Ben is a Director of Clifford Gouldson Lawyers and a well-known and trusted advisor to many Toowoomba, Queensland and national businesses over his more than twenty five years in the legal industry.
With a breadth of experience across multiple practice areas, Ben’s expertise is unrivalled. Whether in workplace law, corporate advisory, export advisory, intellectual property, litigation and dispute resolution, construction law or tax, structures and estate planning, Ben’s capacity to see the big picture and guide clients to simple solutions for complex legal problems makes him a highly sought after legal practitioner.
Holding degrees in Commerce (Majoring in Accounting) and Law (with Honours), and being one of only around 1,200 Registered Trade Marks Attorneys in Australia, Ben brings a unique combination of skill sets to his practice.
Ben enjoys working closely with clients and delivering advice from the client’s perspective, in a way which ensures implementation of advice is possible. Ben acts as a sounding board for clients and other legal practitioners within CGLaw, drawing on his broad experience for the benefit of our clients.
Ben has been involved in significant litigation and high level legal work for clients over his legal career, including:
- Acting for a prominent game developer in reviewing and negotiating a Sony PlayStation PS Plus subscription services product agreement, and Microsoft XBOX game pass licence agreement, as well as various intellectual property licensing and assignment agreements throughout the world.
- Acting for one of Queensland’s most prominent ATSI health providers in drafting and negotiating virtual health services agreements, services agreements, privacy policy, and privacy collection statement, having also negotiated a number of university placement agreements with Australian universities.
- Acting for a number of clients in the pharmacological, biomedical, and agronomical space in reviewing and negotiating research collaboration agreements, teaming agreements, commercialisation agreements, contribution agreements, funding agreements, and grant deeds with various corporates, Australian universities and national research organisations.
- Acting for a renowned Queensland-based egg, cattle, and grain business to assist in the preparation of an RFQ and Services Agreement for the development, supply and implementation of an Enterprise Resource Planning Solution.
- Acting for prominent Australian based manufacturers and distributors of food products in preparing and negotiating distribution agreements, franchise agreements, intellectual property licensing and assignment agreements, and terms and conditions, as well as advising in respect of corporate structuring for the purposes of holding intellectual property, intellectual property ownership, co-ownership, and co-existence arrangements, together with restructuring of intellectual property portfolios, and commercialisation arrangements.
- Acting for UPL Limited, one of the world’s top five agrochemical and crop protection firms, supporting their Australian operations including prosecuting their intellectual property portfolio.
- Succeeding in a trademark dispute against Masters Home Improvement Australia so as to secure our clients trade marks and trading paraphernalia.
- Acting for a national Franchisor across a range of matters throughout Australia.
- Representing the University sector in hundreds of matters including advising in changes to risk frameworks, research projects, student misconduct/complaint matters, intellectual property, research and material transfer matters.
- Advising Regional Councils throughout Queensland on a range of matters, including intellectual property, risk assessment and decision making, and litigation and dispute resolution.
- Managing portfolios of intellectual property for our clients, including advising on their undertaking of commercialisation activities throughout Australia and worldwide.
- Representing our client in its defence of the first Class Action litigation proceeding ever filed in the Queensland Supreme Court, winning at first instance before Jackson J, winning in Queensland Court of Appeal and having that win confirmed in the High Court of Australia in August 2024.
- Helping our client secure the first Anti-Anti Suit Injunction in Australia’s history involving an overseas software development agreement, where private international law became a key feature of the litigation. It unfolded as the developer failed to hit key milestones in software development.
- Securing a successful adjudication outcome for our client involving millions of dollars against listed company Transfield Services Australia Pty Ltd who were represented by Baker Mackenzie, one of the largest law firms in the world.
- Forcing a French Government owned Australian Corporation to remove 3000 plus 20-meter long and 2.5-meter wide aluminium framed glass mirrors (goods originally valued at over $14,000,000) abandoned on our client’s farming land after the company pulled out of a failed solar boost project in Queensland.
- Securing compensation Orders against the French Government owned Australian Corporation for the loss caused to our client after they abandoned the goods on our client’s land, following a six-day trial, up against Gilbert & Tobin and then Norton Rose Fulbright, one of the largest law firms in Australia.
- Recovering millions of dollars in compensation from Clarke Energy (Australia) Pty Ltd after the Court found the Clarke Energy Project Manager engaged in what appeared to be sharp practice, dealing with our client’s civil construction work on a project in Mt Isa, Queensland.
- Being instrumental in a decision by the Queensland Government to broaden the application of the Subcontractors Charges Act 1974 (Qld) so that work performed off site could be the subject of a claim of charge when principal contractors become insolvent in Queensland.
- Succeeding in dispute representation work for our clients against many of Australia’s largest law firms acting for opponents like Nufarm, Barenbrug, Sony, Nintendo, GRDC, AGL Limited, Powerlink, Certain Underwriters at Lloyds of London, Frankipile Australia, Moody Civil & Pipe, Sensis, Onesteel, Roberts & Schaefer Australia, Golding Contractors, Coates Hire, Masters Home Improvement, McDonnell Dowell, Wanless Waste, Telstra Limited, Jet Care, Laing O’Rourke Australia, QGC, Toll Holdings, BP Australia, Ruralco / Nutrien Ag Solutions, Elders Rural Services, Commonwealth Bank of Australia, National Australia Bank, to name a few.
A local boy, born and raised in Toowoomba, Ben has a passion for giving to others and the community. He has volunteered on many local committees and boards.
Ben currently serves as a volunteer Chairing the Queensland Law Society Innovation Committee, is a Committee Member of the Queensland Law Society Privacy, Data, Technology & Intellectual Property Law Committee, is a member of the Licensing Executives Society Australia New Zealand (LESANZ), the Licensing Executives Society International (LESI), the Intellectual Property Society of Australia & New Zealand (IPSANZ), the International Trade Mark Association (INTA), and the Association of Intellectual Property Firms (AIPF).
In addition to his board roles, Ben has also volunteered as a mentor for the State Government’s Mentoring for Growth Program, as a mentor with the Toowoomba Chamber of Commerce’s Future Leaders Mentoring Program, and as a judge of the Toowoomba Chamber’s Business Excellence Awards each year.
Ben has served in executive capacities on the Saints Basketball Club, Toowoomba Basketball Association Inc, Chiselhurst Kindergarten, Toowoomba Anglican School P&F, Fairholme College P&F, Glennie School Council, Darling Downs District Health Service Human Research Ethics Committee, University of Southern Queensland Human Research Ethics Committee, USQ Student Guild, Institute of Managers & Leaders Local Chapter Committee, Housing Industry Association Toowoomba Branch, Toowoomba Mountaineers Limited, Study Toowoomba Inc, and the Board of Trustees for the Empire Theatres Foundation.