The new partners operate from the firm's Sydney and Melbourne offices
DLA Piper has elevated senior associate Jessie Buchan and special counsel Dylan Burke and Elliott Cheung to its partnership in Australia.
The three new additions are part of the firm’s latest promotions round, which has seen a total of 74 joining the DLA Piper global partnership effective 1 May. Buchan and Cheong operate from the firm’s Sydney office, while Burke is based in Melbourne.
Buchan is a highly skilled IP and regulatory practitioner. She has broad experience in handling matters related to the protection, enforcement, and exploitation of IP, such as trademark prosecution and oppositions, licensing and commercial arrangements, parallel importation, anti-counterfeiting, copyright, and business and domain names.
Her IP practice also includes assisting businesses with their food and consumer product import and export requirements and advising on legal procedures for conducting trade promotions across Australia.
Buchan has represented numerous clients across the consumer goods, food and retail, and technology sectors before the Federal Court in lawsuits involving trademark and copyright infringement, passing off, and breach of the Consumer Law.
A corporate and finance specialist, Burke specialises in handling domestic and cross-border M&A and fundraising transactions. He regularly advises start-ups, pre-IPO businesses, private and public corporations, on all stages of the corporate life cycle.
He assists venture capital and private equity firms and other institutional investors in undertaking their strategic transactions. He is also a leading advisor in employee share option plan (ESOP) formation and structuring, and has recently worked with various emerging-growth and fast-growth companies on their ESOP arrangements.
Cheung has extensive expertise in public and private M&A, fundraising, capital markets, corporate governance and restructuring, and securities law. He possesses both local and international corporate experience, having worked closely with other members of the firm’s national and international corporate team on several high-profile transactions.
The promotions of Buchan, Burke and Cheung follow the appointment of Sallie Bowtell as a partner in DLA Piper Melbourne’s real estate practice in January.
“The firm is committed to promoting more women to the partnership and achieving greater levels of diversity into the future,” DLA Piper Australian managing partner Amber Matthews said.