Michael Bowen is an Australian lawyer and company director based in Perth, Western Australia. He was admitted as a barrister and solicitor in Western Australia in 1979 and is known for corporate, commercial and securities work, particularly mergers and acquisitions, capital raisings and resources transactions. He has been a partner at Thomson Geer since 2020.
Education
Bowen studied at the University of Western Australia, where he completed a Bachelor of Jurisprudence, a Bachelor of Laws and a Bachelor of Commerce. The university's law school, established in Perth in 1927, is the oldest law school in Western Australia and the fifth oldest in Australia.
The law course at the university was restructured several times during the twentieth century. In 1972 it became a three-year Bachelor of Jurisprudence followed by an additional year leading to the Bachelor of Laws. In 1992 the law degree became a five-year qualification combined with another undergraduate degree, and the Bachelor of Jurisprudence was abolished, so Bowen's Bachelor of Jurisprudence must predate that change.
He was admitted as a barrister and solicitor in Western Australia in 1979, after his law studies. He also held a Bachelor of Commerce alongside his law degrees.
Career
Bowen's career has centred on corporate, commercial and securities law. He was admitted as a barrister and solicitor in Western Australia in 1979 and is also admitted as a solicitor of the High Court of Australia. The High Court, the country's highest court, was established in 1903.
His professional record includes a partnership with Robinson Cox. The Robinson & Cox name belonged to a Western Australian solicitors' practice whose history begins in Albany with a partnership formed by Samuel Johnson Haynes, and its records describe it as one of the oldest legal firms in Australia in terms of continuity.
DLA Piper acquired Bowen's boutique practice, Hardy Bowen, in 2015. He then spent five years with DLA Piper, a global law firm with lawyers in more than 30 countries across the Americas, Asia Pacific, Europe, Africa and the Middle East.
In 2020 he became a partner at Thomson Geer, a national Australian law firm. His practice there concentrates on public and private mergers and acquisitions, equity capital raisings, reconstructions and general corporate and commercial law. He advises public and private companies and high-net-worth family investment vehicles across sectors including property, resources, technology, contracting and construction.
Alongside his legal practice, Bowen holds non-executive board positions in resources companies. He became non-executive chairman of Lotus Resources Limited in February 2021 and non-executive director of Genesis Minerals Limited in November 2021. He has also served as a non-executive director of Emerald Resources NL since September 2022. Non-executive directors sit on company boards without taking part in day-to-day management.
Membership
Bowen is an Associate and Certified Practicing Accountant of the Australian Society of Accountants, a professional body for accountants. This accounting affiliation sits alongside his legal and commercial career.
