We have assembled a team of highly experienced and dedicated professionals, including the leading practitioners in the area.
Hatzis Cusack Lawyers offers the expertise and experience of a top tier law firm, coupled with the personal service and attention that can only be offered by an expert, smaller firm.
Our team is led by the Company Directors, Tony Hatzis and Grant Cusack, who are both leading practitioners in the field of liquor and gaming law.
Tony and Grant are assisted by a team of dedicated, experienced professionals.
Our promise is to be accessible to you when you need us. We will ensure that you are advised and assisted only by persons who are highly experienced and knowledgeable in the areas in which we specialise. Our experience and expertise in the areas in which we specialise and our accessibility to our clients, is what sets us apart from our competitors.
Tony is a leading senior lawyer who has practised continuously for more than 25 years.
Until Tony and Grant formed Hatzis Cusack in 2012, Tony enjoyed an outstanding career as the leading specialist barrister in the field of liquor licensing and gaming law. Tony has delivered many seminars on liquor and gaming law to other members of the legal profession.
Tony has appeared in many test cases involving liquor, gaming and security industry laws. For example, Tony appeared for the successful tenants in the “Jabetin” litigation, which settled the ownership of gaming machine entitlement rights. Tony also acted for Blacktown Workers Club, in their successful test case against the Department of Health, over that Club’s smoking/gaming room. Tony has acted for hotels, clubs, liquor stores and security industry operatives in defending scores of prosecutions under the liquor, gaming and security industry legislation.
Tony is the current national liquor law contributor to the Concise Australian Legal Dictionary.
Tony has a passion for staying close to political and legislative developments in his field of specialty. As an advisor to the Australian Hotels Association (NSW), he has forcefully represented the interests of the industry in consultations with Government.
Before being called to the Bar in 1999, Tony was the chief in-house lawyer for the Liquorland chain. In that role, Tony acted in a number of medium-to-large scale commercial property transactions involving the development, sale, purchase and leasing of licensed premises.
Tony was trained in a major Sydney commercial law firm. At a young age he became a partner in a medium-sized commercial law firm.
Grant is one of the most experienced and highly regarded liquor and gaming lawyers in NSW, and has been employed in the jurisdiction for a number of decades.
Initially Grant was employed by the former Licensing Court of NSW, and then by a leading licensing and gaming law firm, before setting up his own practice in 2007. In 2012, Grant and Tony formed Hatzis Cusack Lawyers, which soon became one of the leading firms in the jurisdiction.
Grant possesses a detailed knowledge and expertise in relation to all facets of liquor and gaming matters, and related areas including planning applications.
Grant’s clients include some of the largest operators in the liquor, gaming and hospitality industries in NSW. He is regularly engaged to advise on licensing issues relating to major projects and developments. Past developments/projects he has advised on have included Barangaroo, Darling Square, Kensington Street retail precinct (Chippendale), Parramatta Square, and Marrickville Metro redevelopment.
Since the introduction of the Liquor Act 2007, Grant has been involved in the preparation of more licence applications and liquor community impact statements, than any other lawyer.
As a result of his wealth of experience, skill set, understanding of clients’ needs and “pragmatic approach”, Grant is renowned for his ability to achieve outstanding results. He is sought out for providing exceptional client service, and insightful, practical, and strategic, commercial legal advice, in timely manner.
Brett is a senior lawyer specialising in the areas of liquor licensing and gaming law.
Brett has practised exclusively in those areas since his admission as a Legal Practitioner in 1996.
Prior to that, Brett was employed as a police officer with the New South Wales Police Service from 1983 to 1996, the last nine years of which were spent working as a specialist licensing and legalised gaming officer.
Brett has extensive experience in all licensing and gaming matters, including relating to on-premises licences, hotels, clubs, packaged liquor licences, producer/wholesale licences and limited licences.
Brett is highly regarded in the legal profession as an expert in proceedings involving liquor licensing and gaming practice and procedure.
Darcy Plowman completed his Juris Doctor at the University of Sydney at the end of 2017.
Darcy successfully completed his practical legal training with Hatzis Cusack Lawyers in 2018. He now practices as a Solicitor with the firm.
Darcy also has an honours degree and an MA, focused mainly on history and international politics, and a wide range of interests outside the law as well as within it. He uses his broad education and analytical skill in dealing with the complexities that the licensing legislation can throw up, in a way that retains a pragmatic sense for the real interests of clients.
Darcy assists in most areas that the firm handles, including licensing applications, gaming machine entitlement transfers, sales of businesses and conveyancing. He has also assisted with the firm’s work in judicial review applications and merits review applications before NCAT.
Zac completed a Bachelor of Laws at the University of Technology Sydney in 2020, and a Graduate Diploma of Legal Practice through the College of Law in 2021.
Zac undertook his Practical Legal Training in a nationally operating, generalist law firm, and was admitted as a lawyer in the Supreme Court of NSW in April of 2021. He then transitioned into the specialist field of Liquor and Gaming.
Zac assists in a number of the firm’s practice areas, including applications for packaged liquor licences and on-premises licences, authorisation applications, and related planning and development matters.
Zac compliments his legal knowledge with his studies in Communications (BA Communications – Social Inquiry), and his experience in the Liquor and Gaming Industry, so that he can deliver detailed and practical analysis that is tailored to each client’s needs.
Alvin Foo completed his Juris Doctor degree at the University of New South Wales in 2018, and Practical Legal Training at the end of 2019.
Alvin also has an honours degree in Engineering (Electronics), and has worked in the casino and gaming industry for over 15 years in technical, commercial and management capacities. He has a broad understanding of the Gaming industry, particularly with electronic gaming (EGM) operation and compliance across Australia including many gaming jurisdictions around the world.
Alvin is highly commercial and outcomes-focused, with an enthusiasm to seek deep understanding of client’s business strategy and processes to design effective and practical solutions.
Alvin assists in a number of the firm’s practice areas, particularly in commercial law, conveyancing and liquor licensing matters.