Dr Martyn Taylor
Martyn is a Partner at global law firm Norton Rose Fulbright. He co-heads the TMT group (ranked Tier 1 APAC) and competition & trade group (ranked Tier 1 in Sydney & Melbourne). He is a board member on the Australian Partnership Committee. He is described as “smart, efficient, friendly”.
Martyn’s practice covers transactional, contentious and advisory. He is a corporate & commercial lawyer and leading telecoms, media & technology (TMT), infrastructure, energy, competition & regulatory specialist.
Martyn is endorsed as a ‘top 10' TMT legal advisor in Asia. He is recommended by the key legal directories, including Best Lawyers. Awards include:
- M&A Deal of Year – Australasian Law Awards, 2016, 2021
- Australian Law Partner of Year – Commercial, 2016, 2017, 2019, 2021
- Australian Law Partner of Year – Telecoms, Media & Techology, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2020, 2022
- Australian Law Partner of Year – Competition Trade & Regulation, 2023
- Best M&A Deal – Finance Asia, 2020
- Asia-Pacific Telecoms Deal of Year - IJ Global, 2015, 2020
- Global Merger of Year – Global Competition Review, 2015, 2020
- Australian Deal of Year – Australasian Law Awards, 2016
- Energy & Resources Deal of Year – Australasian Law Awards, 2016
- TMT Deal of Year – Asian Lawyer, 2014
Martyn was a finalist for ‘Australian Deal Maker of Year' in 2015, 2016, 2019.
Chambers: “Martyn Taylor is prized as a ‘relentless worker’ on both the transactional and enforcement fronts, distinguished by his ability to ‘explain complicated regulatory concepts in the simplest terms possible’ and a related flair for ‘churning through a large amount of information and distilling from it the thesis needed to put a case forward.”
Chambers: “Martyn Taylor is acknowledged as "a super smart guy” who does a lot of "out-of-the-box thinking”. A client singles him out as a provider of "outstanding contract knowledge and strategic advice" who is distinguished further by "excellent problem-solving and people skills.”
Martyn has multiple board/director roles, including President of Communications & Media Law Association, and Treasurer (ILS) of Law Council of Australia. He is an angel investor and business owner.
Martyn has qualifications in law, economics, corporate finance, management, engineering & architecture. He has attended Harvard University, Oxford University, Wharton Business School, and London School of Economics. He has >100 publications, including the book 'International Competition Law'.
Qualifications: PhD(Law); CME(Harvard); MFin(Corporate Finance); LLM(Law); BA(Hons)(Economics); LLB(Hons)(Law); BSc(Architecture); GAICD.
Practice Area
Panel
- Contributing Author
Qualified Year
- 1994
Experience
- Newman Levinson Architects, London (1989 - 1990)
- Electricity Corporation of New Zealand (1989 - 1993)
- DLA Piper, New Zealand (1993 - 1994)
- Chen & Palmer, New Zealand (1994 - 1996)
- New Zealand Wool Board (secondment) (1997 - 1997)
- Bell Gully, New Zealand (1996 - 1999)
- Sydney Airport, Australia (secondment) (2000 - 2000)
- Telstra Corporation, Australia (secondment) (2001 - 2001)
- King & Wood Mallesons, Australia (1999 - 2007)
- Herbert Smith Freehills, Australia (2007 - 2009)
- Batelco, Bahrain (secondment) (2010 - 2010)
- Du, UAE (secondment) (2010 - 2010)
- Gilbert & Tobin, Australia (2009 - 2011)
- Qatar Telecom, Singapore (secondment) (2014 - 2014)
- Ooredoo, Myanmar (secondment) (2015 - 2015 )
- Norton Rose Fulbright, Australia (2011 - Present)
Membership
- International Bar Association
- American Bar Association
- Law Council of Australia
- Law Society of New South Wales
- Law Society of New Zealand
- Law Society of England and Wales
- Sydney Centre of International Law
- Communications and Media Law Association
- Global Forum for Competition Law and Policy
- Competition Law and Policy Institute of New Zealand
Qualifications
- Bachelor of Science (Architecture) 1990-1992
- Summer School in Economics, Japan 1995
- Bachelor of Laws with First Class Honours (1991-1991)
- Admission as a Barrister & Solicitor in New Zealand (1995)
- Admission as a Legal Practitioner in Australia (1999)
- Admission as a Solicitor in England and Wales (2001)
- Winter School in Chinese Law, China (2001)
- Master of Laws with First Class Honours (2000-2001)
- Doctor of Philosophy in Law (2001-2005)
- Master of Applied Finance majoring in Corporate Finance (2006-2008)
- Graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors (2019)
- Oxford Executive Leadership Programme, Oxford University (2019)
- Leading Professional Services Firms, Harvard Business School (2020)
- Oxford Private Equity Programme, Oxford University (2020)
- Private Equity Program, Wharton Business School (2021)
- Oxford Entrepreneurship Programme, Oxford University (2021)
- Mergers & Acquisitions Program, Harvard Business School (2021)
- Certificate in Management Excellence, Harvard Business School (2020-2023)
- Oxford Programme in Artificial Intelligence, Oxford University (2024)
- MBA Essentials, London School of Economics (2024)
Education
- Victoria University of Wellington, Wellington, New Zealand (1990-1999)
- Sophia University, Tokyo, Japan (1995)
- University of Sydney, Sydney, Australia (1999-2004)
- East China University of Politics & Law, Shanghai, China (2002)
- Macquarie University, Sydney, Australia (2004-2006)
- Kellogg School of Management, Chicago, USA (2019)
- Wharton Business School, Philadelphia, USA (2020-2021)
- Harvard Business School, Harvard University, Boston, USA (2019-2023)
- London School of Economics, London, UK (2024)
- Said Business School, Oxford University, Oxford, UK (2019-2024)
1 Contributions by Martyn Taylor
PRACTICE NOTES
Australia’s 2026 mandatory merger regime: notification and voting thresholds, ‘connected with Australia’, ACCC phased review, waivers, remedies, penalties, appeals and key cases
NOTE—to check whether notification thresholds in Australia and across the world are met, please see: Where to Notify.
1. What recent developments have occurred in the Australian merger control regime, and are any updates expected in the year ahead? Are there any other ‘hot’ merger control issues in Australia?
Substantial changes to Australia’s merger regime as of 1 April 2026
From 1 January 2026, Australia’s merger regime experienced the biggest changes in roughly fifty years. The reforms were intended to make Australian mergers simpler, quicker and more transparent, and to align Australia’s approach with that of other Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development economies. Nevertheless, the regime that has emerged is highly intricate, carefully calibrated and uniquely Australian. The new framework has been contentious, and its effectiveness in practice is still to be determined...
Competition
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