Contract Law Conference: Minimising Risks & Disputes
Ensure your contract drafting strategies are modern, effective & unassailable. Survey the latest contract drafting and interpretation methods. Consider key implications related to good faith obligations. Perfect your protections against default & insolvency. In the afternoon, master contract disputes by examining unfair terms and unconscionable conduct, the latest contract termination strategies, and how to approach breach of contract damages. 213V19
Description
Attend and earn 7 CPD units in Substantive Law
This program is applicable to practitioners from all States & Territories
*We are currently offering in person registrations to 2021 Victorian events, however should Victorian government regulations not allow for this at the time of the event, your registration will automatically be transferred to live online.
Session 1
Contract Drafting, Interpretation & Protections
Chair: William Khong, Partner, Holding Redlich
9.00am to 10.00am Key Contract Drafting Issues You Need to Get Right in Today’s Environment
Examine some of the most important contract drafting issues that are dramatically impacting commercial contracts right now. Explore each issue, the hazards involved, and the drafting strategies you need to minimise risk.
- Suspension rights
- Force majeure clauses
- Time frames, delays & KPIs
- Exclusivity provisions
- Electronic signatures
Presented by Laura Young, Partner, HWL Ebsworth
10.00am to 11.00am Contractual Interpretation Update
- Update on interpretation principles and canons of construction
- The latest from the Courts & the cases you need to know
- The ambiguous ‘ambiguity gateway’: Codelfa and life after it
- Some divergences between the states to have on your radar
Presented by Scott Cromb, Barrister, Foley’s List
11.00am to 11.15am Morning Tea
11.15am to 12.15pm Contractual Protections Against Default and Insolvency
- Strategies to address default risk while improving recoverability
- Dealing with insolvent counterparties
- Ipso facto clauses
- Disclaimer and related risks
- Enforceability
- Considering what compensation is payable and what loss is recoverable
- PPSA implications and what to watch out for
- Example clauses: when drafting goes wrong leading to litigation and the lessons for contract drafters
Presented by Justin Vaatstra, Partner; contributing author, World Insolvency Systems: A Comparative Study, Thomson Reuters; Recommended Insolvency & Restructuring Lawyer, Doyle’s Guide 2019
12.15pm to 1.15pm Good Faith in Commercial Contracts: Implications, Obligations & Strategies
- Source of the obligation of good faith
- Implication by law
- Contractual construction
- Policy issues
- Intersection with equity
- Implications for freedom to contract
- Contested content of the duty
- Obligations of the parties
Presented by Gail Owen OAM, Partner, HWL Ebsworth
Session 2
Contract Disputes, Unfair Terms, Termination & Damages
Chair:
2.00pm to 3.00pm Unfair Terms and Unconscionable Conduct: Case Studies & Examples Clauses
- What is ‘unfair’ or ‘unconscionable’?
- Statutory intervention and comparison with general law
- The factors that influence a determination of unfair terms or unconscionable conduct under the ACL
- Consequences of void terms in standard form contracts
- Remedies
- Case studies and example clauses
Presented by Dr Paul Vout QC, List A Barristers; co-editor, Commonwealth Law Reports; author, Laws of Australia on Breach of Contract; co-author, Appeals and Appellate Courts in Australia and New Zealand, LexisNexis; editor and co-author, Laws of Australia: Unconscionable Conduct and Laws of Australia: Torts, Lawbook
3.00pm to 4.00pm Contract Termination: Rights, Procedure and Consequences
- Source of rights to terminate:
- Express contractual power
- Common law rights:
- Tripartite classification: conditions, intermediate terms, warranties
- Repudiation
- Procedure on termination:
- Express contractual procedure
- Common law
- Election
- Consequences on termination:
- Impact on contractual obligations:
- Termination
- Affirmation
Presented by Robert Glavas, Barrister, Foley’s List
4.00pm to 4.15pm Afternoon Tea
4.15pm to 5.15pm A Guide to Damages for Breach of Contract: Strategies and Updates
- Categories of recoverable loss and strategies for approaching each
- What categories of loss are recoverable or not recoverable?
- Expectation or reliance loss
- Inconvenience damages
- A guide to how contractual damages are assessed
- Case studies: practical takeaways from some interesting court cases regarding damages
Presented by Georgina Costello QC, List G Barristers
Venue
RACV City Club
Level 2, 501 Bourke St
Melbourne 3000
VIC
Australia
Parking Information
Parking is not included in your registration. Here are some options below.
RACV City Club Car Park. Click here to view rates
Directions
Nearby Public Transport:Tram Stations - William/Bourke St or Queen/Bourke StBus Interchange - Little Collins St or Supreme Court
Presenters
William Khong, Partner, Holding Redlich
William Khong is a Partner at Holding Redlich. He was admitted as a solicitor in Malaysia where he gained experience in intellectual property (from registration and commercialisation to enforcement) and commercial litigation. He has subsequently, while practising in Australia, gained further experience in commercial and taxation law matters. William has particular experience in advising in relation to business structuring or restructuring, mergers and acquisitions, public and private capital raisings, corporate affairs including capital reductions, share buy-backs, financial assistance, corporate governance and related party transactions, and matters relating to the law of trusts, personal property securities, stamp duty and carbon tax.
