Do you need a quick roundup of the key issues in commercial litigation currently? Do you need your ethics, practice management and professional skills points but want them truly tailored for your commercial litigation practice? The Commercial Litigation Conference has just that for you. You will delve into challenging authority, gain an expert roundup of enforcing contracts including unfair contracts, unsigned contracts, examine misuse of intellectual property and breach of restraint of trade claims, plus explore enforcement of privacy breaches and insolvency matters. Gain practical strategies for drafting pleadings and leveraging AI for an efficient practice. All from expert commercial litigators with experience and expertise to share.

Presenters

Greg Smart, Partner, Wallace & Wallace Lawyers
Greg has been a commercial litigator for twenty years. He has a broad litigation practice spanning general commercial matters, mining and mining services litigation, equitable claims and insolvency. Greg was recognised by the Queensland Law Society as an Accredited Specialist in Commercial Litigation in 2012, winning the program’s highest achiever award that year. He currently sits as the Chair of the Queensland law Society Commercial Litigation Specialist Accreditation Advisory Committee. Greg regularly appears as a solicitor advocate running applications and trials in both State and Federal Courts.


Robert Carey, Barrister, 7 Wentworth Selborne
Robert came to the bar in 2011. Prior to that he practiced as a solicitor, both in Australia and in England. Robert has a broad commercial practice. He has extensive experience in advising and appearing for insured and insurer clients, as well as a range of intermediaries, in relation to disputes concerning all classes of insurance including professional indemnity, financial lines, directors and officers’ liability, general liability, property and business interruption, and reinsurance. He also regularly appears and advises clients in relation to disputes involving all areas of equity, real property, corporations law, banking, bankruptcy and insolvency, as well as general contractual disputes and building and construction matters. Robert’s clients have included Underwriters at Lloyd’s and various other London based insurers, QBE, XL Catlin, Allianz, Zurich, Chubb, Marsh, InterRisk Australia, Leighton Holdings and ALDI Foods. Robert also regularly appears before administrative tribunals including the Administrative Appeals Tribunal and the New South Wales Civil & Administrative Tribunal and has appeared in arbitrations conducted under the rules of various local and international arbitration organisations.


Matthew Jones KC, Barrister, Level Twenty Seven Chambers
Matthew has over fifteen years’ experience as a barrister. He was listed as “Preeminent” junior counsel in Doyle’s Guide in the areas of Commercial Litigation & Dispute Resolution and Insolvency and as “Leading” in Arbitration and Construction and Infrastructure. In his first year after taking silk, Matthew was listed as “Leading” in Insolvency and Restructuring and “Recommended” in Litigation and Dispute Resolution. Matthew is also recognised in the fields of Alternative Dispute Resolution and Insolvency & Reorganization Law and Litigation by The Best Lawyers in Australia. Matthew’s practice focuses primarily on resources, building & construction, shareholder disputes, professional negligence and insolvency. He also has strong practices in insurance, intellectual property, banking & finance and property matters. His referring solicitors include top tier national and international firms, interstate firms, Crown agencies and numerous mid-tier and smaller firms. He holds a Certificate in Adjudication in relation to security for payment legislation, has post-graduate qualifications in arbitration and is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators.


Sydney Jacobs, Barrister, 13 Wentworth Chambers
Sydney Jacobs is a barrister at 13 Wentworth Chambers and an accredited mediator, with additional credentials as a BarADR-accredited arbitrator and expert determiner. An LL.M graduate from Cambridge, Sydney’s commercial equity practice spans property, partnership, corporate law, building and construction, and strata disputes. He brings particular expertise in easement and covenant disputes, including matters involving both Torrens and Old System land. Sydney also has extensive experience in leasing disputes, off-the-plan contracts, rescission, termination, specific performance, relief against forfeiture, and the recovery of deposits. Sydney advises on restraint of trade matters, as well as disputes involving options, rights of first refusal, and notices to perform or complete. Beyond his practice, Sydney is the sole author of two leading publications—Commercial Damages and Injunctions: Law and Practice—and was a key contributor to Commercial & International Arbitration (Thomson Reuters). Outside of work, Sydney enjoys time with family, competing in tennis, snowboarding, and exploring the arts.


