Practice area
Debt Recovery & Insolvency
Recovering commercial debts, enforcing securities and running insolvency claims for creditors, businesses and directors across Australia.
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Debt Recovery & Insolvency
Unpaid debts are rarely only about money. A customer who stops paying may be in financial difficulty, may be disputing the work, or may be moving assets out of reach. The right recovery step depends on which of those is true, and on how quickly the position is changing. Choosing the wrong tool, such as a statutory demand where there is a genuine dispute, can cost time and lead to an adverse costs order.
Our debt recovery and insolvency practice covers the full path from a letter of demand to enforcement. We act on court proceedings for liquidated debts, statutory demands and winding-up applications against companies, bankruptcy notices and creditor's petitions against individuals, and the enforcement of mortgages and other securities. Where a debtor has already failed, we act on the claims that follow: unfair preference and other voidable transaction claims brought by liquidators, insolvent trading claims, and related claims against directors.
We act mainly for businesses and creditors, and for directors facing personal exposure when a company fails. That includes directors who receive a director penalty notice from the ATO, a demand from a liquidator, or a claim under a personal guarantee. The law in this area is largely found in the Corporations Act 2001 (Cth), the Bankruptcy Act 1966 (Cth), the Civil Procedure Act 2005 (NSW) and the Uniform Civil Procedure Rules 2005 (NSW), and its time limits are strict. Much of the value we add lies in acting early, before a deadline passes or a debtor's assets are gone.
Related services
How we can assist.
Commercial Debt Recovery
Recovering unpaid business debts through demand, negotiation, statutory demands and court proceedings, with the recovery path chosen according to the debtor's solvency, any dispute and the security available.
Debt Recovery Litigation
Court proceedings to recover debts, from filing a statement of claim through default or summary judgment, defended hearings and enforcement of the judgment against the debtor's assets and income.
Contractual Debt Claims
Claims for sums due under a contract, including unpaid invoices, loan repayments, guarantees and construction payment claims, and the defences and set-offs debtors commonly raise.
Winding-Up Proceedings
Statutory demands and court applications to wind up an insolvent company, and applications by companies to set aside a demand or oppose a winding-up order.
Voidable Transactions
Liquidator claims to recover unfair preferences, uncommercial transactions and other voidable transactions, and the defences available to creditors who received payments before a company failed.
Insolvent Trading Claims
Claims against directors for debts incurred while a company was insolvent, and the statutory defences and safe harbour protection available to directors.
Director Liability in Insolvency
Advice and representation for directors facing personal liability when a company fails, including director penalty notices, insolvent trading, guarantees, breach of duty claims and liquidator examinations.
Mortgage Enforcement
Enforcing registered mortgages over NSW land for private and commercial lenders, from default notices and possession proceedings to mortgagee sale, and acting in disputes over the enforcement process.
Bankruptcy & Personal Insolvency
Bankruptcy notices and creditor's petitions against individual debtors, applications to set aside bankruptcy notices, and trustee recovery claims under the Bankruptcy Act 1966.
How we help
Advice and
representation.
We start by working out what is actually recoverable: who the debtor is, what security or guarantees exist, whether the debt is likely to be disputed and whether the debtor is solvent. That assessment decides the tool. A solvent debtor with no real defence may be best dealt with by a statutory demand or a quick application for summary or default judgment. An insolvent debtor may call for a different strategy altogether, including a proof of debt or a review of preferences already paid.
We act in the Local, District and Supreme Courts of NSW, the Federal Court of Australia and the Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia, and in the courts of other States where a debtor or its assets are located. We give a clear view of cost against likely return before proceedings are issued, brief counsel where the dispute warrants it, and keep commercial settlement, including payment plans with proper security, on the table throughout.