Hall Chadwick partner Blair Pleash.Marcus Watters of Hall Chadwick. Deciding which party’s liquidator will be appointed has occupied the minds of more than a few judges so far this year, but the following is the first decision in which respective charge out rates have figured prominently in the judicial deliberations.The matter comes courtesy of two directors who fell out and could agree only that their…
Aston Chace Group partner Ian Niccol.Levi Consulting’s David Levi.Using your casting vote to overcome opposition to the payment of your predecessor’s fees ought to earn a liquidator something, right?In the case of Ian Niccol, that something might be a placatory word from his predecessor in the ear of a certain director who’s given Niccol hell ever since he was appointed liquidator of Rio Dorado Limited…
FTI Consulting’s John Park. FTI Consulting’s Kelly Trenfield.Nice try Parky but no go. Asking a court to approve $1.3 million in remuneration without your lawyers opening their mouths was a bit much. Sure, we know FTI Consulting’s Head of Corporate Finance & Restructuring – Australia John Park was just trying to save the long suffering creditors of Queensland Nickel Pty Ltd (QN) a bit of…
Worrells Chris Cook.You might think a sizeable share of $20 million, generated by receivers winding down a poisoned partnership, would be enough to satisfy the most exacting beneficiary. No.In the following case, Worrells Chris Cook and Raj Khatri not only had to respond to repeated inquiries from one of the members of the tainted alliance but had to neuter criticisms from a rival insolvency expert…
SV Partners’ Jason Porter.It doesn’t matter if you have 25 years in the insolvency game and sit on the national board of ARITA. If a judge thinks you’ve delayed a winding up inappropriately and failed to show why fees claimed were reasonably incurred then you’re going to get clipped.This at least seems to be the message from NSW Supreme Court judge Kate Williams who last…
Cor Cordis partner Jeremy Nipps.Cor Cordis partner Barry Wight.The old adage about biting off more than you can chew and chewing like hell came to mind this week as iNO digested the judgment of Justice Catherine Button in Nipps, in the matter of i-Prosperity Pty Ltd (in liq) [2023] FCA 1446.Her honour was ruling on an application brought by Cor Cordis partners Jeremy Nipps and…
Deloitte partner Matthew Donnelly.Deloitte partner Sean Holmes.Getting court approval for remuneration and guidance on how to distribute trust monies to unit holders is one thing. Getting the court to approve your application for orders winding up an unregistered managed investment scheme is something else again, as two Deloitte insolvency and restructuring partners recently discovered.“In my view, the plaintiffs do not have standing under s 601EE(1)…
KordaMentha partner John Mouawad.A recent judgment of the Supreme Court of Victoria demonstrates the unique challenges faced by administrators of digital trading platforms and how those challenges can contribute to the cost of the administration, especially when crypto currency is the asset traded.“The administration of the Companies is further complicated by the parallel bankruptcy proceedings that are being conducted in the United States. It is…
Jones Partners consultant Alan Topp.Coming before certain judges with less than fulsome explanations as to why fees and costs are justified is a zero sum game, as certain parties found out when NSW Supreme court judge Ashley Black was asked to rule on a dispute over amounts to be deducted from the proceeds of sale of land in Sydney’s west.“I do not accept their submission that…
McGrathNicol’s Rob Brauer.Hall Chadwick’s Richard Albarran. Insolvency practitioners at Hall Chadwick are enmeshed in at least two fee fights at present and the common denominator in both is Sydney practice head Richard Albarran.iNO readers will be familiar with the travails being experienced by Albarran and outgoing Melbourne partner Richard Lawrence in respect of work they did on Tauro Capital (Tauro), an appointment they were relieved…