Laura Young, Partner, HWL Ebsworth
Laura Young specialises in on a broad range of commercial matters ranging from strategic transactions (acquisitions & disposals, joint ventures, restructures, partnerships and shareholders arrangements) to all aspects of daily commercial operations (with a focus on the preparation, interpretation and negotiation of a broad range of commercial contracts such as confidentiality arrangements, tenders, subcontractor arrangements, heads of agreement, supply & procurement arrangements, sponsorships, consultancy agreements, terms & conditions / credit applications, manufacturing and distribution arrangements). Laura is also a member of the firms' Competition and Consumer team and has a particular interest & expertise in the Australian Consumer Law.
Scott Cromb, Barrister, Foley’s List
Scott has a broad commercial practice with a particular focus on insolvency, competition, property/leasing and banking matters and class actions. In the nine years prior to coming to the Bar, Scott was a Special Counsel in the Commercial Litigation team at HWL Ebsworth Lawyers. Prior to that, he was Legal Counsel at World Vision Australia and before that, an Associate in the Banking, Finance & Insolvency team at Gadens Lawyers. Over this time, Scott has gained a wealth of experience in commercial litigation matters. He appears regularly in the Supreme, County, Federal and Federal Circuit Courts and has also conducted numerous interstate proceedings.
Gail Owen OAM, Partner, HWL Ebsworth
Gail Owen OAM, Partner, HWL Ebsworth Lawyers Gail Owen, OAM FAICD, is a partner at HWL Ebsworth Lawyers where she is part of the Corporate and Commercial team and specializes in energy and resources work, She is also Chairman of the Victorian Fisheries Authority and a director of Australian Pork Limited and The Queen's Fund Limited. Prior to joining HWL Ebsworth in 2008, Gail was a Partner with Gadens Lawyers and, prior to that, Blake Dawson Waldron (now Ashurst). She has also worked as a legal adviser at CRA Limited and Electrolytic Zinc Company of Australasia Limited.
Justin Vaatstra, Partner, Arnold Bloch Leibler
Justin Vaatstra is an experienced commercial litigator and a partner of Arnold Bloch Leibler's litigation and insolvency practices. His practice focus has an emphasis on corporate insolvency and restructuring, shareholder disputes and intellectual property disputes. Justin is recognised as a recommended lawyer for 'Dispute Resolution' and 'Restructuring & Insolvency' in the Legal 500 Asia Pacific. He is described by clients as a "very dedicated advocate" who "builds great working relationships". Justin has been recognised in Doyle's Guide in the category of 'Leading Commercial Litigation & Dispute Resolution Lawyers’ and listed by Best Lawyers© International in the area of 'Insolvency & Reorganization Law' and Dispute Resolution.
Dr Paul Vout QC, List A Barristers
Dr Paul Vout holds a doctorate (SJD) from the University of Sydney for his thesis on international project finance law. Before joining the Bar, Paul was Blake Dawson Waldron's first Chief Representative in China and a Senior Associate in that firm's Banking and Finance Group. Before joining that firm, Paul was an Associate to the Hon. Justice Michael Kirby AC CMG. Paul was called to the Victorian Bar in 2002 and has since appeared in the High Court of Australia, the Supreme Court of Singapore, as well as most other Federal and Victorian courts. He is co-editor of the Commonwealth Law Reports and is the author of Laws of Australia on Breach of Contract.
Robert Glavas, Barrister, Foley’s List
Robert is a barrister with expertise in commercial law. Before coming to the Bar, Robert was a Principal Lawyer in the Dispute Resolution and Litigation group at Macpherson Kelley. As the youngest Principal Lawyer nationally, Robert led his team on complex commercial litigation in state and federal jurisdictions throughout Australia, with a particular focus on: contract disputes; director/shareholder disputes; misleading or deceptive conduct claims; negligence and tortious actions; restraints of trade; construction disputes; and real property disputes. Earlier in his career, Robert worked for the family office of a high net worth individual based in Mayfair, London.
Georgina Costello QC, List G Barristers
Georgina Costello is a Melbourne barrister who appears and advises in cases in the areas of commercial and public law, including: commercial disputes; fraud cases; negligence claims; property law matters; migration cases and regulatory proceedings. Before coming to the Bar in 2003, Georgina was a solicitor at Mallesons Stephen Jaques (now King & Wood Mallesons) in property law. She is also admitted to the New York Bar and has worked in the United States as a litigator at New York law firm Fried Frank Harris Shriver & Jacobson LLP, and as associate counsel to a panel led by U.S. economist Paul Volcker.