Stephen is a specialist advocate in the areas of insolvency law, commercial litigation and arbitrations, and administrative law.
He is a trusted advisor to small and medium enterprises and their solicitors.
In insolvency law, his experience covers:
- statutory demand and winding up applications (notably SGR Pastoral Ltd v Christensen [2019] 2 QR 334);
- public examinations, recovery proceedings, and applications for directions under the Insolvency Practice Schedule (Corporations); and
- disputes concerning different entities to which insolvency practitioners are appointed within trust, partnership, and corporate group structures (notably Eltanba Pty Ltd & Anor v Flexitel Pty Ltd & Ors and its related proceedings, including Supreme Court of Queensland proceedings 2267/2011 and 12931/17).
In commercial litigation and arbitrations, his experience features:
- proceedings to set aside arbitral awards concerning the construction of a CSG pipeline system (Mitchel Water Australia Pty Ltd v McConnell Dowell Constructions (Aust) Pty Ltd, Supreme Court of Queensland proceedings 7092/2018 and 6270/2018);
- expert determinations and their contractual validity (Bagata Pty Ltd & Anor v Sunstorm Pty Ltd [2023] QSC 104); [2024] QCA 17);
- appearing for Woolworths Ltd and a subsidiary in a construction contract dispute concerning Woolworth’s distribution centre at Larapinta, one of the largest industrial facilities in Queensland (Nalos Pty Ltd & Anor v Robert Bird Group Pty Ltd & Ors, Supreme Court of Queensland proceeding 11451/12;
- the suite of contract and arbitration-related proceedings between BMD Holdings Pty Ltd and Mio Art Pty Ltd and their related parties concerning the development of a master planned community at Mango Hill (see [2018] 1 Qd R 245; [2018] QCA 39; [2018] QSC 31; [2018] FCA 399; and [2019] FCA 490); and
- resisting the referral of a construction dispute to arbitration (One Sector Pty Ltd v Panel Concepts Pty Ltd [2021] QDC 54).
In administrative law, his experience features:
- urgent applications to stay the operation of government decisions (notably TRAC Construction (Qld) Pty Ltd v Queensland Building and Construction Commission, Supreme Court of Queensland proceeding 1670/16), a topic on which he presented a paper at the Australian Institute of Administrative Law’s 2016 national conference;
- successful appeals (Acuna Plaza v Minister for Immigration, Citizenship and Multicultural Affairs (No 2) [2019] FCA 424);
- ongoing retainers to provide regulatory compliance opinions to well-known companies in the healthcare sector; and
- inquests involving the responsibilities of Queensland Health and Queensland Police Service.
Stephen is an accredited mediator and a Member of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators.