Suzie Rule

Suzie is an experienced Special Counsel who specialises in corporations law covering all aspects of commercial litigation, dispute resolution and corporate and personal insolvency. Areas of expertise include contractual and commercial disputes, competition and consumer protection litigation, corporations law claims, corporate oppression and shareholder/director disputes, professional negligence claims, retail and commercial leasing disputes, building and construction disputes, and intellectual property disputes. Suzie is also an accomplished advocate and frequently appears in the Supreme Court, the Federal Court, the Federal Circuit and Family Court and other jurisdictions.

As an insolvency expert, Suzie routinely appears both for and against prominent liquidators, administrators, receivers and trustees in bankruptcy in pursuing or defending claims arising out of insolvency administrations, including claims concerning alleged voidable transactions and appearing as a solicitor advocate in contested interlocutory applications in the superior courts. Suzie has extensive experience acting for insolvency practitioners on all issues including applications to set aside statutory demands, contested winding up applications, contested creditor petitions, unfair preferences, uncommercial transactions, unreasonable director related transactions, trading whilst insolvent, breach of director duties and other voidable transactions

Suzie’s recent experience includes:

• Successfully defending the Commissioner of Taxation in the Supreme Court of Victoria in respect of a voidable unfair preference claim brought by a liquidator. The Commissioner successfully argued that the payments made to it were not “received from the company” within the meaning of section 588FA(1)(b) of the Corporations Act 2001 (Cth);
• Regularly prosecuting directors for insolvent trading, uncommercial transactions, unreasonable director related transactions, monies had and received, misuse of company funds and breach of director duties in the Federal Court, Supreme Court of Victoria and the County Court of Victoria;
• Regularly obtaining orders for possession and sale in the Federal Circuit and Family Court on behalf of trustees in bankruptcy;
• Conducting public examinations under sections 596A and 596B of the Corporations Act 2001 (Cth);
• Conducting public examinations under section 81 of the Bankruptcy Act 1966 (Cth);
• Successfully acting on behalf of a shareholder in the Supreme Court of Victoria in relation to an oppression claim;
• Successfully acting on behalf of a mortgagee in recovery proceedings in the Supreme Court of Victoria;
• Successfully acting on behalf of a private client against a financial brokerage firm and an AFS licence holder in relation to breaches of contract, common law, equitable duties and statutory duties in the Supreme Court of Victoria;
• Successfully defending a company against a multi-million dollar unfair preference claim brought by a liquidator in the Supreme Court of Victoria;
• Regularly acting on behalf of liquidators and trustees in bankruptcy in realisation proceedings in the Supreme Court of Victoria and the Federal Circuit and Family Court;
• Successfully obtaining a mandatory injunction for possession of premises on behalf of the administrators in the Supreme Court of Victoria;
• Successfully applying for leave to extend the convening period on behalf of the administrators in the Supreme Court of Victoria;
• Successfully defending a landlord against a claim brought by the tenant in VCAT in relation to alleged breaches of the Retail Leases Act 2003; and
• Litigating and defending testator family maintenance claims (or Part IV claims) between family members and other potential beneficiaries in respect of deceased estates.