The Team

• Brett Oaten

  • Brett is the principal of the firm. Brett started the firm in 1992 and has, in the period since, represented many of Australia’s leading artists and creative businesses. Brett is a life member of radio station FBi, sits on several startup advisory boards, lets his staff come and go as they please and loves rugby league, punk rock, country, folk and surfing. Brett retired from client work in 2024.

• Dave Orwell

  • Dave is a solicitor with the firm. Dave has previously worked at Sony/ATV Music Publishing, as Creative Manager for four years, and before that at Sydney law firm Allens Arthur Robinson. Dave is also a musician and songwriter and has played in Sydney bands Oliver, Knievel and Golden Rough.

• Andrew Dawson

  • Andrew is a solicitor with the firm. Andrew has significant media and entertainment experience across all distribution platforms having worked both in private practice at leading Sydney law firms and in-house at a commercial broadcaster, a telco and a large independent production company. Since returning to private practice, Andrew has advised an Australian broadcaster, leading independent film and television producers, on-screen talent, writers, creative agencies, podcast producers and media industry service providers.

• Andrew Cameron

  • Andrew is a solicitor with the firm. Andrew’s background is in entertainment and technology law. Prior to joining the firm in 2015 he spent four years in the IP, Communications and Technology group at Allens Linklaters and then six years as Director, Legal & Business Affairs at Sony Music Entertainment Australia. His entertainment practice is now focused predominantly on music and television. He also acts for technology startups across a number of industries. He has played music since he was five and is also a WIRES member and avid nature photographer.

• Adrian Fitz-Alan

  • Adrian is a solicitor with the firm. He commenced his career as a lawyer with TressCox before joining Sony Music Australia as Head of Business Affairs and Corporate Counsel, which included serving on several industry boards. He subsequently moved on to various senior executive and Business Affairs roles with Sony Music in New York and London, before returning to EMI Australasia in similar executive roles. After EMI’s acquisition by UMG, he founded a virtual general counsel practice providing a range of entertainment, media, technology and IP services. Having taken time to travel extensively, Adrian joined our firm to continue practising in the IP, entertainment and related commercial areas.

• Tahlia Beeson

  • Tahlia is a solicitor with the firm. Tahlia is an experienced music lawyer with a deep and varied background in the music industry. Drawing from her experiences, including in artist management, Tahlia offers a skill set that enriches her practice of law. Tahlia is particularly passionate about working with emerging artists and industry professionals and is dedicated to helping her clients navigate the complex legal landscape with the music and broader entertainment industries.

• Stephen Gorry

  • Steve is a solicitor with the firm. He was admitted in 1987 and has been a partner of Henry Davis York and Norton Rose Fulbright. Having escaped big law he splits his time between us and his role as Legal Counsel for Venues NSW. His area of expertise is dispute resolution, which he says is mainly ensuring clients don’t get into fights rather than starting them. He is an enthusiastic supporter of alternative dispute resolution so ADR, mediation and arbitration (basically, not going to Court) is his primary aim.

• Lachlan McLean

  • Lachlan (Lachie) is a solicitor with the firm. Having practised property and commercial law in various Brisbane-based firms, he migrated to Sydney to practice technology, media and telecoms law at Webb Henderson. He has now found a home in music and entertainment law. Lachie has been a musician from a young age, playing in original and cover bands and producing his own music.

• Mary McElhone

  • Mary has been a solicitor with the firm since 1998, after having been an associate partner in the commercial property department of a large Sydney firm. Mary undertakes any work relating to property in New South Wales, particularly the sale and purchase of properties, as well as wills and estate work. Mary’s claim to fame is not only acting on the sale and purchase of some of Sydney’s most valuable homes, but she also heard the gunshots when Roger Rogerson famously killed Warren Lanfranchi. Mary is currently playing lots of golf and getting into the ocean as often as possible.

• Kristin Marlow

  • Kristin is our office manager. Coming from the world of media where she spent much of her career programming TV channels and building digital networks, while also raising two strapping lads. Recently, she took time out to indulge her passions - cinema, collecting fountain pens, writing that never-to-be-published novel and becoming an award-winning playwright. But it’s her love of a good spreadsheet that brings her to our office to assist with all of your queries.

Our Clients

We act for leading and emerging creatives and businesses in the fields of media, arts, technology and entertainment.

• Proudly Representing:

  • Amy Shark - Angie McMahon - the late, great Archie Roach - Bliss n Eso - Charlie Collins - Bernard Fanning - Gang of Youths - Guy Sebastian - Hayden James - The Kid Laroi - Pacific Avenue - Jessica Mauboy - King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard - Lorde - Kate Miller-Heidke - Mia Rodriguez - Montaigne - Parkway Drive - Powderfinger - Sampa The Great - Skegss - Tkay Maidza - Vera Blue - Dami Im - The Lazy Eyes - Lil Bubblegum
    
    Grow Yourself Up - Heaps Gay - Inertia - NLV Records - Ourness - Seismic Talent Agency - Skinnyfish Music - Spilt MIlk Festival - Sweat It Out - TMRW Group - Laneway Festival - Good Things Festival - The Kennel - Chugg Music - Merch 360
    
    Anh Do - Ebony Boadu - Jock Zonfrillo - The Grade Cricketer - Linda Marigliano - Matt Moran - Nicole Warne - Sonia Kruger - Natalie Tran - Tim Minchin - Cody Simpson
    
    Ambience Entertainment - Audiocraft - Casefile - DISCO - Emotive - Kinderling - Level Two - Fika Entertainment - McAvoy Media - Nitro Circus - Popgun Labs - The Full Box - VA Media - Whooshkaa - Wooden Horse - Venues NSW

    ….and others.