Norman Donato

Our people are pioneering, incisive, accountable and fearless in our commitment to create success for our clients. We provide a new level of legal service that bridges the gap between the law and modern business reality.

Mills Oakley has a proud tradition of assisting vulnerable members of the community to protect their rights. For many years, we partnered with Australia’s leading humanitarian law firm to provide pro bono services to the “missing middle.”

The term “missing middle” describes the growing number of low to moderate income earners in Australia who are ineligible for means-tested Legal Aid services but are unable to afford a private lawyer. To access the legal system, the missing middle often must make a difficult choice between incurring substantial financial hardship, self-representing or abstaining from pursuing their legitimate legal claims altogether.

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For over 30 years Norman has worked in corporate, commercial and finance law, often managing highly complex cases. He is a specialist in the banking and finance sector, particularly in securities and duties law. Norman advises national and international clients along with government bodies such as local councils, major banks and publicly listed companies.

Clients appreciate Norman’s problem solving ability and his never-say-die attitude when it comes to helping them get the best results. They also appreciate his commercial focus, which stems in part from working for seven years as an in-house counsel at the State Bank of NSW, as well as in the indirect tax division of Coopers & Lybrand (now PwC).

What Norman’s clients say

“Norman's work is exceptional. Clients that I have referred to Norman have all had strong outcomes (better than expected) in their favour. I have found Norman to always seek and represent the best interests of his clients. I and the clients I have referred to Norman has always received value for the fees paid.” – David Louie, past client.

Qualifications/Memberships

• Master of Laws (University of Sydney) and Bachelor of Economics/Bachelor of Laws (Macquarie University)
• President, Commercial Law Association of Australia/Chair, Commercial Law Forum and Legislative Review Task Force
• Australian Information Industry Association – participating in Special Interests Groups – Financial Services and Data Analytics
• Affiliate of Financial Services Institute of Australasia
• Intellectual Property Society of Australia and NZ
• Australian Private Equity and Venture Capital Association Ltd
• Law Society of NSW
• Member of Australian Venture Capital Association

A word from Norman

“One of my proudest achievements occurred early on in my career, helping a client in a default matter. The corporate customer was in default and two of three directors rolled on the guarantee but they were broke. The one director that had money lodged a defence.

As a very young and inexperienced lawyer I thought I could strike out the defence and get summary judgment against the director that lodged a defence. The client, being more experienced than I was at the time, politely hinted that this wouldn’t be easy. To help them minimise cost I suggested I run the matter and the client eventually relented.

After a two week tussle with the opposing barrister and the judge, I managed to get an order striking out the defence and getting summary judgment. I remember leaving court after the judgment had been handed down and floating back to the office to tell my supervising partner and client of the result, to their shock and delight.”

Career highlights

• Advising a senior court delegation from Jiangxi Province, China on commercial law in Australia including finance and security law, insolvency and bankruptcy law, and Foreign Investment Policy.
• Working for the Government of the Independent State of Papua New Guinea, in conjunction with the World Bank, as part of the team that redrafted the Central Banking Act  2000 regulating the banking industry of PNG.
• Acting on numerous large corporate and finance transactions including the funding and construction of a large joint venture infrastructure plant for Dyno Nobel and Wesfarmers.
• Providing advice on the successful privatisation of State Bank of New South Wales Limited.
• Acting as the President of the Commercial Law Association of Australia and also the chair of the Commercial Law Forum, as well as chairing other committees including the Legislative Review Task Force.

Specific areas of focus

• Banking and finance, including securities and duties law.
• Commercial law, including drafting and negotiating all forms of commercial contracts as well as managing complex commercial negotiations and transactions.
• All forms of joint ventures, partnerships, alliances, agencies, teaming arrangements.
• Administrative law including privacy and access to information, intellectual property and information technology.
• Construction and debt recovery.

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