Our Team

Nick Dale

Partner
Com­mer­cial, Cor­po­rate, Lit­i­ga­tion, Insol­ven­cy

Since my admis­sion as a solic­i­tor in 1994 I have act­ed for major builders, devel­op­ers and nation­al trans­port & logis­tics com­pa­nies. I have also act­ed for SMEs in many indus­tries and for high net-worth indi­vid­u­als. I act for insol­ven­cy prac­ti­tion­ers in for­mal appoint­ments. My first pri­or­i­ty is to lis­ten care­ful­ly to devel­op an in-depth under­stand­ing of your busi­ness and needs, bud­get and con­cerns. I enjoy craft­ing a strat­e­gy ear­ly on, for a quick and eco­nom­i­cal res­o­lu­tion, includ­ing by using ADR tech­niques. I am down to earth, approach­able and practical. 

Exper­tise

  • Lit­i­ga­tion
  • Insol­ven­cy
  • Com­mer­cial
  • Cor­po­rate

Practice & Industry Sectors

  • Litigation & Dispute Resolution

Experience

Commercial and corporate litigation:

  • Assignments of debt, enforcement of guarantees and security interests in real and personal property.
  • Building and construction disputes - defects, delay and prolongation claims on commercial projects and defects in residential (including strata) projects, for owners, builders, subcontractors and professional consultants. Expert determinations, references and conventional trials.
  • Conveyancing disputes.
  • Damages claims, debt recovery and enforcement of judgments.
  • Directors’ and officeholders’ statutory liability and breaches of fiduciary duties.
  • Injunctions and freezing orders.
  • Joint ventures, constructive and resulting trusts, including over interests in real property.
  • National transport & logistics companies in contractual disputes including pallet disputes.
  • Professional negligence claims against engineers, lawyers, valuers and mortgage brokers.
  • Trusts, shareholder and partnership disputes.

For insolvency, both corporate and personal - acting for Administrators, Liquidators and Receivers in all types of disputes in numerous industries, and for Trustees in Bankruptcy and Trustees appointed under section 66G of the Conveyancing Act. In overview:

  • In Administrations - extensions of convening periods, validation of appointments and in Bankruptcy - defending removal applications.
  • Assignments of causes of action for Liquidators.
  • Applications to the Court (contested) for approval of remuneration of Liquidators, Receivers and Section 66G Trustees.
  • Applications to the Court for directions (judicial advice) including in a leading case in the context of insolvent corporate trustees.
  • Deeds of Company Arrangement and Creditors’ Schemes of Arrangement.
  • Enforcing securities by subrogation to mortgagee rights.
  • Optimising asset sale strategies with the appointee.
  • Orders for possession of real property in Bankrupt Estates.
  • Public examinations in Bankruptcy and winding ups, including appearing at times without Counsel.
  • Replacement of Liquidators by application to the Court.
  • Tracing, seizing and realising assets of various kinds.
  • Terminations of winding ups for Liquidators and also for shareholders.
  • Voidable transactions in personal and corporate insolvency, including leading cases on mothership preference proceedings for Liquidators
  • Scoping the project at hand, with input from the client.
  • Appearing as an advocate without Counsel in appropriate matters in the Federal and Supreme Courts.
  • Commercial drafting such as contracts, correspondence, deeds and resolutions.
  • Drafting pleadings and evidence, where necessary without Counsel.
  • Working with carefully selected Barristers and sometimes Senior Counsel at the optimum time refining strategy, pleadings and evidence, and conducting trials.

Memberships and education

  • Turnaround management association.
  • BA (1991) Macquarie University.
  • LLB (1993) Macquarie University.

In the News

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