CORPORATE, COMMERCIAL AND CORPORATE, COMMERCIAL AND TAXATION LAW TAXATION LAW

David Coombes has a wide range of expertise and many years of experience Now predominantly focusing on advising clients on a range of corporate, commercial and taxation law matters, he is incredibly unique in his approach to becoming a lawyer, starting his own practice and his journey throughout his career We are fortunate to have him discuss his career with us

I started my practice after I was a couple years out of law school This goes back to the 1970s, I was admitted to practice, I got married, started a family, and started a business two years later in South Melbourne I was ready to do anything, my day might have involved an assault case in the morning at the local Magistrate’s Court, with a complicated commercial transaction in the afternoon along the lines of a property development or a company structure I decided with the work I was doing, the thing that interested me most was taxation and trust structures, and business structures generally So I decided that I was not able to do anything and everything. Effectively, I realised I had to specialise and so I merged my firm with a city firm who were happy to take me on and I could operate in an area where they needed a partner and a lawyerin the field of taxation, trusts and superannuation

In fact, my career has taken me through a series of mergers of legal practices It was firstly with a city firm, that was with three other partners so I became a member of a four partner firm We then merged with a five partner firm, and a nine partner firm Picking up a few more partners along the way, we built the practice up with those further partners joining the firm and adding areas of work and specialties

David grew his business to become part of an international law firm, reaching impressive heights Eventually, though, he decided to move firms and work with private tax clients He discusses his experience of developing such a wide range of expertise

I was getting a lot of work from accountants and realised I had to get out there in the public arena. I delivered a series of papers on different topics in the taxation area, starting with mainly trusts This led me to a lot of referral work and because I was out there presenting those articles and papers, I had to bring myself up to date and write on topical issues, so that meant a fairly steep learning curve

It just meant that I had to get my head in the books, get myself up to date with tax developments and produce something that was lively and informative and had appeal to people with problems that I was assisting clients with

It was very much a matter of researching a lot of aspects, writing about them, and then I was getting presented with a lot more problems from new clients Or sometimes it worked the other way around, I would be presented with a client problem which was of particular interest, and that led me to research it, fight the tax office on it, and I was able to talk about those developments and discuss particular issues that arose

From there, I then did a postgraduate degree in taxation I did a masters of tax and that helped me with the specialisation It means that you never stop learning and you ’ ve got to keep on top of all developments in order to maintain registration as a lawyer, so it’s part of what’s called ‘continuing professional development’ It’s never ending, and a little bit difficult to keep up with, but it can be done. You just need to devote a bit of time throughout the course of the week to keeping yourself informed.

David also reveals his love for taxation, and explains the reason he still chooses to practise it after so long

Taxation is a matter that always hits the hip-pocket of clients and is not always assessed properly There are a lot of ongoing issues that arise with an income or capital realisation, whether people are entitled to a particular deduction or there’s been a correct characterisation of their activity. It’s a constant, ongoing battle, so it’s really the nature of the problem that interests me more than anything else

It’s a matter of getting on top of not just capital gains tax, but a matter of all ramifications of income tax, goods and services tax, stamp duties, and various other taxes

With such an impressive career behind him, and an admirable view on staying informed, David has many young lawyers looking for his guidance Often finding himself mentoring other lawyers, he has developed his people management skills and speaks to that ability

It’s very difficult You’re dealing with human beings, some of them are very fragile, some of them have huge egos, it’s just a matter of managing them and taking into account all of those circumstances Everybody’s different and it’s a particularly hard task. I find I enjoy it, and I think I can relate well to people and what you see is what you get with me so that’s fine.

Lastly, he leaves us with an anecdote from his first time in court, reminding us that even accomplished lawyers began somewhere

In the very first case I handled as an article clerk and before I was admitted to practice as a lawyer, some very devious senior partners sent me up to the Supreme Court. All I had to do was stand up and mention a matter and it had to be adjourned The judge’s associate called the matters on, I stood up and I said to the judge, may it please your honour, I appear for such and such and the case is to be adjourned with your consent He said to me 'I can’t hear you ' , and I thought that’s strange, so I’ll speak a bit louder I repeated myself in a louder voice and he said to me, 'what’s your name?'

I gave him my name and he said, 'Well, Mr Coombes, I want you to understand that I can’t hear you at the moment ' There was a kindly, old Queen’s Counsel at the bar table who leant over to me and said 'Sit down, it’s not your turn ' That’s why the judge couldn’t hear me - In the practice court, there’s an order of seniority When I finally did get up to make my say, the judge made it very difficult for me and he joked about it, but he said he admired my perseverance

Damages Damages Iincurrred Ncurrred

A third-year law student, Chloe Evans, was heard by our DLSS correspondents today discussing her upcoming moot for Evidence Law

Our correspondents heard the phrases “mutual followers” and “social media” and decided to speak to Chloe in the library about her upcoming moot.

“I love moots so much I’ve got over 1,000 followers on Tiktok I know I’m easily going to get an HD on this Evidence Law assignment!”

Our correspondents were left confused as to the relevance of Tiktok followers to mooting, but Chloe was more than happy to provide clarification on this topic

“I was surprised when my friends told me that Evidence Law involved a moot I was uncertain of how ‘moots’ relate to the topic of Law, but it all makes sense to me now. ”

Fourth Year Law Fourth Year Law Student Misinterprets Student Misinterpretsthe term ‘Moot’ the term ‘Moot’

Student Contribution: Chrissa Student Contribution: Chrissa Karouzakis Karouzakis

“Law is all about networking

There’s no better way to network than to have an entire assignment dedicated to meeting and following new people on social media ”

“My friends and I have heaps of moots on Instagram, Facebook and Tiktok I can’t wait for this assignment ”

Chloe was shocked and much less excited about her upcoming ‘mooting’ assignment when our correspondents informed her that a ‘moot’ in Law School has nothing to do with ‘mutual followers’ and ‘social media’ and is instead about advocacy and problem solving in relation to a legal scenario She declined further comment