Vanessa Emilio is an Australian online business lawyer and the founder and CEO of Legal123. With 25+ years of experience, she founded Australia’s first 100% online law firm and, with her team of Australian-qualified lawyers, has helped over 10,200 Australian online businesses with plain-English legal templates and custom legal documents.
Vanessa holds a Bachelor of Arts (Honours) and a Bachelor of Laws (LLB), and is an Associate of both the Chartered Governance Institute (ACIS) and the Governance Institute of Australia (AGIA). She is admitted as an Australian solicitor and serves as Practice Director of Legal123 Pty Ltd, a registered Incorporated Legal Practice.
Before founding Legal123 in 2009, Vanessa held senior legal roles at Macquarie Bank, Citibank, Trust Company, and BNY Mellon Asset Management, working across banking law, corporate law, legal documentation, legal risk management, governance, trusts, managed funds, securitisation, and regulatory compliance. That deep corporate and financial services background is what gave her the expertise to build a legal practice purpose-built for Australian online businesses.
Originally from Canada and now an Australian citizen based in Sydney, Vanessa founded Legal123 in 2009 after recognising that Australian small businesses and online operators were being underserved by traditional law firms – paying too much for legal documents that were overly complex, or worse, using overseas templates that didn’t comply with Australian law. Legal123 was one of the first entirely online law firms in Australia, built from day one to deliver fast, affordable, plain-English legal documents backed by qualified Australian lawyers.
Today, Vanessa Emilio and her team of seasoned and Australian-qualified lawyers at Legal123 have helped over 10,200 Australian online businesses get legally protected – with plain-English legal templates, custom legal documents, and free legal guides covering website legal requirements, privacy policies, terms and conditions, contractor agreements, and more. Vanessa has been featured on Sky News Business, interviewed by ABC News, and profiled by FlyingSolo. Learn more at vanessa-emilio.com.
Where to follow Vanessa Emilio
Vanessa spends a great deal of time trying to get the message out – legal does not have to mean complicated. She writes articles and gives interviews about online business, answering common legal questions and encouraging Australians to “take control of their legal life”. You can find her articles, interviews and social media channels here:
- Social media channels: Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn
- Interviews: Sky News Business, Hello Media and ABC News
- Australian online magazines: SmartCompany.com.au, FlyingSolo and StartupSmart
- Podcasts: Tradies in Business, So You Want to Be a Photographer and Bite-Size Business
And you can always contact Vanessa Emilio by telephone at (02) 8003 7317 or by email at vanessa@legal123.com.au.