About us
We started Sharpe & Abel in 2012 because we saw critical industries being underserved by traditional law firms. Engineering, industrial and technical companies needed partners who understood their operating environments, business models and the high-stakes nature of what they do.
What we bring to the table
We speak your language
We work exclusively with engineering, industrial and technical businesses so we get how you operate.
Ethics first. Always
We're lawyers and officers of the court. That means integrity, accountability and high standards are non-negotiable.
No gaps in service
Our team structure means you get consistent support, 52 weeks a year. Quality service when you need it.
Zero upselling
You’ll never be ‘upsold’ legal services you don’t need. Your bills are always fairly priced, transparent and reviewed before they’re sent.
Our leadership team
Sharpe & Abel is a distributed team with a distributed leadership. Richard Southall leads the delivery team, Steve Long leads research and development and Melissa Kirby sweeps up all the rest.
Our mission
Our mission is to provide thriving industrial, engineering and technical companies with the kind of legal services that really do them justice. At the very least, that means:
Lawyers who understand your business and your industry;
Lawyers who solve problems, not just know the law;
Lawyers that work just as hard as you do; and
Lawyers that are accountable for the outcomes we create.
Creating a legal service to serve means building around specific values.
Competence: we ask, and in fact demand, that everyone who works at Sharpe & Abel is measurably competent at what they are hired to do. We recognise that being competent today does not mean that the same skill set will be competent tomorrow. What our clients need will change and with that, our competencies will need to change as well.
Love: we authentically care and connect with our clients. Our clients are companies, but companies are run by humans who deserve to be understood and listened to.
Trust: is about being able rely on each other particularly in tough times.
Freedom: to have what it takes to make a contribution to the world. We are free to explore and not be confined to the status quo.
Security: to have the competence to generate value to the world. This is what gives us security that is independent of looking over our shoulder and seeing what everyone else is doing. We are not afraid to do what everyone else is not.
Our people, systems and processes reflect our values: each team member has individual coaching to ensure their skills and knowledge are where our clients need them to be. Our systems are chosen for their client centricity: we are here to serve the needs of our clients not to enjoy interesting artefacts of law. Our approach is multi-disciplinary, and we are not afraid to put numbers to our advice.
Our values
What our clients have achieved
(with a little help from their lawyers)
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Others talk about the energy transition — our clients make it happen. One of them, PICAC, is establishing state-of-the-art hydrogen training centres to create jobs and develop the skills needed for the future of energy. With strong partnerships across government, industry, and unions, PICAC is building the capability to deliver hydrogen training to industry in both Queensland and New South Wales. We’re proud to have supported this work through funding agreements and development contracts.
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What happens when 500 tonnes of grain spill from two collapsed silos into a waterway? You call Illawarra Engineering Services to wrangle the mess. Working 24/7 with serious equipment on floating barges and unstable land, the team kept the environment pristine and the people safe. Our job: to keep the company safe.
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We all saw firsthand what happens when we don’t have the personal protective equipment to keep our front line health workers safe. Protective Industrial Products (PIP) is working hard to make sure that doesn’t happen again by acquiring Honeywell’s personal protective equipment business. And we’re working hard to make sure that PIP’s business is safe too!
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Lights on, deal done, and a bright future ahead. We were thrilled to support Gentrack in acquiring a strategic stake in Amber Electric — combining clever technology and bold ambition to take smarter energy solutions to the world. Exactly the kind of deal we love to get behind.
Just some of the ways our clients make things better, safer and more comfortable—and how we’re lucky to help them.