creative forces in our Marketing, Clients and Partnerships team. With a Bachelor of Science in Entrepreneurship, she helps keep our website in check, plan and rollout our podcasts and events, and supports clients and partner enquiries. Like an artist blending colours, Marie brings a unique touch to every task she tackles.

Outside of work, you’ll find Marie exploring new artistic mediums, belting out her favourite tunes, or getting lost in a good book – often with a coffee in hand and her beagle, Boogie, by her side. Creativity, precision, and coffee: that’s Marie

Chloe

Security Officer

Chloe is our in-house security officer (aka furbaby, company mascot). She does a stellar job promptly greeting clients and delivery people as they enter the office. Chloe is a real people person – always greeting our visitors with enormous excitement. She loves the great outdoors but also quite enjoys sitting on the comfy lounge in the office when there is noone to welcome. When not at work, Chloe loves playing with her human siblings and running on the beach each morning with Aspect Legals Managing Director.