Commercial Dispute Resolution
The construction lawyers at Lovegrove and Cotton are construction law and building law experts and provide commercial construction dispute resolution advice throughout Australia. The firm was established in 1993 as a dedicated construction law firm and is one of the oldest building law firms in Australia that practices primarily in construction and building law.
We resolve commercial construction and building disputes across Australia involving builders, contractors, suppliers, developers, engineers, architects and commercial owners. For many years we have acted for clients in Victoria, New South Wales, ACT and Queensland. We also accept briefs in Western Australia.
We have had carriage of commercial disputes concerning large projects including hospitals, high rise buildings, multi-residential buildings, and public infrastructure projects (including the likes of the 2006 Commonwealth Games Athletes Village).
The Commercial Dispute Resolution team is headed up by Justin Cotton.
Areas of Commercial Dispute Resolution Expertise
- Building and Construction Industry Security of Payment Disputes
- Commercial Building Contract Disputes
- Commercial Contract Advice
- Commercial Construction disputes
- Mediation
- Arbitration
- Tribunal matters
- Appellate Court matters
- Winding up applications
- Debt recovery
- Joint venture disputes
- Trade practices disputes
- General Commercial disputes
- Partnership, company and shareholder disputes
- Misconduct and professional licencing advocacy
- White collar offences
- Mining and resources disputes
Skill Sets and Experience
- Enforcing commercial payment claims made pursuant to the various Building Industry Security of Payment Acts in Australia
- Drafting of sophisticated commercial contract agreements
- Provision of commercial contractual advice
- Preparation of joint venture agreements
- Preparation of cross jurisdictional dispute resolution agreements
- Preparation of comprehensive and holistic partnership agreements
- Probity and compliance reviews
- Drafting of probity and compliance manuals
- Systems and legal procedure reviews
Dispute Avoidance and Dispute Resolution
- Resolution of disputes between commercial contractors
- Resolution of partnership disputes
- Preparation of conflict resolution provisions designed to facilitate negotiated outcomes
- Preparation of ADR clauses
- Mediation
- Court, arbitration and tribunal advocacy in commercial matters
- Commercial debt recovery
- Resolution of company law disputes
- Professional misconduct advocacy
Strengths of Our Group
Our lawyers possess a huge amount of experience that has culminated in a high level of skill. The team has seniority, is cross-jurisdictional, and is trusted by clients across Australia due to the team’s honest and nuanced approach to legal advice. Our team’s advice is holistic and tailored for the needs of small to medium enterprises and institutional corporate clients.
Quantum Range of Disputes
Lovegrove & Cotton accept instructions in matters ranging from $30,000 to $100,000,000. The firm has secured major wins for clients in the NSW Supreme Court, the Building Appeals Board Victoria and the County Court of Victoria. Our typical dispute quantum range is between $50,000 and $10,000,000.