Svenson Barristers Commercial Law CPD Day

8.00AM - 8.30AM: Registration and arrival

8:30AM - 9:30AM: Nic Cozens - Oppression Cases (Substantive Law)

9:30AM - 10:30AM: Veronica Holt - Dealing with Caveats (Professional Skills)

10:30AM - 11:00AM: Morning Tea Break

11:00AM - 12:00PM : Amanda Storey - Misleading and Deceptive Conduct (Substantive Law)

12:00PM - 1:00PM: Rodney Garratt KC and Darren Ferrari - Ethical Considerations in Commercial Mediations (Ethics)

1:00PM - 2:00PM: Lunch Break

2:00PM - 3:00PM: Hugo De Kock - Unfair Contract Terms (Substantive Law)

3:00PM - 4:00PM: Lana Collaris - High Court Bankruptcy Updates: Preference Claims (Substantive Law)

Nic practices primarily in commercial law, professional liability and insurance law. He accepts briefs to draw paperwork in his listed areas of specialty. Nic was previously Associate to the Honourable Justice Murphy in the Federal Court of Australia, and a solicitor at Lander & Rogers.

Veronica accepts briefs to appear and advise in commercial, public law and common law matters. She also accepts briefs direct from in-house counsel. Before coming to the Bar, Veronica practised as a solicitor in the commercial disputes and workplace relations teams at Gadens. Veronica was also Senior Associate to the Honourable Justice Almond of the Supreme Court of Victoria. Veronica taught Civil Procedure at La Trobe University in 2019. Veronica read with Dr Andrew Hanak KC. Her senior mentor is Claire Harris KC.

Amanda’s principal practice areas are commercial, consumer, regulatory, insurance, retail leasing, insolvency and dispute resolution. She accepts briefs to appear and advise. Prior to coming to the Bar, Amanda practiced as a solicitor for 13 years in the areas of consumer law, consumer credit law, banking and finance law, bankruptcy and corporate insolvency. She has experience instructing and appearing in the Supreme Court, County Court, Federal Court, Federal Circuit Court and the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal. Immediately prior to joining the Bar, she was the Director of Legal Practice for the Consumer Action Law Centre. Amanda also worked in a mid-tier firm for several years in the bankruptcy and insolvency team and she was the Associate to Associate Justice Efthim in 2008. Amanda holds a Masters in Law from the University of Melbourne, specialising in commercial law. Amanda has been an active committee member of the Law Institute of Victoria, including the Competition and Consumer Committee. Amanda has a long and proud history of assisting vulnerable clients access justice.

Darren appears and advises in all areas of commercial, insurance, corporations and contract law. He is committed to working collaboratively with clients to understand their interests and motivations in order to achieve the best possible outcome. He is also happy to be briefed directly by corporations to advise on both contentious and uncontentious matters and to consider fixed fee or capped fee billing arrangements in appropriate cases. Darren is currently a member of the Victorian Committee of the Australian Insurance Law Association. He holds a Masters in Law from the University of Melbourne and is a sessional teaching associate at Monash University, teaching in contracts, corporations law and litigation and dispute resolution.

Rodney is a senior silk with a substantial commercial practice which spans advocacy, mediation and arbitration and advice primarily in the areas of trade practices, arbitration law, international sale of goods, contract disputes, equity, corporations law, land law and intellectual property.

Rodney conducts and appears in arbitrations and mediations, and has appeared in hundreds of reported cases at trial, appeal and final appellate levels. They include Castel Electronics Pty Ltd v TCL Airconditioner (Zhongshan) Co Ltd; Maguire v Makaronis; Acohs Pty Ltd Ucorp Pty Ltd and National Australia Bank Ltd v Bond Brewing Ltd.

Originally training (and establishing practice) in London, Rodney returned to Australia to practice as a solicitor in the banking and finance practice of a leading national law firm before becoming a barrister in 1983. Rodney speaks French, German and Italian. This coupled with his international experience and networks, makes him is a valuable resource to clients who need a commercially astute, globally aware legal counsel.

A skilled mediator and arbitrator Rodney was integral in significant arbitrations in 2011 concerning a Victorian traffic camera software development contract, and a breach of an exclusive distribution agreement for Chinese white goods, and conducted Federal Court of Australia proceedings to determine its jurisdiction to enforce a non-foreign international arbitral award.

Hugo is an experienced commercial litigator. He has a broad practice, which includes areas such as contract law, property and leasing, consumer law, banking and finance, trusts, corporations (including breach of director's duties), bankruptcy and insolvency, tort (including breach of fiduciary duties and professional negligence.

Lana has handled many interesting and complex cases and achieved outstanding results. She practises in all areas of commercial law including derivative actions, oppression claims and insolvency, with a particular interest and focus on financial services matters and public interest litigation. She also practises extensively in insurance, defamation, and building and construction. She is regularly briefed by the best litigation teams in Australia. She works unled but also with the best KCs when clients demand it. Lana holds a Master of Laws and a Bachelor of Laws/Commerce (Economics) from Monash University.

Host or Publisher Svenson Barristers