Sarah Johnson Bio

Often described as the “Swiss army knife” of lawyers, Sarah Johnson has over 20 years’ experience as a commercial lawyer and has been working with not-for-profit and charity organisations for more than 15 years. As Macpherson Kelley’s lead Principal Lawyer in the charity and not-for-profit sector, Sarah provides specialist advice nationally in relation to governance, restructuring, mergers, collaboration arrangements, negotiation of government contracts and funding agreements, in addition to third party agreements such as sponsors, donors, and service providers. Sarah also has wide ranging expertise in the areas of general commercial law, contract negotiation, governance and structuring, intellectual property, private mergers and acquisitions, and information technology. She advises privately held companies, start-ups, investors and high net wealth individuals in relation to a variety of sectors, including heavy industry, information technology, biotech, manufacturing and FMCG. Understanding her client’s business and objectives is a critical element in the advice that Sarah provides. Her focus is on providing practical advice that facilitates the client’s decision-making process, where often, in the case of charities and not-for-profits, the “optics” of the transaction may be as important as the legal considerations.