Our Key People

Matthew is the founder of Rouse Lawyers. He leads the firm’s Corporate & Commercial team. Matthew specialises in mid-market mergers & acquisitions. These businesses tend to be larger private or family owned businesses.

Matthew also practices in general corporate advisory with much of his experience being with clients in emerging technology or organisations with substantial intellectual property.

David oversees our Tax and Litigation and Dispute Resolution teams which focuses on acting for and protecting the interests of private clients.

David has extensive tax and structuring experience combined with an extremely strong litigation background, which provides a unique specialist service to Rouse Lawyers’ private clients.

Johann Spies is an Associate Director at Rouse Lawyers with more than 15 years of experience in mergers and acquisitions, corporate, commercial and regulatory law. Having worked across Africa, Asia and Australia, including at leading global and national law firms, Johann brings clients a strong combination of technical expertise and international perspective.

Johann advises on the full spectrum of M&A, corporate and commercial matters, with particular depth in highly regulated sectors including financial services, construction and aviation. He is known for cutting through complexity and delivering advice that is strategic, clear and commercially grounded. Johann works closely with clients to understand their business, risk profile and long-term objectives, making him a trusted adviser on transactions, governance and complex commercial arrangements.

Catherine practices in intellectual property, branding and franchising with a strong understanding of trade mark and franchise law. With a wealth of experience in this domain, Catherine is competent in assisting clients protecting, defending and commercialising their brands and intellectual property rights and in the preparation, drafting, interpretation and enforcement of franchise agreements.

Emily Hughes-Johnson leads the Property team at Rouse Lawyers and has more than 20 years of experience advising on complex property and commercial transactions across Queensland. She works with a broad range of clients on significant matters involving commercial property and business transactions.

Emily’s expertise includes commercial property sales and acquisitions, commercial and industrial leasing, business and share sales and acquisitions, and strata advisory and transactional work. She has acted for major anchor tenants, large institutional clients and businesses across a variety of sectors. Emily is known for her depth of experience, commercial approach and ability to guide clients through complex transactions with clarity and confidence.

Mathew Verwater is a commercial lawyer at Rouse Lawyers, focused on delivering practical, end-to-end legal solutions for businesses and entrepreneurs. He works with small to medium enterprises, start-ups and established organisations across a broad range of business and commercial matters.

Mathew advises clients throughout the full lifecycle of their ventures, including business structuring, business sales and acquisitions, franchising, trade mark registration, terms and conditions, privacy policies and broader commercial transactions. He works closely with business owners to understand their objectives and provide advice that is both legally robust and commercially strategic. Mathew is committed to delivering efficient, high-quality legal services that support clients in a fast-moving business environment.

With over 20 years of experience, Andrew advises clients ranging from ASX-listed companies to startups and not-for-profits on mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures, governance, franchising, IP, commercial contracts and property transactions. Having held both private practice and senior in-house roles, he brings a pragmatic, commercially focused approach that smooths the way for deals across sectors including resources, health, agribusiness, technology, education and government.

Nav specialises in mergers and acquisitions and works closely with Peter Rouse. Nav is a dual-qualified lawyer having been admitted as a legal practitioner in both Australia and Scotland. He brings an international perspective having previously worked at corporate law firms in Europe in which he advised both vendors and buyers. Clients benefit from Nav’s responsive and thorough approach.

Christian Coulthard is a lawyer at Rouse Lawyers, advising clients across a broad range of commercial matters including commercial contracting, intellectual property strategy and enforcement, privacy and data protection, and competition and consumer law.

Christian has a particular interest in matters that sit at the intersection of law and emerging technology, helping clients navigate complex issues in a practical and commercially focused way. He is known for his responsive and personable approach, and for delivering advice that is technically sound, clear and easy to act on.

Ashleigh Shea is a litigation and dispute resolution solicitor at Rouse Lawyers. She advises clients across all stages of the dispute resolution process, from early risk assessment and pre-litigation strategy through to formal proceedings, alternative dispute resolution and settlement.

Ashleigh acts in a broad range of disputes, including contractual, shareholder and debt recovery matters, and has experience in highly regulated sectors such as health, aged care and hospitality. With previous experience in corporate advisory and as an in-house lawyer, she brings a commercially grounded perspective to every matter. Clients value Ashleigh’s energetic approach and her ability to distil complex issues into practical strategies that protect their broader commercial and reputational interests.

Tim Hennessy is a seasoned entrepreneur and strategic advisor, currently serving as Chairman of the Board at Rouse Lawyers. With over three decades of leadership experience, Tim has founded, scaled, and sold multiple businesses across various industries.

In 1987, Tim launched Active Apparel Group, growing it from a small textile start-up into a global manufacturing and distribution business with over 2,300 employees and annual revenue exceeding US$100 million. He led a successful exit of the textile division and remained with the manufacturing arm until 2020.

Today, Tim sits on the boards of several companies across the legal, distribution, renewable energy, construction and civil, and health and wellness sectors. He also contributes to various advisory boards, lending his expertise in corporate governance, financial management, sales, marketing, and strategic planning. His leadership centres on building strong, accountable cultures to support growth and change.

With over 40 years of legal experience, Steven Stoddart brings deep expertise in commercial, healthcare, business, and property law to his consultancy role with Rouse Lawyers. His background in taxation supports his practical approach to complex legal and financial matters.

Steven is known for building long-term client relationships and regularly advises on commercial transactions, franchising, and healthcare businesses, including pharmacy agreements and regulatory compliance.

Having spent time on the “client’s side of the desk”, he brings a pragmatic, solutions-focused mindset to his work, backed by extensive experience with State and Federal authorities.