Igor Bogdanich
 

After obtaining an LLB (Hons) at the University of Western Australia, Igor joined AAR's Perth office in 1997 as a member of the then new Energy, Resources and Infrastructure Department. During his 10 years with the firm, Igor has worked in Perth and Melbourne, and is now based in the Melbourne office. Igor has a keen interest in minerals and petroleum law, and his practice has seen him work for our clients in Shanghai and Salt Lake City. He is currently working on resources projects in areas as far-flung as Mongolia and Colombia. Igor has significant experience in acting on joint ventures and resources projects, and various upstream and downstream matters in the petroleum industry. He also advises clients on group procurement on a global basis. He is a member of AMPLA (Australian Mining and Petroleum Law Association) and the natural resources section of the International Bar Association. In his free time, Igor enjoys reading, going to the gym, and supporting Richmond in the AFL.
 

Marcus Clark
 

Marcus Clark commenced articles at AAR's Gold Coast office in 1996, worked in the Bangkok office from 1998 to 2000 and rejoined the Bangkok office in 2003, after two years with Cravath, Swaine & Moore LLP in New York and Hong Kong. Marcus has most recently worked in the Sydney office undertaking M&A and Capital Markets work. He is scheduled to return to Bangkok in May. Marcus was admitted to practice in Queensland in 1998 and New York in 2001, and as a notary public in 2007. He has lectured part-time in securities law at Peking University, Assumption University (Bangkok) and the University of Sydney. He is married to Lucie.
 

Jacqueline Downes

Jacqui commenced at AAR in 1998 after graduating with first-class honours in both Arts (history) and Law from the University of Sydney. Jacqui was a summer clerk at AAR in 1994-95 and an Associate to Justice Davies in the Federal Court of Australia. She also travelled widely, particularly in the south of France, in which she has a special interest connected to her history thesis.

Jacqui has been a Senior Associate since 2002 and has long been an integral member of the Competition Law Group. She has extensive experience in all aspects of competition law, both commercial and contentious, including mergers, access, restrictive trade practices, compliance and consumer protection. Jacqui also has particular expertise in media-related regulatory issues. Some of the interesting matters she has worked on include the recent acceptance by the ACCC of the first-ever special access undertaking (lodged by FOXTEL), obtaining ACCC approval of the FOXTEL/Optus content supply agreement and News Limited's acquisition of FPC newspapers and magazines. Outside work, Jacqui enjoys time with her son, and travelling, reading and relaxing in the country.
 

Stuart Mengler
 

Stuart has been based in AAR's Beijing office since early 2005. After graduating from the University of Western Australia, Stuart began his career at AAR in 1998 as one of the Perth office's first articled clerks. Stuart has worked in the ERI department in Perth, Melbourne, Shanghai and now Beijing. Stuart also spent a year on secondment to Rio Tinto Procurement in Western Australia.

With AAR's team of PRC lawyers, Stuart assists foreign and Chinese clients across a range of industries in China and surrounding countries. In between dodging Beijing's bike traffic, and preparing for the Olympics, Stuart and his family enjoy treks along the Great Wall.
 

Jason Morris
 

Jason joined AAR in January 2003. He completed articles in 1993 with Blake Dawson Waldron in Melbourne and worked in the financial services group there for seven years before moving to London to work at Linklaters for two years. Jason's practice is focused on banking and finance transactions with an emphasis in the areas of project, structured and infrastructure finance, acquisition and leveraged finance, corporate finance, debt capital markets and asset financing. He is based in our Melbourne office.

After completing a Bachelor of Laws and a Bachelor of Commerce at the University of Melbourne, he has completed a Graduate Diploma of Applied Finance and Investment and is undertaking a Master of Laws at the University of Melbourne. Jason spends his spare time competitively racing sailboards and yachts.
 

Darren Murphy
 

Darren worked at the firm as a summer clerk and library student in 1994 and joined AAR as an articled clerk in the Melbourne office in 1996. He soon found himself heavily involved in Victoria's energy sector privatisations and developed a taste for energy, resources and infrastructure work. He continued in this area while on secondment to the firm's Perth office in 2000-01, where he worked on a range of energy and resources transactions, including South Australia's electricity privatisation.

