Scott McDonald is an Australian lawyer based in Sydney, New South Wales, known for commercial litigation. He was a partner of Phillips Fox and is documented as a partner of Sparke Helmore, where his practice includes complex commercial disputes, competition law, and international commercial arbitration.
Education
McDonald studied at the University of Sydney, where he obtained a Bachelor of Arts and a Bachelor of Laws. Founded in 1850 by an act of the New South Wales Parliament, it was Australia's first university; it opened in 1852 with a focus on the classics, sciences, and mathematics. Its law faculty developed later, and a law professorship was among the seven professorships created in 1896. From its early years the university admitted students on academic merit rather than religious or class background.
He also attended Harvard Business School. Founded in 1908 as the graduate business school of Harvard University, it is known for its case-based teaching method and its Master of Business Administration programme.
Career
McDonald was admitted to the bar in Australia in 1982, and his documented professional career is based in Sydney. He worked as a partner of Phillips Fox, a firm that traced its origins to a practice established in 1864 as P. D. Phillips. In 2006 the firm entered an exclusive alliance with the global firm DLA Piper and became known as DLA Phillips Fox, until DLA Piper absorbed it in Australia in 2011.
A Sparke Helmore profile identifies McDonald as a partner in its Sydney office. Sparke Helmore began in Newcastle in 1882 under William Sparke, and it opened a Sydney office in 1962. According to the profile, his practice covers complex commercial disputes, competition law litigation, alternative dispute resolution, bankruptcy and insolvency, and international commercial arbitration, which the profile describes as an emerging field, with a focus on cross-border trade disputes. The profile states that he has more than thirty years of commercial litigation experience and acts for corporations, government authorities, and small and medium enterprises.
He is also documented as a senior member of the Consumer and Commercial Division of the New South Wales Civil and Administrative Tribunal. That tribunal resolves a broad range of civil and administrative disputes in New South Wales, and its Consumer and Commercial Division handles consumer and commercial matters.
Membership
McDonald is a Fellow of the Australian Institute of Company Directors. The institute is a national professional body for company directors, supporting director education and standards of corporate governance in Australia.
