angela bowne sc

I have practised at the NSW Bar since 1986 and was appointed Senior Counsel in 2003. With substantial expertise in litigation in various areas of law and in alternative dispute resolution, I now concentrate on strategies for resolving disputes and advice. 

I bring a unique dispute resolution toolkit to my work. I have over 30 years’ experience of litigation, 6 years working in courts prior to that and adjudicative experience on the Copyright Tribunal of Australia. I combine a deep knowledge of the law, the realities of litigation and court procedures with extensive alternative dispute resolution expertise and my own commercial experience. I ran my own businesses before joining the Bar and have been director or chair of a number of non-profit companies. 

I am an accredited mediator under the National Standards and a BarADR approved expert determiner and arbitrator.  I am a member of the mediation panels of IP Australia, the World Intellectual Property Organisation, the Supreme Court of NSW, the District Court of NSW and the NSW Bar Association.  I am also a member of the dispute resolution panel for APRA AMCOS and the expert panel for Screenrights.

Listed by Doyle's Guide 2019 as one of the recommended intellectual property senior counsel in NSW and in Australia. 

practice as a barrister

My practice as a barrister in recent years has focused primarily on copyright, patents, trade marks, contracts and consumer law, but I am also experienced in defamation, professional negligence, franchising, banking finance  and commercial law. Since 2010 I have been listed in Doyle’s Guide as a leading or recommended senior counsel in IP in NSW and Australia.  In 2015, I was listed as one of the three leading women IP senior counsel in Australia. I have a special interest in arts, media, entertainment, publishing, journalism, science, technology, pharmaceutical and medical law.  I am very experienced in large scale and multi-party litigation, case management, large scale discovery, procedural disputes, confidentiality issues, litigation strategy, and dealing with experts.

dispute resolution

In my litigation practice, I have had day-to-day experience of negotiating and settling substantive and procedural disputes and representing clients in mediations, arbitrations and other ADR processes.  I trained as a mediator in 1992 after appearing for Westpac in AWA v Daniels (t/a Deloittes), the first case ordered to mediation by an Australian court.

Since then, I have combined ADR with my litigation practice.  I have mediated a wide variety of disputes of varying sizes and value, the vast majority of which have settled on the day or shortly afterwards.  I regularly mediate in copyright, patents, trade marks, defamation, professional negligence, commercial law and contract disputes.  

I have conducted expert determinations and neutral evaluations as an independent expert in contract, intellectual property and business disputes.  I had adjudicative experience as a part-time member of Copyright Tribunal from 1998 to 2007. I also act as a facilitator, chairing settlement conferences and sensitive business meetings, as a member of complaints boards and as a disciplinary officer for organisations.  

I have a deep understanding of the preparation and strategy that clients and their lawyers need to engage in for successful mediations and other ADR processes, and the decisions that face them before and during an ADR process.  I am  experienced in advising on timing, type of process and strategy to ensure a successful ADR process.

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