Neil Fearis

Neil Fearis has been in practice for more than 35 years and worked as a commercial lawyer in London, Sydney and Perth. He was a partner in one of Australia's largest national law firms until 1999 when he formed Fearis Salter Power Shervington, a niche firm that was ranked by The Australian Financial Review as one of the top 10 law firms in Australia for mergers and acquisitions work.

Mr Fearis provides high quality corporate and commercial legal advice to public company clients and has advised on some of the largest corporate transactions ever undertaken in Australia including what was at the time Australia's largest ever contested takeover.

Prior to studying law, he spent several years engaged in mineral exploration in both Australia and southern Africa and as a result, has a good understanding of the practical issues facing companies developing resource projects in remote locations within Australia and overseas.

A joint winner in the “Mergers & Acquisitions” category of the Legal Elite poll conducted by WA Business News, Mr Fearis was also recognised as an outstanding individual by Best Lawyers Australia 2009. He has written and presented papers on various aspects of commercial law including takeovers and securities regulation, and on the legal aspects of investing and conducting business in Australia.

Mr Fearis has undertaken extensive work, both as a company director and as a lawyer, in francophone Africa and has a working knowledge of French.