Asialaw Profiles
The Guide to the legal markets of the Asia-Pacific

Allens Arthur Robinson enjoys an excellent reputation for litigation and dispute resolution and houses strength in depth for class actions, competition cases, takeover disputes, and public and private investigations (by ASIC, ASX, ACCC, ATO, APRA and Royal Commissions).

Recent class action experience includes advising Aristocrat in Australia’s largest shareholder class action to go to trial, including in relation to settlement negotiations, and Philip Morris in Australia’s first and only class actions brought against Australian tobacco manufacturers.

The firm’s recent public enquiry work includes acting for various parties in the HIH Royal Commission, representing James Hardie over the availability of funding to meet future asbestos claims, and Sydney Ferries over a succession of accidents that resulted in fatalities.

Regulatory investigation work includes advising KPMG in relation to the Westpoint collapse. This involved responses to ASIC investigations, public examination by liquidators and other potential litigation. The firm also represented Macquarie Group in its dealings with the ASX regarding futures trading.

Other high profile cases include acting for Amcor on an ACCC investigation into alleged cartel behaviour, and advising New Ltd and FOXTEL on the C7 litigation.

Michael Ball is consistently rated as one of Australia’s best litigation lawyers, while fellow partner Craig Phillips also receives plaudits.

The dispute resolution practice at Mallesons Stephen Jaques has been particularly active over the last 12 months, acting on many of Australia’s commercial and regulatory disputes, investigations, class actions and public enquiries. The firm’s practice has been one of the main beneficiaries of the knock-on effects of the financial crisis – such as the rise in well-funded class action (particularly around non-performing financial services players), regulator-driven enquiries and litigation.

Mallesons’ key clients include BHP Billiton, Lion Nathan, Xstrata Coal and Telstra, with the firm recently advising the latter on its C7 litigation.

Significant matters over the last year include advising British Airways in two class actions in the Federal Court of Australia – one of which was for alleged cartel activity in the air cargo industry (on which the firm was successful in having the claim struck out).

In March 2009, the firm also won a tax dispute for BHP Billiton against the Commissioner of Taxation worth A$2 billion (US$1.7 billion). This related to a dispute with the ATO over the deductibility of expenditure and the financing costs of investments which went bad around 2000.

Headed by Roger Forbes, Mallesons’ practice includes such leading lights as Ashley Black, Robyn Chalmers and Chris Fox, while Peter Stockdale focuses on insurance matters.

Covering all aspects of dispute resolution and litigation across every major industry sector, the practice at Blake Dawson has enjoyed a very busy year on many of Australia’s highest profile and most significant commercial cases. Highlights include work on the largest ever civil litigation, and the largest judgment in the country’s history (the A$1.6 billion (US$1.4 billion) Bell Group litigation), as well as commercial cases involving the likes of BrisConnections, James Hardie, Opes Prime and Lift Capital, Sons of Gwalia and Ingot v Macquarie. The firm has also been acting in the two highest profile Commissions of Inquiry: Equine Influenza and Victorian Bushfires Royal Commission.

Blake Dawson’s disputes practice represents many ASX-listed blue-chip corporates, in addition to banks, financial institutions, accountancy firms, insurance firms, government and regulatory bodies. Key clients include ANZ Bank, Coca-Cola Amatil, Deloitte, Department of Defence, Macquarie Bank, Newcrest Mining, RailCorp, Shell and UBS.

The practice is headed by Ashley Wharton who, in April 2009, successfully obtained a judgment in his clients’ favour on the Bell Group litigation. This was Australia’s longest running civil trial in Australian corporate history (involving a 404 day trial and some 2,600 pages of reasons for judgment). Wharton’s 36-partner team includes Class Action practice head John Emmerig, as well as Andrew Carter, Chris Davidson, John Pavlakis and Peter Voss. In June 2008, the team was joined by Georgia Quick from Clayton Utz.

The litigation and dispute resolution practice at Clayton Utz remains one of the largest in Australia with more than 60 partners. The firm has benefited from the recent trend of greater use, by the federal government and state and territory governments, of private firms for litigation. Examples of work include advising corporate regulator ASIC on the prosecutions of James Hardie, as well as representing the Department of Defence and Queensland Health.

