Having access to a great lawyer like Briony, who can provide legal expertise and innovative solutions in just about any area of tax law, is a tremendous asset to any client. (And she’s a valuable source of advice on creating the perfect lasagna or assessing the quality of snow on the slopes.)
Some clients prefer dealing with a lawyer that they can discuss a full range of matters with, and Briony comfortably fills that role. In fact, Briony works across such a diverse variety of industry categories with such broad legal scope - tax, superannuation, wills, estates, succession planning and general commercial - she’s the quintessential “best friend” to business.
We prompted Briony to name her top three areas of tax law, but it appears that was a big ask:
“It’s impossible to get down to a list of three”, she explains. “I love advising clients on business structuring issues, state taxes (including stamp duty, land tax and payroll tax); taxation disputes, trusts, self-managed superannuation funds, property and joint venture projects, and all aspects of commercial transactions.”
Tax is just one of a number of areas where Briony shines: combining her technical expertise, commercial experience and innovative solutions to help clients when they need it most. When asked what drives her in accepting such complicated briefs, her reply is a natural reflex:
“I love helping my clients achieve their commercial objectives, while at the same time ensuring their legal obligations are flawlessly achieved.”
And, while Briony believes acting for clients is reward enough, she admits that regular wins fuel her passion for the law.
“Every matter with a successful outcome is a good win, although I do find helping my clients through large transactions as well as successfully defending my clients in taxation disputes particularly satisfying.”
Superannuation, wills, estate and succession planning are among Briony’s other professional passions, but what does such an accomplished all-rounder care about in her spare time?
“Well, I love snowboarding so much that I took a year off between finishing study and starting work to do a season at Big White mountain in Canada, and even managed to hit the slopes on our honeymoon, snowboarding in Japan.”
Briony tells us music and cooking come next in her list of things she loves outside of the office. She met her husband Mark at a rock concert, long before the days their daughter Isabelle made going out such a mission impossible, and about Briony’s cooking he says that her lasagna is “the best food he’s ever eaten”.
Briony is a director of DW Fox Tucker, a Chartered Tax Adviser, and is currently completing a Master of Taxation. She is also no stranger to picking up kudos; recently winning the ‘Best Lawyer Australia — Wealth Management/Succession Planning Practice 2017’ after taking out the same award in 2016.
If anyone has all the right ingredients to be one of the best, it’s Briony.