Commercial Litigation Lawyer

Regulatory & Tax

Our litigation lawyers have:

1. Acted in various ASIC, APRA and Austrac investigations.
2. Advised various clients on their compliance with Anti-Money Laundering, Anti-Bribery & Corruption and Modern Slavery laws, particularly with regards to overseas operations.
3. Acted for individuals and small businesses in prosecutions by the ATO for failure to lodge income tax returns and Business Activity Statements.

Insolvency & Bankruptcy

Our commercial litigation lawyers act for various parties from creditors, debtors, distressed entities, and insolvency practitioners. Examples of what our lawyers have acted on include:

1. Applications to set aside a bankruptcy notice and resist a creditor’s petition for bankruptcy.
2. Shareholder class actions against a company and its directors for losses caused by failure to comply with continuous disclosure requirements.
3. Claw backs of preferential payments; and
4. Claims regarding insolvent trading.

Product Liability

Product liability actions are likely founded in one or more of the Australian Consumer Law, contract law and negligence. For some products there may be additional statutory regulation at State or Commonwealth level, such as for food, pharmaceuticals, cars, etc.

We understand that a potential product liability claim can mean much more than the direct impact of the claim itself, with the potential to set a precedent for all other consumers not a party to the litigation. We work with our clients from inception to post sale service, with a focus on risk prevention to deal with the potential legal, regulatory, and public relations issues.

Debt Recovery

We understand that cash flow is vital to a successful business and urgency is key when it comes to recovering debts. At our initial meeting, we review the key documents and develop the most effective strategy to recover the debt in a timely fashion.

Where the debtor is a company, this may mean issuing a Creditor’s Statutory Demand giving the debtor 21 days to pay the debt or give you the ability to potentially wind up the company. In other instances, the strategy may be to issue a letter of demand and commence proceedings if they do not comply. Even if the debt is relatively small, we have cost effective packages available, since multiple small debts can add up to a big hole in the business.

Interlocutory Disputes

We have acted for several clients who obtained significant interlocutory remedies to protect their position or establish their claim. Some of these powerful interlocutory remedies include advising on and obtaining:

1. Mareva orders to freeze a defendant’s assets to stop them disposing of their assets before you obtain judgment.
2. Anton pillar orders to take possession of the records of the Defendant to prevent them having the opportunity to destroy or attempt to conceal evidence, like a police search warrant but in civil proceedings.
3. pre action discovery to obtain sufficient information to determine whether to proceed against a potential defendant; and
4. injunctions to force an action or prevent an action until a final hearing to prevent irreparable harm which may occur prior to determination of the dispute at trial.

Class Actions

We can commence a class action either in the Federal Court or the Supreme Court of WA, depending on the nature of the claim. A class action (or representative proceeding) is commenced in the name of a single “representative” on behalf of 7 or more persons who all have a claim against the same person or entity, and the claim arises out of the same, similar, or related circumstances or gives rise to a substantial common issue of law or fact. An example of a class action we have advised on recently was a shareholder claim against a company and its directors for breaches of director duties causing the shareholders to effectively lose their entire investment in the company.