Key clients also include AMP Capital Investors, Fortescue Metals Group and TRUenergy. But the firm’s most significant matter in the last year was its role on ASIC v Macdonald & Ors. Led by partners Brigitte Markovic and Zac Chami, Clayton Utz acted for ASIC on claims against 10 former officers and directors of companies in the James Hardie Group, ABN 60 and James Hardie Industries. The proceedings have significant ramifications for publicly listed companies and their executive and non executive directors. Another key case was Merch & Co and Merck Sharp & Dohme (Australia) –the largest product liability class action before the Australian courts.

The practice is headed by Stuart Clark and includes the well respected Sid Wang, who recently advised a client on a dispute over the sale of one of Australia’s largest defence contracting conglomerates. The matter attracted a lot of media attention and involved claims for over A$250 million (US$208 million).

With some 300 litigators at its disposal across its network of offices, Freehills’ litigation and dispute resolution practice is one of the largest. It is frequently called upon to act on many of the most significant and complex commercial matters occurring in Australia, and across a broad range of industries.

For the last three years the firm has played a key role on the A$1.6 billion (US$1.4 billion) Bell Group litigation, advising 20 banks – including Westpac, Lloyds, NAB, Commonwealth Bank of Australia and SG Australia – in defending claims by companies in the Bell Group and their liquidators. Freehills also acted for Citigroup in civil penalty proceedings brought by ASIC alleging breach of its obligation to manage conflicts of interest and insider trading.

Other recent work highlights includes acting for Telstra in a shareholder class action proceeding in the Federal Court, which included some novel points of law that had not been previously litigated in an Australian forum. As such the case attracted a substantial media following. And there was ground-breaking litigation over shareholders’ rights in Australia’s largest insolvency matter this decade, the Sons of Gwalia insolvency, on which the firm is advising deed administrators Ferrier Hodgson.

Key lawyers in the practice include Melbourne-based Malcolm Cooke, who was recently seconded to a telecommunications client of the practice. Accredited mediator and experienced commercial litigator Peter Smith was made up to partner in January 2009.

Andrew Christopher heads the 13-partner dispute resolution practice at Baker & McKenzie of whom 11 of the partners share the Sydney office with him. Each member of the team carries out ADR services, with the Sydney office recently involved in a number of expert determinations, expert appraisals and expedited arbitrations. The two-partner Melbourne practice has particular expertise in construction and commercial litigation.

The 21-partner dispute resolution practice at Corrs Chambers Westgarth is headed by James Whittaker and is acting on many of the largest and most complex matters in Australia. This includes BrisConnections, the 2009 Victorian Bushfire Royal Commission, the collapse of Allco Finance Group and the Commonwealth’s defence of Pan Pharmaceuticals, which is the largest damages claim ever brought against the Commonwealth of Australia.

The 13-partner litigation and dispute resolution practice at Gilbert + Tobin, headed by Michael Williams, has particular strength in connection with internet publications and applications including search engines, content hosts, content providers and user-generated-content sites. The firm is representing the major international film studios in their groundbreaking action against Internet Service Provider iiNet, in a claim that the ISP is allowing copyright infringement on its network. Other work includes advising Google Inc in defence of proceedings brought by the ACCC, in what is the first reported case of a market regulator taking action against an internet company.

Scott Chesterman heads the 51-partner national dispute resolution practice at Minter Ellison, which welcomed the return of Paul Kitch as special counsel in January 2009 but saw the departure of Adelaide partner Jane Schammer to Gilchrist Connell in April 2009. Recent work includes acting as primary advisers to ANZ in the collapse of Opes Prime, as well as representing the former CEO and managing director of James Hardie Industries in civil penalty proceedings brought by ASIC against former James Hardie directors and senior executives and companies.

Chang Pistilli & Simmons

Dispute resolution practice head Diana Chang was appointed as a member of the Australian Takeovers Panel in 2008. The practice, which has seen some turnover at associate level, has experience handling a broad range of commercial disputes for key clients such as Macquarie Telecom, Life Therapeutics, Australian Pipeline Trust and Heritage Building Society. Recent work includes representing the former chairman and CEO of New Cap Reinsurance in appeal proceedings brought by the Ingot parties in the NSW Court of Appeal concerning allegations of misleading and deceptive conduct arising from a corporate collapse.