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…
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…
Liquidator Moira Carter. When your funder is the major creditor by an insurmountable majority and wants you to use its preferred lawfirm, well, what’re you going to do? Particularly when your funder is that model of decorum in litigation, the Commonwealth. For one North Queensland liquidator, this scenario has armed enemies who are not only seeking to remove her but also want the Commonwealth’s proof…
Justice Michael Lee. When a judge describes lawyers fee estimates as “massively excessive” you have to wonder why such a wrecking ball descriptor is prefaced with the phrase “with respect”? Condemnation of legal fees reeking of avaricious opportunism however is not an issue from which Federal Court judge Michael Lee shies away. “I don’t want there to be wheel spinning correspondence between solicitors.” Justice Michael…
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…
Grocon Group deed administrator Craig Shepard. Hastie Group liquidator Craig Crosbie. There may well have been terse words, a chilling silence, or even diverse and inclusive profanity when KordaMentha’s Craig Shepard learned last week that Hastie Group liquidator Craig Crosbie had wrangled a decisive grant of leave. Shepherd – in his capacity as deed administrator of the Grocon Group – has been resisting efforts by…
Hall Chadwick partner Blair Pleash. An “imprudent” decision to refuse a Calderbank Offer has rebounded on Hall Chadwick partner Blair Pleash, who’s been ordered to pay a hefty costs order on an indemnity basis for the period from February 2020 to April 2021. “They further contended that the lack of response to the offer on the part of the plaintiffs was an “imprudent refusal of…
Worrells’ Christopher Darin. Hall Chadwick partner Kathleen Vouris. Worrells Chris Darin and Hall Chadwick’s Kathleen Vouris and Richard Albarran are at odds over documents and dealings relating to world war two (WWII) battlefields in the Solomon Islands part-owned by Australian companies Orbis Commodities Pty Limited (Orbis) and Pacific Investment Holding Pty Limited (PIH). “although the adjournment sought is unusually long, I accept that decision-making may…
Despite his legal team pitching arguments that were said to have at times lacked clarity, a Sydney liquidator has been spared the ignominy of paying up to $500,000 in indemnity costs for a failed attempt at replacing a receiver. Instead, NSW Supreme Court justice Kate Williams has ordered that the costs of the defendants In the matter of Sirrah Pty Limited (In Liquidation) (No 2)…