Complex Commercial Litigation

Commercial disputes rarely arrive neatly packaged. A failed supply agreement can carry a misleading conduct claim, a breach of directors' duties and a dispute over who controls the company, all at once. Complex commercial litigation is the work of identifying which claims actually exist, which court or tribunal should hear them, and which remedies are realistically available, then running the case efficiently to a result.

GopherWood Lawyers acts for companies, directors and senior executives, business owners, builders, developers, contractors and subcontractors, policyholders and financial services licensees. Our work covers contract disputes, shareholder and corporate governance conflicts, partnership and joint venture breakdowns, directors' duties and fiduciary claims, fraud and asset recovery, construction disputes, professional negligence, commercial leasing, misleading or deceptive conduct under the Australian Consumer Law, and class actions. We also bring and resist urgent applications for injunctions, freezing orders and search orders when assets or evidence are at risk.

We act in the High Court of Australia, the Federal Court, the Supreme Court and District Court of New South Wales, the NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal and in courts and tribunals in other Australian jurisdictions. Many disputes resolve before trial through negotiation, mediation or a well-timed offer of compromise. Some need to be fought through to judgment. Either way, the decisions made in the first weeks of a dispute, about evidence, limitation periods, forum and interim relief, tend to shape everything that follows.