In 2002-03, Darren worked for NYSE-listed energy company, Aquila, Inc, in Kansas City, Missouri, assisting Aquila with significant transactions in the US, Australia and the UK. Darren returned to Perth in 2004. He lists his favourite distractions as chasing his children around the yard, eating curries, surfing the Indian Ocean and watching his beloved AFL Kangaroos and Kansas City Chiefs.
 

Ren Niemann
 

Ren joined the Brisbane office of AAR in 1998 after completing his law degree at Queensland University of Technology as the joint university medallist. While working in the construction practice group, he also completed a Master of Construction Law from the University of Melbourne in 2003. In 2004, Ren relocated to Sydney. Since then, he has worked on some significant matters, including the Queensland Government's $1.8 billion duplication of the Gateway Motorway and Bridge (the largest road project undertaken to date by the Government). His practice continues to focus on construction and infrastructure projects, acting for some of the firm's major financing, government and private sector clients. While Ren remains in AAR's Sydney office, most colleagues and clients know his 'State of Origin' loyalties remain with Queensland.
 

Nick Rudge
 

Nick has degrees in economics and law from Monash University and joined the firm's construction practice group, from Hunt & Hunt, in December 1997. Nick was appointed a Senior Associate in July 2000. From January 2001 to October 2004, Nick worked at Lovells in London, which has a leading construction and arbitration practice. In London, Nick did a lot of work in the power and rail sectors, including in relation to the London Tube network.

Since returning to AAR in October 2004, Nick has continued his practice in the area of construction disputes work, including litigation, arbitration, adjudication and project advice work. Nick also acts as a senior supervising solicitor as part of the firm's Homeless Persons Legal Clinic program. Despite a long drought, Nick remains a committed Richmond AFL fan.
 

Malcolm Stephens
 

Malcolm is a member of the commercial litigation department in the Sydney office. He joined AAR as a summer clerk in 1992 and began as a solicitor with the firm in 1995. He moved to London in 1998 to work with Davies Arnold Cooper and returned to AAR at the end of 2000. Malcolm's main areas of practice are commercial litigation and insurance law. In addition to spending time with his wife and three daughters, Malcolm enjoys travelling, soccer and playing chess. Before joining AAR, Malcolm represented Australia at the World Junior Chess Championships and is currently ranked among the top 20 players in Australia.
 

Miriam Stiel
 

Miriam joined AAR as a summer clerk in 1994. After graduating from the University of Sydney, she spent a year working for Justice Cohen in the Supreme Court of New South Wales before commencing as a solicitor at the firm in 1997. Miriam is a commercial litigator, specialising in intellectual property. She has been involved in handling commercial disputes for major Australian and multi-national corporations and has extensive experience running and defending applications for urgent interlocutory relief. She advises on all aspects of intellectual property law and has worked with clients to develop strategies for the protection and enforcement of their intellectual property rights. She has enjoyed working for clients from the media and entertainment, luxury goods, sport and technology industries, which has given her the opportunity to combine her professional experience with some of her personal interests.

Outside work, Miriam enjoys time with her husband and their two young children.
 

Tom Story
 

Tom joined the firm's Brisbane office as an articled clerk in 1999 after completing his studies at the University of Queensland. He moved to Sydney in 2001 and will continue to work in AAR's Sydney office. Tom's practice focuses on private equity, M&A and capital markets transactions. He has been involved in some of the largest and most high-profile corporate transactions in Australia in recent years, including the proposed Qantas takeover, the Boart Longyear IPO and the Patrick Corporation takeover. Tom is part of the AAR team currently advising Wesfarmers Limited in relation to its proposal to acquire Coles Group. Outside the office, Tom spends time with family and, although he has lived in Sydney for six years, supports the Queensland Reds rugby team, the Queensland Bulls cricket team and the Queensland State of Origin team and will continue to do so.
 

David Yates
 

Since joining AAR in 1997, David has developed a strong commercial litigation practice specialising in intellectual property, consumer protection, defamation, IT and financial disclosure matters. David is also a member of the firm's sports practice and, for a number of years, has been the chairman of the Sydney Office Sports Committee, which is responsible for organising and funding the swimming carnival and summer corporate sailing races, among other events. Highlights in David's practice have been working for the late Sir Donald Bradman (a truly memorable experience), Red Bull, FIJI Water, FOXTEL, Delta Goodrem, the International Rugby Board and the Australian Olympic Committee. Outside work, David enjoys spending time with his wife and son, playing basketball and sailing.