Our people have acted for (and against) most of Queensland’s leading insolvency practitioners in a wide range of matters, including on a speculative basis, with particular expertise in security disputes (including PPSR), preference and director-related transaction claims, and public examinations.
Expertise
- Asset protection and structuring advisory.
- ASIC investigations and prosecutions.
- Bankruptcy administration issues, including:
- Alternatives: Part X administrations;
- Annulments;
- Permission to travel overseas;
- Creditor petitions and bankruptcy proceedings.
- Directors’ duties and personal guarantees.
- Employment and GEERS insolvency issues.
- Landlord advisory for tenant in administration.
- Liquidation administration issues, including:
- Challenging liquidator decisions;
- Changing liquidators;
- Liquidator remuneration applications.
- Preference Claims.
- Public Examinations.
- Receiverships (both creditor and court appointed).
- Retention of title and ownership disputes.
- Secured creditor assessment and advisory.
- Statutory demands and winding up proceedings.
- Trusts and insolvency.
- Voidable transactions.
Experience
- Numerous proceedings forcing bad debtors into insolvency administration, both corporate: statutory demands and winding-up applications; and personal: bankruptcy notices and creditor’s petitions.
- Obtaining orders for substituted service when debtors are evading conventional service, including service by text message, post to former solicitors, and by newspaper advertisement and social media.
- Applications to set aside or stay bankruptcy notices on the basis of pending appeals or supported by applications to set aside judgment.
- Applications to set aside statutory demands on the basis of non-delivery and genuine dispute.
- Numerous preference claims, both for and against liquidators and bankruptcy trustees, including in contested cases against the ATO.
- Numerous disputes in regard to security enforcement and validity, including relating to real property (land), personal property (ASIC registered and PPSA) and relating to intangible and intellectual property.
- Conducting investigations and public examinations for liquidators of the responsible entity for forestry managed investment schemes with over $90 million of investors’ funds under management; advising in regard to securities and insurance issues, and advising about claims available against directors for negligence, misleading and deceptive conduct, and breach of fiduciary and other duties under the Corporations Act 2001, competition and consumer, and legislation governing managed investment schemes.
- Involvement in high-profile insolvencies, including:
- Storm Financial Limited;
- The Wattle Group;
- Queensland Paulownia Forests Limited.
- Public examinations, including examinations of accountants, lawyers and family of the bankrupt or company officers, including a case that established the bankrupt had been using an alias for decades.
