Michele is an innovative and trusted financial services lawyer that fosters strong and attentive relationships with her clients. She combines her personable nature with her extensive financial services background to provide innovative, strategic, commercial and pragmatic solutions for clients. She possesses deep knowledge and experience in legal, governance, risk, and compliance across the full spectrum of financial services.
Michele is passionate about collaboration and works closely with colleagues to provide holistic advice and solutions for complex legal issues that can be readily embedded in the business. In providing advice, Michele understands the commercial imperative of striking an appropriate balance between strategic objectives and risk appetite. Clients value Michele’s ability to bring together her industry and technical knowledge to apply legally creative and commercial solutions that are tailored to their objectives and circumstances.
Michele acts for a broad range of clients across financial services, credit, fintech, payments, cryptocurrency and insurance. She provides support on all legal aspects, including regulatory advice on product design, service offerings, distribution, licensing, agreements, compliance obligations, transactions and regulator engagement and enforcement.
Michele understands the regulatory environment (current and emerging) and is well-placed to advise on regulatory requirements and risk mitigation strategies for businesses of all sizes.
She is passionate about fintech and leads our relationship with Blockchain Australia and Fintech Australia. Michele has also been a mentor for Startupbootcamp since 2021, where she mentored and provided advice to a range of fintech start-ups globally.
Michele regularly contributes to and informs regulatory reform. Most recently, she has drafted submissions, attended roundtables with Treasury, regulators and politicians as well as engaged with industry bodies on the digital asset licensing and payments reforms.
Michele is a regular speaker at conferences, most recently events held by Blockchain Australia, Blockchain APAC and Insurtech PitchLIVE.
She joined Hamilton Locke as a Partner on 1 September 2022 as part of its merger with boutique law firm, The Fold Legal. Prior to her promotion as Partner of The Fold Legal in July 2022, Michele held the roles of Senior Associate and Special Counsel.
Before this, Michele was General Counsel at a fintech start-up, Flare HR and held a number of senior non-legal roles for financial services companies, including Company Secretary, Head of Government Relations and Head of Regulatory Affairs for Mercer Australia. She has held senior roles in the financial services practices of Norton Rose Fulbright and Clayton Utz.
