Confront the Achilles’ heel of building defect litigation with strategies designed to turn uncertainty into assured success. Whether you’re facing the threat of complex evidence or the traps of evolving adjudication processes, benefit from practical insights to safeguard your construction law clients. Learn how to avoid common flaws in payment claims, gain clarity on the recent Tesseract ruling, and sidestep the potential pitfalls along the way in your construction matters.

Presenters

Lachlan Palmos, Principal, Palmos Legal
Lachlan graduated with honours from the University of Notre Dame Fremantle, and was admitted to practice in Western Australia in 2013. Prior to establishing Palmos Legal in 2018, Lachlan spent three years at a highly regarded boutique commercial practice in West Perth and later at the Perth office of top-tier national law firm. Lachlan appears regularly as counsel in most Western Australian courts and tribunals, and has particular expertise in property law, insolvency and commercial disputes. Lachlan’s clients include many of Western Australia’s largest private schools (both independent and SECWA schools), major insurance companies, residential and commercial construction companies, law firms and accounting practices. Lachlan has an ongoing pro-bono practice, and has been the Chairman of the Western Australian Suburban Turf Cricket Association Tribunal since 2019. Lachlan is also a member of several Legal Aid Commission panels, and has held lecturing and tutoring positions in law units at UWA and Central Queensland University.


Juliana Jorissen, Partner, King & Wood Mallesons
Juliana is an experienced litigator specialising in the area of construction litigation and commercial dispute resolution. She is known for her international multi-party insight, collaborative approach and commercial thinking, assisting clients in the development of issues identification and claims management strategies and advising on complex contractual and non-contractual disputes. Juliana has acted on various disputes relating to oil and gas projects, major commercial and residential developments, rail and port operations, and electricity and gas disputes. While experienced in every aspect of dispute resolution, she specialises in achieving commercially sensible outcomes via alternative dispute resolution methods including adjudication, mediation and arbitration. She regularly advises on some of the most commercially strategic, high-value and complex disputes in the construction sector.


Mr Brian Millar, Barrister
Brian Millar specialises in resolving disputes on projects in the construction, infrastructure, energy and resources sectors. He practises as an independent barrister and arbitrator. He has spent over 25 years advising principals/owners, government entities, developers, contractors, engineers, architects and insurers on major projects in Australia and South-East Asia. He has acted for clients such as Chevron, BHP, Rio Tinto, QIC, PetroVietnam, Samsung, Monadelphous, JKC, Transport for NSW and the WA Public Transport Authority. Brian is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators and ACICA and panel member of various Arbitration Centres. He is a member of the International Committee of the Australian Bar Association, the WA State Committee of ACICA, the Bureau of the Australasian Chapter of the ICC Institute of World Business Law and an executive board member of the Dispute Resolution Board Foundation (Region 3). Brian was the recipient of the Resolution Institute Australian Arbitrator of the Year award at the 2019 Australasian Law Awards.


Gemma Nugent, Director, SoundLegal
Gemma Nugent, Principal Lawyer at SoundLegal, is a construction, engineering and consulting contract specialist. Gemma has worked extensively with subcontractors, contractors, principals and consultants on major infrastructure, construction, mining, oil and gas and consulting projects in both the private and public sector. She has drafted, reviewed, negotiated and delivered training on a wide variety of project and commercial agreements and has experience with all of the Australian Standard standard form contracts.


Nunzio Lucarelli KC, Francis Burt Chambers
Nunzio has practised as a barrister in large, complex commercial litigation for 40 years. He has been a King’s Counsel for 25 years. He focuses on commercial law, corporations law, international commercial arbitration, property law, equity, trusts, international law, torts, insolvency and administrative law. Nunzio has been briefed in several matters concerning unconscionable conduct, including in the context of large construction contract litigation. Nunzio is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators and is a nationally-accredited mediator. In addition to being a member of the Victorian Bar, Nunzio is also a member of the Western Australian Bar and is a member of Francis Burt Chambers in Perth. Nunzio is experienced in all facets of trial and appellate advocacy in the Supreme Court of Victoria, the Supreme Court of Western Australia, the Supreme Courts of other States, the Federal Court of Australia, the High Court of Australia and in international commercial arbitrations.

WA Construction Law Bundle

Stop stressing about CPD planning – we’ve got it covered! Stay compliant with one hassle-free bundle, featuring three of our bestselling construction law programs, and save by getting 11 CPD points for the price of 10. This bundle includes Construction Law Insights: Arbitration, Defects, and Compliance Post-Tesseract, where you’ll tackle building defect litigation and master strategies from the Tesseract ruling. Then, get your core points with the Ethics, Professional Skills & Practice Management for Construction Lawyers webinar. Finish up with the Construction Law: Insolvency, Claims and Disputes recording, and gain essential insights on insolvency risks and Security of Payment cases.