Settling litigation remains one of the most efficient and client-focused ways to resolve disputes, but success depends on a watertight process, strategic timing, and a tailored approach. Gain a comprehensive toolkit for drafting, negotiating, and documenting settlement offers and agreements, with practical guidance designed to enhance your effectiveness and confidence in achieving resolution.
Thursday, 20 November 2025
Chair:
Matthew Harvey KC FCIArb, Arbitrator, Mediator, Matthew Harvey KC FCIArb, Owen Dixon Chambers West, Fourth Floor Selborne Chambers Leading Senior Counsel, Transport Barristers, Doyle's Guide 2025
Professional Skills
1.15pm to 2.15pm Settling Commercial Disputes: Tips, Traps, and Strategy
This session will focus on strategic and practical considerations when approaching the settlement of disputes. We will touch on:
- The preparation of effective Calderbank offers
- Drafting settlement agreements
- Settling multi-party proceedings and claims where insurance coverage is disputed
- Additional considerations when settling cross-border disputes
- Ethical rules which apply to legal practitioners during settlement negotiations
Presented by Dirk Feinauer, Director, Feinauer Commercial Lawyers
Description
Attend and earn 1 CPD unit in Professional Skills
This program is applicable to practitioners from all States & Territories
Presenters
Matthew Harvey KC FCIArb, Arbitrator, Mediator, Owen Dixon Chambers West
Matthew Harvey KC is a commercial silk practising at the Bars of New South Wales and Victoria. Apart from general commercial disputes, his practice includes international transport and trade, corporations and corporate insolvency, and equity matters. He appears in the High Court, the Federal Court, and the Supreme Courts of various states. Matthew is listed in Chambers & Partners Asia-Pacific (since 2015), Best Lawyers (since 2012), Who’s Who Legal (since 2017), and Doyle’s Guide (since 2010). Matthew also lectures in mergers and acquisitions law at a university in Melbourne.
Dirk Feinauer, Director, Feinauer Commercial Lawyers
Dirk Feinauer is the Director of Feinauer Commercial Lawyers, a law corporation based in Perth, and is one of the most experienced German-speaking lawyers practising in Australia. He graduated from the Australian National University, Canberra, with a Bachelor of Arts in 1989 and a Bachelor of Laws in 1991. Dirk is admitted to practise in the Federal Court and High Court of Australia, as well as the Supreme Courts of Western Australia and New South Wales. With extensive experience in complex corporate and commercial matters, Dirk regularly appears in the Superior and Federal Courts, including in cross-border disputes. He frequently presents on a range of legal topics both in Australia and internationally, and has authored numerous articles and publications.
This seminar is part of a series
Litigators Toolkit: From Mediation through Settling Litigation, Urgent Applications
Designed specifically with your busy schedule in mind, the Litigators Toolkit Over Lunch series brings together some of Australia’s biggest voices in litigation to provide practical, focused guidance on today’s most pressing issues. Across four targeted one-hour sessions, gain expert insights on negotiation, mediation, arbitration, evidence, urgent applications, and settlement strategy - all tailored to fit your schedule without demanding too much time.
Description
Attend and earn 4 CPD units in Professional Skills
This program is applicable to practitioners from all States & Territories
If you register for the full series as a live online product after the date of an individual session, you will be sent the recording for the sessions that have passed. Alternatively, you can register for individual sessions by following the links below.
View series listing
