Megan Styles

Megan appears and advises in a broad range of matters, in particular:

• Corporate and commercial litigation (including bankruptcy and insolvency);
• Banking and finance disputes; 
• Proceeds of crime and asset confiscation;
• White collar crime, financial crime, complex criminal investigations, corruption, integrity and AML/CTF matters; 
• Civil penalties, investigations and regulatory enforcement.

Megan is regularly briefed in matters (both led and unled) involving state and federal agencies, corporations, law enforcement bodies and financial institutions, in a variety of courts and tribunals.

Background and Experience

Megan holds a Bachelor of Arts/Bachelor of Laws with First Class Honours in Law from the University of Tasmania, where she received the subject prize for Corporations Law and was on the Dean’s Roll of Excellence. She commenced her legal career in private practice, at Hunt & Hunt Lawyers and later at M+K Dobson, Mitchell Allport lawyers, in commercial, employment and insurance law. She later worked at the Victorian Court of Appeal including as a Court of Appeal Researcher, Registry Lawyer and Associate to Justices Priest, Beach and McLeish. On secondment from the Court of Appeal, she worked at the Sentencing Advisory Council on an Attorney-General’s reference on restitution and compensation orders for victims of crime. 

Immediately prior to being called to the Bar, Megan was a Principal Litigation Lawyer and Team Leader with the Australian Federal Police Criminal Assets Litigation team of the Criminal Assets Confiscation Taskforce where she worked with AFP, ATO, ABF, AUSTRAC and ACIC members in litigation under the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 (Cth). She is currently undertaking her PhD at Monash University, on proceeds of crime. Megan accepts briefs requiring a security clearance.

In 2023, Megan was invited to present on anti-corruption issues at the International Symposium on Economic Crime at Cambridge University and in 2024, attended the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime Summer School on Transnational Organised Crime. She is currently researching issues arising out of de-banking by financial institutions, with a forthcoming book chapter on the topic. 

Megan is a current International Editor of the Cambridge Law Review.

Megan read with Astrid Haban-Beer and her senior mentor is Justin Hannebery KC.

Recent cases 

Commercial 
BNY Trust Company of Australia Limited v Rainford [2025] VSC 236 (7 May 2025) - Application for summary judgment concerning bankrupt individual, unled.

White Collar Crime and Proceeds of Crime
Briefed in proceeds of crime and confiscation proceedings in the Supreme Court of Victoria and County Court of Victoria, both for and against State and Commonwealth agencies (ongoing).

Briefed in Commonwealth tax fraud, welfare fraud and Corporations Act prosecutions, including ASIC, AFP, ATO and National Anti-Corruption Commission prosecutions.  

Regulatory matters
Briefed in director penalty notice (DPN) proceedings brought by the ATO.