As life and business partners, Leisa and I established Bayston Group in 2007. We identified a niche in business legal services by which many legal customers are looking for a hands-on, solution-focused, legal service. With our experience at the big end of town we can deliver working solutions to nearly everything that a business faces.We offer a range of services to our clients. We can assist in the growth of your business which includes incorporation, startup structuring, shareholders’ agreements, founders’ agreements, IP register set up and initial protection, subscription agreements, buy & sell agreements.If you need help with business transactions like Purchases, sales, mergers, IPOs, takeovers, joint ventures, capital raising, investor due diligence – and all the restructuring, negotiation and documentation we are the right choice. We offer general advice dealing with business decisions, making sure you comply with all the laws that govern your sector; and spotting and managing legal risks well before they hurt you.Protecting your brand is important. Speak to us about Trademark registration, IP register set up and maintenance, IP audits, domain name protection, license agreements, renewals, objections, infringements.Disputes are inevitable, annoying and expensive, but less so if you stay out of court. We’ll do our utmost to resolve things through negotiation and common sense, so you can get back to business. Helping you stay on the right side of the law – employee agreements and negotiations, advertising review, consumer law, anti-competitive conduct. A yes/no answer when you need it.

Smorgon Steel was a private company set up as a disruptor to the market dominance of BHP's Onesteel. In time, they merged, changed the name to Arrium and 10 years later the merged company was acquired by Sanjeev Gupta’s GFG Alliance. I started with Smorgon Steel in 2001 and continue to provide services to GFG Alliance’s steel division 17 years later. In this role I provided strategic business law advice to the various divisions, executives and directors regarding: commercial transactions, acquisitions and divestments, major disputes (litigation-avoidance) and intellectual property.

After I returned from an extended overseas travel, I was engaged by Australian Unity's managed funds division on contract to assist with compliance with the Managed Funds legislation; customer-facing documentation and marketing campaigns.

Ebsworth & Ebsworth was the premier insurance law firm of the day and traded for over 100 years before being acquired by HWL. Of all the firms that HWL swallowed up, only this one lived on its name, HWL Ebsworth. My first law job had been with the Melbourne office where I focused on insurance litigation. It was here in the Sydney office – after working at the world’s largest reinsurer - that my commercial work merged with insurance and risk management.In this role I undertook group risk reviews for some of the largest privately owned businesses; led restructuring teams into insolvent reinsurers and developed sound commercial risk management tools for business.

As sole legal counsel for the world's largest reinsurer's Australian operations, I seized a wonderful opportunity to get involved in decision making at the apex of the Australian insurance market. From managing catastrophic claims to profit improvement initiatives, this was an engaging role.