Hamilton Murphy partner Stephen Dixon. Steve Dixon must be considering his options after a judge of the Supreme Court of Victoria refused the Hamilton Murphy partner’s application for orders declaring a mortgage invalid. In Dixon (as trustee of the bankrupt estate of Toufic Sassine) v Lennon & Anor [2023] VSC 426 Associate Justice Matthew Barrett concluded – having spent eight months deliberating – that he…
Balance Insolvency principal Tim Cook. An abundance of caution. If ever there was a phrase that gets an airing in most if not all court applications it would be this, at least when those applications involve an insolvency practitioner seeking fee approval for work performed as both liquidator of a corporate trustee and receiver of the associated trust assets. The reason for the phrase’s frequency…
Deloitte partner Matthew Donnelly. Barely a week after warning Probuild creditors that legal proceedings will delay payment of any dividend, the four appointees of the DoCAlypse have again ridden forth bearing tidings of woe. “I tentatively suggest a return of not more than 10c in the dollar might be paid before the end of 2025. I emphasise this is a crude estimate only and the…
Oracle Insolvency Services’s Nick Cooper. It seems there’s nothing like putting the frighteners on a recalcitrant debtor to ensure compliance with an existing repayment agreement and pleasingly, the Federal Circuit Court endorses such intimidation when the motives are pure and in line with the Act. “While, of course, from time to time, remarks have been made by Courts exercising jurisdiction under the Act about the…
O’Brien Palmer’s Liam Bailey. Hall Chadwick’s John Shanahan. When you’re on a bad thing abort is the message that one Sydney trustee didn’t get soon enough to prevent the unnecessary enrichment of lawyers. The trustee, after refusing to accede to the wishes of the majority debt holder by resigning, marshalled his defences when the dominant creditor commenced proceedings to have him removed. As valid as…
Trustee in bankruptcy Schon Condon. Hoons, pig dogs, four wheel drives and firearms. The trappings of your average urban bankruptcy are far removed from this exemplar of the trustee’s eclectic lot, which involves rural properties and an estate unresolved after almost 20 years. In this case trustee in bankruptcy Schon Condon, in whom the property of former bankrupt Evan Alfred Cleaver vests despite Cleaver’s discharge…
O’Brien Palmer’s Liam Bailey. Christmas spirit was in limited supply at the meeting of creditors of bankrupt builder Tony Saaib late last year, and that’s perhaps understandable. Convened on December 23, 2022 creditors had assembled to consider just one resolution. The removal of the trustee of Saaib’s bankrupt estate and his replacement with rivals joint and several. “I advise that the Indemnity is not payable…
BPS Resolved partner Max Prentice. A recent court judgment dismissing proceedings which have been previously litigated unsuccessfully in other courts provides useful insights for trustees who find themselves the object of sustained hostility. To sum up, in the absence of an individual being declared a vexatious litigant, the February 24 judgment of NSWC Supreme Court judge David Davies indicates that practitioners need to endure whatever…
Bankrupt dVT Group co-founder Antony de Vries. There you are, trying to enjoy retirement – albeit as an undischarged bankrupt – when the missus declares that being a part time ballet teacher leaves her both ill-equipped and without time to manage the marital super. Can a bloke not get a moment’s peace from the burden of managing money, even when you’re not supposed to have…
Vincents’ Nick Combis. Merchant Advisory’s Louisa Sijabat. A successful appeal in the Federal Court has left two registered trustees facing a hefty costs order from an unenviable position deep in the hole on their fees. The pair, who’ve been pursuing almost $550,000 they claimed the bankrupt had paid into his superannuation fund to defeat creditors, had opposed the appeal. But the decision handed down this…