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);
- 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 (recently, 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.
Prior to his call to the independent bar in 2014, Stephen practiced at the firms Tucker & Cowen, Minter Ellison, and Shearman & Sterling LLP.