Liquidator Moira Carter. Federal Court judge Scott Goodman has rejected arguments seeking to block an amendment to an originating process that calls for the removal of the liquidator of Australian Vocational Learning Institute Pty Ltd (AVLI). As told in LFI Ventures Pty Ltd v Carter, in the matter of Australian Vocational Learning Institute Pty Ltd (in liq) [2021] FCA 1555, the arguments against inclusion of…
Worrells partner Jason Bettles. Editor’s Note: On Friday, August 18, 2023 Justice Brigitte Markovic of the Federal Court of Australia dismissed ASIC’s case against liquidator Jason Bettles and ordered the regulator to pay Bettles’ costs. Barring settlement at mediation or ASIC’s case collapsing for want of competence the next 18 months represents a period of nagging uncertainty for Jason Bettles. Orders made in the Federal…
BCR Advisory’s John Morgan. Sydney liquidator John Morgan copped the treatment in the Federal Court witness box yesterday as a three day hearing kicked off to determine if a company he de-registered more than three years ago should be reinstated. If Morgan’s application succeeds and the BCR Advisory principal is also rewarded with the pooling order he seeks then FEG Recoveries will bankroll the commencement…
Hall Chadwick partner Blair Pleash. When you’re being funded to pursue litigation, it’s not difficult to double down and appeal after a stinging loss. For Hall Chadwick partner Blair Pleash, trying to cajole a ceasefire from the bowels of defeat has meant being bitten twice in a month after the Federal Court of Appeal last week dismissed his bid to overturn a ruling rejecting his…
Greyhouse Partners’ Ben Verney. Commercial judgment appears to have won out in respect of a dispute over the fees of a former voluntary administrator (VA) who refused to comply with a costs order while his remuneration remained unapproved. The recently resolved stand off involved Greyhouse Partners Ben Verney, who was formerly voluntary administrator (VA) of Icon Construction Australia (NSW) Pty Ltd (ICA NSW), the company’s…
Hall Chadwick’s Ginette Muller. Marcus Watters of Hall Chadwick. Persuading a court to extend the deadline by which time you must commence proceedings can be a hard slog, particularly when your unfunded predecessors found nothing to see. Such however have been the travails recently endured by Jirsch Sutherland Brisbane partner Chris Baskerville and thoughtfully catalogued by Queensland Supreme Court judge Glen Martin in Baskerville v…
RSM partner Neil Cribb. Sheridan’s Jennifer Low. As best we can tell RSM partner and West Australia insolvency veteran Neil Cribb has chosen not to appeal the November 11 decision of Federal Court judge Neil McKerracher in Cribb v Kingsbury (No 2) [2021] FCA 1397. “No doubt such cases will come in many different forms, but certainly in this case I do not consider Mr Kingsbury’s…
Hamilton Murphy’s Stephen Dixon. Liquidator Ahmed Bise. Invalidity of appointment, inadequate attention to Consumer Credit codes, trespass even. Two recent judgments of Supreme Court of Victoria judge Peter Riordan show why it is wise to know one’s appointor, and even wiser to verify their security. Stephen Dixon and Ahmed Bise, the unfortunate pair in this salutary tale were, at the time of their first appointment…
Cor Cordis partner Andre Lakomy. A falling out between Sydney lender Graham Werry and notorious Kiwi businessman Mark Bryers has led a judge to mete out more punishment to litigation funders, and for good measure she’s also torn strips off a certain liquidator’s solvency reports. In the matter of Wetherill Park Holdings Pty Ltd (No 2) [2021] NSWSC 1397 NSW Supreme Court judge Kelly Rees…
Cor Cordis partner Jason Tang. If you’re an administrator wanting the hearing of a winding up application adjourned so you can complete your report and convene a second meeting, Federal Court judge Angus Stewart ain’t your man. His honour, who iNO readers will recall presided over the the Commissioner of Taxation’s (CoT) model throttling of now ex-liquidator David Iannuzzi, pays close attention to the authorities….