Moves – 5 February 2010

Gilbert + Tobin has bolstered its presence in Australia with the appointment of Michael Caplan, Cameron Whitfield, and Dr Martin Taylor as partners.

Michael Caplan joins the firm as partner in the corporate, communications and technology group. He practises in all areas of information technology and telecommunications law with a particular emphasis on IT contracting, and has extensive experience in large scale outsourcing projects and complex systems integration projects. He has extensively advised Australia’s leading telecommunications and information services company Telstra in a broad range of services such as IT Transformation, renegotiation of its IT operations services with IBM and outsourcing of its IT and telecommunications. A Bachelor of Laws graduate from Monash University, Caplan is a member of the Victorian Society for Computers and the Law 2009 and the Intellectual Property Society of Australia and New Zealand.

Cameron Whitfield’s principal areas of practice include general information and communications technology law, domestic and international inter-carrier arrangements and regulation, telecommunications transactions and complex, high value commercial arrangements. Between 2000 and 2005, Cameron was based in Europe and advised governments, regulators and private companies on a wide variety of telecommunications reform projects, with particular focus on transitional economy reform and liberalisation processes. He has advised leading telecommunications company Telstra on product development and regulatory issues, and has also advised off-shore clients in the Asia Pacific region on telecom regulatory issues, liberalisation reforms, privatisations, and ICT policy development and implementation. A graduate of Victoria University in Wellington and the Financial Services Institute of Australasia, Cameron has practised in various jurisdictions including New Zealand, the UK, the US, France and Australia since 1996.

Dr. Martin Taylor specialises in competition law and market regulation, principally advising clients in the telecoms/technology, media, energy, and finance sectors. He previously worked in the competition teams of Mallesons and Freehills. He has over 15 years’ regulatory and commercial experience, obtained principally within the Asia-Pacific region. His clients have included some of the world’s largest and highest-profile multinationals, and leading telecoms/technology, media and energy companies, as well as a range of government entities, institutions, investment banks, hedge funds, and joint ventures. Taylor’s particular expertise is in telecoms and energy regulation, merger clearances, utilities and infrastructure, access pricing, regulatory investigations, law reform, and providing strategic advice on complex regulatory and commercial matters. He has acted in some of the region’s highest profile corporate transactions, including its largest-ever private equity bid, largest-ever public offering, and numerous multi-billion dollar infrastructure projects. Taylor has advanced postgraduate qualifications in corporate finance and economics, as well as legal qualifications that include a PhD in competition law, and has received numerous domestic and international prizes, scholarships and awards.