About Dr Mathew Leighton-Daly

Dr Mathew Leighton-Daly is a highly skilled and experienced lawyer, consultant and academic practising in the areas of corporate, commercial and taxation law.  He specialises in business risk (especially asset planning and compliance/regulatory risk).  In addition to traditional legal services (advice and representation), Mathew consults to law, accounting and other professional services firms, businesses and individuals directly.

Mathew’s skills have been developed via the rare combination of ongoing legal scholarship, extensive professional experience and a diverse range of consultancies.

In August 2025, mathew was appointed Special Counsel within HWL Ebsworth Lawyers’ Corporate & Commercial practice group (taxation).

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Since 2015, Mathew’s work has focused on business risk-related consulting in the areas of asset planning and compliance/regulatory risk.  During this time, he has consulted to professional services firms as well as businesses and high net worth individuals and families directly.  Mathew has published extensively in professional and scholarly tax journals and is the commissioned author of Thomson Reuters’ Financial Crime Control and Anti-Money Laundering.  He is also currently an academic at The University of Sydney and coordinates business law, tax law and white-collar crime-related subjects.  He was previously a lecturer at the University of Wollongong where he taught tax, contracts and criminal law subjects.  In addition to the Law Society of NSW, Mathew has full membership of the Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners and the Tax Institute of Australia.  He is also a member of the Australasian Tax Teachers Association and the Ross Parsons Centre for corporate, commercial and taxation law, School of Law, The University of Sydney (USYD).

Between 2008 and 2016, Mathew practised at the private bar in Sydney.  He practised from Ground Floor Wentworth Chambers (then head of Chambers Tony Slater QC) and 16th Floor Wardell Chambers (then head of Chambers the Hon Bob Ellicott QC).  Although exposed to a range of corporate, commercial and tax matters, he specialised primarily in white-collar/financial crime, regulatory matters and tax controversy.  Before being called to the bar, Mathew worked as a regulatory lawyer with the Australian Securities and Investments Commission and as a police prosecutor with the NSW Police.

Mathew’s qualifications include a PhD in taxation law (UNSW), Master of Laws (USYD) and Juris Doctor (First Class Honours) (Bond).  He also holds restricted undergraduate and professional qualifications in law enforcement (BPOL, CSU) and prosecutions (PEP, NSW Police).