Edward Martin, Partner, Gadens
Edward Martin is a Partner in the Disputes and Investigations Group at Gadens. He specialises in major, complex commercial disputes both for and against corporates and contentious regulatory matters. Edward has extensive experience acting for clients ranging from multinationals and ASX listed companies, to not-for-profits as well as government entities. He also acts for directors and officers. He works across a variety sectors including financial services, private equity, healthcare, professional services, government and resources. Edward is known for his strategic and thoughtful result-focused approach to the issues facing his clients. In litigation, he is primarily engaged in proceedings before the Federal and Supreme Courts, typically involving contractual interpretation, claims for equitable remedies, professional negligence, allegations of misleading or deceptive conduct and administrative law issues. He also acts in arbitration proceedings. The effective use of alternate dispute resolution (ADR), particularly mediation, to achieve commercial objectives is an essential part of Edward’s approach to disputes. He has acted in numerous mediations ranging from small-scale two party mediations to large, high-value multiparty mediations.


Trevor Withane, Partner, Ironbridge Legal
Trevor is a highly regarded lawyer you want on your side. He is the founder and principal of Ironbridge Legal and is a specialist commercial litigator and insolvency lawyer with deep experience in his areas of practice. Prior to founding Ironbridge Legal, Trevor was a partner of a successful Sydney based boutique law firm. Clients have described Trevor as extremely insightful, friendly, practical and pragmatic. Trevor founded Ironbridge Legal to provide in-depth specialist and conflict free advice in the disputes space – starting a law firm with true specialism in just two key areas: Commercial Litigation and Insolvency and Bankruptcy. Trevor started his legal career at global top three firm, Allen & Overy LLP, where he trained and spent several years advising a multitude of corporates and high-net-worth individuals in connection with complex disputes and regulatory matters often straddling more than one jurisdiction. Before moving to Australia from the UK for family reasons, Trevor was a barrister in London, acting for corporates and high-net-worth individuals in complex commercial litigation and insolvency matters in the High Court. This experience, coupled with Trevor’s accountancy studies and his earlier practice as an accountant, gives him a rare depth and breadth of experience to apply to his clients’ matters.


Fiona McLay, Principal Lawyer, McLay Legal
Fiona has spent the past 25 years as a dispute resolution lawyer working across the legal industry in top tier, mid-tier, small firm, a NewLaw firm and in-house. She has an insider’s view as to how firms across the industry are actually using (or not using) tech. Long hours, inefficient processes and constant pressure to do more with less drove her to find ways to use tech to work more efficiently. With no budget, no IT support and (possibly because of) no innovation committee, she discovered how powerful a tech-enabled lawyer could be in litigation up against a much better resourced opponent. And with a significantly reduced risk of paper cuts. She regularly presents to lawyers on how to adopt new ways of working. She is the author of Tech Enabled Lawyer: to making the most out of the tools you have and spotting the tech you need.


Sarah Davies, Director, Sarah Davies Legal
Sarah Davies is a director of Sarah Davies Legal Pty Ltd, and specializes in commercial litigation for clients involved in agribusiness, financial services, property development and building & construction matters. She is an accredited specialist in commercial litigation, having received the highest achievement award when she completed her accreditation in 2010. She has experience with disputes involving commercial contracts, property transactions, joint ventures, corporations, trusts and managed investment schemes, public offer documents and issues relating to the provision of financial services. Sarah also chairs the board of a mutual banking institution


Nola Pearce, Barrister, Chambers 33
Nola Pearce is a barrister at the private Bar, with a strong civil practice focussed on: professional negligence and regulation; high level insurance advice, including dual and successive insurer situations, policy review, outcomes from Royal Commissions; and commercial and contract disputes. She was called to the private Bar in 2018, after many years as an insurance and commercial litigation solicitor at mid- and top-tier firms. Nola’s particular strengths are her decisive advice and persuasive advocacy, combined with a practical, strategic and sensitive approach to civil disputes. She has been recognised in each edition of the Best Lawyers in Australia since 2021 for Professional Malpractice Litigation. She previously has been named a Woman Lawyer of the Year Award Finalist by the Women Lawyer’s Association of Queensland. She is a member of the Bar Association’s Access to Justice Committee, a past Chair of the QLS Ethics Committee, and a contributing editor to the Law Society’s first edition commentary to the Australian Solicitors’ Conduct Rules. Nola loves animals, solo camping, antique treasures, and reading great novels.


Colin Brown, Special Counsel, Bridge Lawyers
Colin specialises in the areas of insolvency and reconstruction and commercial litigation. A member of the Australian Restructuring Insolvency and Turnaround Association (ARITA), Colin acts for secured and unsecured creditors, commercial entities, administrators, liquidators, bankruptcy trustees and other insolvency practitioners across a range of industry sectors, as well as advising individuals, boards and company directors on all aspects of insolvency law. Colin also acts for private and corporate clients involved in a broad range of commercial disputes, particularly in respect of contractual and commercial transaction, resolving a number of large and complex commercial disputes for the firm’s clients.