Corporate & Commercial Disputes

Providing commercially focused and practical solutions for a range of complex commercial disputes

We advise some of the world's most high profile organisations in identifying and managing business risk, and pride ourselves on our solution and commercial driven approach. Commercial disputes are at the heart of our firm and our team is extremely versatile – whether operating in the courts, before arbitral tribunals or any other specialist tribunal, regulator or ombudsman, we have the right capability to assist you. We also have considerable expertise in Alternative Dispute Resolution and are regularly involved in mediation, expert determination and adjudication.

Strategic approach to all commercial disputes

We take a strategic approach to all commercial disputes, identifying and guiding clients on risks and tailoring a prevention and resolution strategy.

Understanding your business

We regard understanding your business as crucial to building a true advisory relationship; we support this approach with excellent industry and sector experience.

A collaborative approach

Our disputes lawyers work seamlessly together for the benefit of our clients; our clients enjoy working with us.

Our experience includes advising:

• Cattles and Welcome Financial Services on a £1.6bn claim for audit negligence, one of the largest ever cases in the UK High Court;
• A Chinese investor regarding claims against an insolvency administrator in connection with the acquisition of an insolvent business and inability of the insolvency administrator to meet contractual indemnification claims due to insufficient assets;
• Thomson Reuters in a dispute under the eventual termination of long-term out-sourcing arrangement and technology contracts;
• The liquidators of the Bell Group of companies against a group of 20 banks to set aside securities they took from the Bell Group when it was in serious financial difficulty in 1990. The liquidators were successful at trial and on appeal, but the banks then sought special leave to appeal to the High Court. The matter settled shortly before the High Court was due to hear the matter, and resulted in recoveries totalling around AUD1.7 billion. The dispute is believed to be Australia's largest ever piece of commercial litigation;
• In proceedings commenced by Samsung against Apple for breach of intellectual property rights relating to mobile telecommunications technology owned by Samsung, as part of the contest between the parties for Australia's billion dollar mobile devices market;
• ANZ on the successful defence of the exception fees class action brought on behalf of customers to recover a range of fees charged by ANZ on consumer and business transaction accounts and credit cards. The cases involved allegations of penalty, unconscionability and unfair contract terms;
• A major flat product steel producer in the defence of Federal Court proceedings commenced against it by a Chinese infrastructure company who alleged our client engaged in misleading and deceptive conduct in relation to the failed sale of a mine;
• An international tobacco manufacturer in relation to a challenge in the High Court in London to the UK's "plain packaging" regulations;
• A telecommunications company in ongoing litigation against its main competitor regarding mobile phone services involving injunctive relief; and
• An outsourcing and property investment company on Service Partner Agreement dispute relating to facilities management obligations in regard to a property portfolio. This was a high value commercial dispute with significant consequences for our client.