Blaze Business & Legal
Construction Lawyer, Commercial Manager and Business Adviser
Rachelle Hare works with construction, civil and infrastructure businesses on contracts, procurement, risk, commercial strategy, business structure and front-end project issues where legal advice needs to make commercial sense in the real business.
25+
Years in the construction industry across legal, commercial and advisory work
6 yrs
Full-time as a senior Commercial Manager on major projects
10+
Years in government organisations and government-facing environments
Direct
Access to Rachelle and Shannon on complex legal, commercial and financial issues
About Rachelle Hare
Rachelle Hare is a senior Construction Lawyer, Commercial Manager and Business Adviser with more than 25 years of experience across construction law, procurement, project delivery, risk, governance and business advisory.
Her background is not limited to private practice. She has worked in top-tier law firms, in-house at major contractors, within government organisations, and in commercial management roles on major projects. That mix matters because construction businesses do not need legal advice in isolation. They need advice that works commercially, operationally and financially in the real business.
At Blaze Business & Legal, Rachelle works with owners and executives of construction, civil and infrastructure businesses who need sharper contract positions, better procurement and commercial strategy, stronger business structure, clearer risk control, and practical front-end advice before issues become expensive.
Six years as a senior Commercial Manager on major projects meant drafting variation claims, dealing with project pressure, and then arguing why the contractor should be paid. That experience shapes the advice I give now. It is grounded in how construction projects and businesses actually work.
Rachelle Hare, Blaze Business & Legal
Rachelle's Depth of Experience
Rachelle’s value is not just technical legal knowledge. It is the combination of construction law, commercial management, procurement, contract strategy and business advisory experience brought into one role.
Rachelle focuses on front-end construction law and commercial advisory. That includes contract drafting and review, procurement strategy, project delivery advice, Security of Payment strategy, variation and EOT issues, risk allocation and dispute prevention.
Her work also extends beyond legal drafting. Rachelle advises on how contracts, structure, governance, personal risk, decision-making and commercial control affect the business as a whole.
Industry Experience
Rachelle’s career spans top-tier law firms, Tier 1 and Tier 2 contractor environments, government organisations, commercial management roles and advisory work for construction businesses across Queensland and Australia.
Built through McCullough Robertson and Corrs Chambers Westgarth, with deep construction and commercial law exposure.
Experience inside major construction and infrastructure businesses, not just advising from outside them.
Six years full-time in senior Commercial Manager roles, plus project delivery accountability in infrastructure environments.
More than 10 years in government organisations and related environments, including procurement and contractor risk exposure.
Most construction businesses who come to me seem to be doing well on the surface. They're winning work, delivering projects, paying their people on time. But something underneath isn't quite right.
The contract terms they're signing shift most project risk onto them. Their business structure made sense 6 years ago but not now. The owner/CEO/MD is stretched. Cash flow is tight even when jobs make money on paper. Scope blowouts plus rising costs in the construction industry erode over half of a project's margin. But nobody is seeing the patterns across all contracts, projects & programs & then translating those patterns into ways to improve the business as a whole.
That's where I come in.
I'm a 25+ yr Construction Lawyer & Business Adviser. I work with owners, directors & executives of construction, civil & infrastructure businesses turning over $5M to $100M who need practical advice that works in your actual business, not just on paper.
I don't just advise on legal issues. I also advise on business, commercial, compliance, risk & operational issues, because I know from experience that you can't give legal advice in isolation from these other issues.
I've worked at top-tier law firms like McCullough Robertson & Corrs Chambers Westgarth. I've been in-house as Acting General Counsel at Thiess and DHA plus Senior Legal Counsel at Laing O'Rourke, Acciona, Golding & UGL. I've worked more than 6 years full-time as a senior Commercial Manager on both sides of major infrastructure projects. I've worked in government, & I know how to deal with them as a contractor.
My experience as a Commercial Manager is what makes me so different from other lawyers. I've sat in the site office, dealt with client pressure, drafted variation claims, had them rejected, & had to find a different way to get payment.
Now, at Blaze Business & Legal, I advise on construction & commercial law, contracts, procurement, getting paid, risk, compliance, business structure, governance, shareholder & director issues, commercial strategy, & how to grow & strengthen a construction business that has real business challenges. My focus is front-end and practical, dispute resolution not litigation.
My business partner Shannon Drew covers financial management, cost accounting, cash flow & operational improvement.
Together we provide our clients with legal, financial management, commercial advice & business advisory and implementation as one integrated team, so they're not paying three separate advisers.
Core Areas of Work
Contract drafting, review, negotiation and practical risk advice across standard forms and bespoke contracts.
Advice on procurement, delivery models, Security of Payment, risk allocation, dispute prevention and live project issues.
Business structure, governance and ownership advice for construction businesses where the legal structure is no longer supporting growth or risk control.
Ongoing senior legal and commercial support for construction businesses that need in-house style guidance without a full-time General Counsel appointment.
How Rachelle Works
Rachelle’s approach is shaped by working on both sides of the table. The legal answer matters, but so does cash flow, project delivery, negotiation leverage, relationship management and what the client can realistically implement.
The first question is not just what the contract says. It is what outcome the client needs, what risks matter most, and what commercial position can realistically be protected or improved.
Construction issues do not sit neatly in one discipline. Rachelle looks at the contract, the delivery environment, the project pressure points and the broader business consequences together.
Where a matter also has a financial or operational dimension, Rachelle works alongside Shannon Drew so the client gets joined-up advice without having to coordinate two separate advisers.
Common Questions
These questions cover both Rachelle’s role and the practical business details people often want before getting in touch.
Work With Rachelle
If you need legal advice, contract review, procurement support, commercial strategy or help working out the right next step for your construction business, start with a Strategy Session or contact Blaze Business & Legal directly.
Strategy Sessions are positioned here at $550 to $750 plus GST depending on complexity. Fixed-fee quotes are available for legal and advisory work where appropriate.
