Lindsay Powers

Lindsay Powers is an Adjunct Professor at the Sydney Law School, University of Sydney, where he has lectured in Insolvency Law at undergraduate and postgraduate levels since 2018. He earned his Bachelor of Arts in 1975, Bachelor of Laws in 1977, and Master of Laws in 1982 from the University of Sydney, complemented by a Professional Certificate in Arbitration from the University of Adelaide in 2006 and accreditation as a Commercial Litigation Specialist by the Law Society of New South Wales. Powers boasts a legal career spanning over four decades, primarily with MinterEllison, joining as partner in 1987 upon the firm's formation from Minter Simpson, retiring from partnership in 2014, and continuing as Senior Legal Consultant. His practice centers on insolvency, corporate reconstruction, complex commercial litigation, banking and finance disputes, and alternative dispute resolution, serving Australian and international banks, financial institutions, and corporates across sectors like telecommunications, property development, transportation, and building.

Powers has litigated at all levels of Australian courts, including landmark High Court victories in Garcia v National Australia Bank (1998) 194 CLR 395, a cornerstone of banking law, and Kanivah Holdings Pty Limited v Holdsworth Properties Pty Limited [2001] NSWSC 405 on expert determination. He advised on major collapses such as HIH, Ansett Airlines, NewCap Re, One.Tel, Opes Prime, the NSW Grains Board—Australia's largest agricultural insolvency—and Babcock and Brown for Singapore's Government Investment Corporation. Since 1991, he has edited the insolvency commentary in the Journal of Banking and Finance Law and Practice, publishing numerous articles on insolvency topics. A former director of the Australian Centre for International Commercial Arbitration, he was also a teaching fellow at the University of New South Wales and lectured at the University of Technology Sydney. His stature is evidenced by consistent honors: Best Lawyers in Insolvency and Reorganisation (2013–2020), Litigation (2009–2020), and Alternative Dispute Resolution (2013–2020); Chambers Asia Pacific Leading Individual in Insolvency and Reconstruction (2008–2015); and Who's Who Legal Leading Individual (2009, 2012, 2015).

Professional Email: lindsay.powers@minterellison.com