Charles Noonan

Charles holds a Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Laws from Monash University, graduating with First Class Honours in Law. While working as Associate to The Honourable Justice Bernard Murphy of the Federal Court of Australia, Charles was awarded the Charles Allen Scholarship (Cambridge Australia Scholarship) to study a Masters of Law at the University of Cambridge. Charles’ postgraduate studies focused on transnational litigation, competition law and public law.

Charles’ broad range of legal experience includes practising in multi-jurisdictional matters for leading corporate/defence firms in the areas of commercial litigation, international commercial arbitration and competition and consumer law. Before joining Maurice Blackburn, Charles was an Associate in the London office of US litigation firm Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP, practising in the firm's Dispute Resolution group.

Some notable matters that Charles has worked on include:

• defence of a Bahrain-based investment bank in a Privy Council appeal (from the Cayman Islands Grand Court and Cayman Islands Court of Appeal) pertaining to US$136m rescission claim based on unauthorised leveraging of an investment
• defence of a leading international bank facing a £300m rescission claim based on alleged implied fraudulent misrepresentations for LIBOR manipulation
• defence of a Saudi Arabian company in ad hoc international commercial arbitration seated in London under the UNCITRAL Rules
• representing a Saudi Arabian client in coordinating the pursuit of a fraudulent multi-jurisdiction transaction spanning Saudi Arabia, the United Kingdom, Lebanon and Japan, and
• representing a high net-worth Turkish client in English Court proceedings seeking to prevent state seizure of multi-billion pound assets.

In addition to having a breadth of experience in a range of large-scale commercial disputes, Charles is also a strong advocate for access to justice and has extensive pro bono experience. He has been a research volunteer at the Refugee and Immigration Legal Centre, and has worked as an Acting Principal Lawyer at the Animal Law Institute, and has volunteered for the Barristers' Animal Welfare Panel, the Homeless Persons' Legal Clinic, the Human Rights Law Centre and the Refugee Legal Service. Charles has also investigated and settled, on a pro bono basis, numerous claims against a pet food producer for the sale of toxic dog food.

"Having practised in defendant firms in Australia and overseas, I came to realise that my skills and experience were better utilised in the pursuit of access to justice for victims of wrongdoing,” says Charles.

"Through the mechanism of class actions, I can obtain redress for ordinary people, and I am pleased that my work acts as a deterrent against corporate misconduct.”

Charles has had various works published in leading law journals and has also been an academic advisor to one of Australia's leading law journals. Charles was also editor of the Cambridge Journal of International and Comparative Law in 2015 and 2016. Charles was shortlisted for the Rogers Legal Writing Award in 2016 and was runner-up for the same award in 2019.

Charles’ peer-reviewed publications include the following:

• ‘Closing the courthouse door? Avoiding class actions through arbitration clauses in Australia’ (2020) 44(1) Melbourne University Law Review (Class actions, arbitration, consumer law)
• ‘Perera v GetSwift: When three’s a crowd’ (2019) March Law Institute Journal (Class actions)
• ‘Reconsidering Osmond’ (2018) 8(1) Victoria University Law and Justice Journal 43 (Administrative law)
• ‘Misleading online reviews: Not recommended' (2018) March Law Institute Journal 40 (Consumer law) (LIV Rogers Legal Writing Award – Runner-up)
• ‘Love thy neighbour: The church and the mosque’ (2015) 89(3) Law Institute Journal 46 (Administrative law, planning law) (LIV Rogers Legal Writing Award – Finalist)
• ‘Section 75(v), No-Invalidity Clauses and the Rule of Law’ (2013) 36(2) University of New South Wales Law Journal 437 (Constitutional law, administrative law)

Accreditations & memberships

• Law Institute of Victoria member
• Law Council of Australia Federal Litigation and Dispute Resolution Section member
• Barristers' Animal Welfare Panel Secretariat member

Awards & achievements

• Cambridge Journal of International and Comparative Law editor
• Charles Allen Scholarship (Cambridge Australia Scholarship) recipient
• Rogers Legal Writing Award shortlisted (2016)
• Rogers Legal Writing Award runner-up (2019)