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  • Karen Rooke

    Legal Consultant
    Sydney
    T: +61 2 9296 2414
    M: +61 419 228 683
 

 Professional Biography

 

  • Karen Rooke holds the position of Special Counsel in the Sydney office, where she specialises in taxation law.

    Karen was a partner of the firm from 1995 - 2004. Following her retirement from the firm Karen joined the University of Sydney's Faculty of Law teaching in the postgraduate taxation law program. Karen returned to the firm in 2007 and she continues to be involved in teaching in the University's postgraduate tax program. She was recently appointed as an Adjunct Professor in the Faculty of Law.

    Karen’s practice covers a broad range of corporate and commercial taxation issues. Her main focus (in both practice and teaching) is on the taxation of managed funds. She was invited by the ATO to join its Consultative Group on trusts and was also appointed to the expert panel assisting the Board of Taxation in relation to its Review of Tax Arrangements Applying to Managed Investment Trusts.

    She has been a consultant to the Australian Taxation Office and Treasury in connection with proposed new law, and she has represented companies in disputes with the ATO, both in settlement discussions and before the courts.
 

 Experience

 
  • 1985: Bachelor of Laws degree (Hons), Australian National University. Her honours thesis, Income Splitting in Professional Partnerships: The Future of the Everett Assignment, was published in 1988
  • 1993: Master of Laws (specialising in taxation) by coursework, University of Sydney
  • 1986: Articled Clerk, Mallesons Stephen Jaques, Canberra
  • 1992: Solicitor, Mallesons Stephen Jaques, Sydney
  • 1995 - 2004: Partner, Taxation practice, Mallesons Stephen Jaques, Sydney
  • 2005-2007: Senior Lecturer, Faculty of Law, University of Sydney
  • July 2007 - current: Special Counsel, Mallesons Stephen Jaques, Sydney

  • Karen has lectured in Taxation Law at the Australian National University and the College of Law in Sydney.

    Upon her return to practice in 2007 she continued her association with the University of Sydney by continuing to teach Taxation of Partnerships and Trusts in the Postgraduate Tax Program.

    She is a regular speaker at conferences and has published dozens of articles in major law journals. These include:

    • Income Splitting in Professional Partnerships - the Future of the Everett Assignment (Honours Thesis) Taxation in Australia Volume 23 1988
    • Division 6 After ANZ and Richardson - paper written for Challis Taxation Discussion Group in 1998 and referred to by Counsel in the ANZ case before the High Court
    • Fixed and Non Fixed Trusts - a paper delivered at the Taxation Institute of Australia's NSW Intensive Seminar 2000 and published in the Tax Specialist April 2001 Vol 4, No 4
    • Tax Sharing Agreements - a paper written for the April 2003 Gunn Club Taxation Discussion group
    • How Fixed is Your Trust - a paper written for the Taxation Institute of Australia's National Convention April 2006 and published in Australian Tax Forum 2006 Vol 21(3)
 

 Recent Matters

 
  • Advising responsible entities of managed investment funds in connection with distribution policy and tax risk
  • Advising managed funds in connection with resettlement risk
  • Advsing "wrap account" operators in connection with "absolute entitlement" tax risk
  • Advising major Australian and multinational companies on Australian taxation implications of general business and restructuring proposals
  • Providing advice to companies and their staff on the taxation implications of employee share and option schemes, including phantom plans
  • Advising Australian and foreign companies and funds on the operation of the Australian double tax agreements and the accruals taxation regimes
  • Advising companies on the taxation implications of mergers, acquisitions and public offerings
  • Representing companies in disputes with the Australian Taxation Office both in settlement discussions and before the courts
  • Advising various government departments on the taxation implications of corporatisation, including assisting in drafting certain aspects of corporatisation legislation to deal with taxation issues.
  • Consulting to the ATO and Treasury in connection with proposed new law
 

 Professional Memberships

 
  • Admitted as a Solicitor in NSW and as a Barrister and Solicitor of the Supreme Courts of the ACT, Victoria and Western Australia
  • Fellow, Taxation Institute of Australia
  • Law Society of New South Wales
  • Member of Expert Panel assisting Working Group of Board of Taxation in relation to MIT Review
  • Member of ATO Consultative Group on Trusts, now a subgroup of NTLG
  • Gunn Club Taxation Discussion Group (retired)