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Commercial Law / Litigation

Commercial Litigation Lawyers in Melbourne CBD

Commercial disputes are rarely decided by legal argument alone. They turn on leverage, timing, evidence, commercial pressure, and disciplined risk management. Pentana Stanton acts for business owners, directors, shareholders, and high net worth individuals in complex commercial disputes across Victoria, from the Commercial Court of the Supreme Court to urgent applications in the Federal Court.

Key takeaways

  • Commercial litigation outcomes are rarely determined by legal argument alone. They turn on leverage, timing, evidence, commercial pressure, and disciplined case management from the first conference.
  • Most disputes settle. The settlement that matters is the one that arrives early, on terms that protect commercial value rather than relitigate the dispute through the back door of a poorly drafted deed.
  • Senior judgment matters most in the first ninety days. Decisions made about evidence preservation, urgent relief, and the position taken in correspondence usually determine the runway of the matter for the next two years.
  • The Commercial Court of the Supreme Court of Victoria and the Federal Court of Australia run distinct case management regimes. Knowing which Court is the right Court is part of the strategy, not a procedural afterthought.
  • For high net worth clients, the dispute is rarely just commercial. It often runs into family law, trust structures, estate planning, and reputational concerns at once. The matter needs to be coordinated across those workstreams, not run in silos.
i.

What this practice area covers

Our commercial litigation practice in Melbourne CBD acts for business owners, directors, shareholders, investors, professionals, family offices, and high net worth individuals in complex contested matters across Victoria. The work spans the spectrum from urgent interlocutory applications brought on within days, to multi year proceedings in the Commercial Court of the Supreme Court of Victoria. We act for plaintiffs and respondents. We act in matters that are about to settle and in matters that will run to judgment. We do not act on consumer volume litigation.

The disputes we are most often engaged on include shareholder oppression proceedings under Part 2F.1 of the Corporations Act 2001 (Cth), director disputes involving removal, deadlock, or breach of duty, partnership disputes and joint venture conflicts, urgent injunction and freezing order applications, breach of contract claims of commercial significance, misleading and deceptive conduct claims under the Australian Consumer Law, breaches of restraint of trade and misuse of confidential information, and corporate insolvency disputes. Many of our matters move through more than one of these areas across their life cycle.

For high net worth clients specifically, the commercial dispute often sits inside a larger picture. A shareholder claim may overlap with a separating spouse's family law proceedings, and the corporate position must be coordinated with family law for business owners. A trust dispute may begin as a beneficiary complaint and end as a freezing order over a controller. A breach of duty claim against a director may turn on documents held by an accountant, a family office, or a corporate trustee. We work across those layers rather than treating them as separate retainers.

ii.

How we approach commercial litigation

The first ninety days of a commercial dispute do most of the work. Decisions made early about evidence preservation, urgent relief, correspondence with the other side, and whether to brief senior counsel from the outset usually determine the runway of the matter for the next two years. Late corrections are expensive and not always available.

Strategic early assessment

We begin each matter with a structural read of the documents that actually govern the dispute, before any position is taken in correspondence. For a shareholder dispute, that is the constitution, the shareholders agreement, and the minutes. For a contract claim, the agreement, the surrounding communications, and the conduct of the parties since execution. For a director matter, the service contract, the deed of access and indemnity, and the director's insurance. The structural read happens inside the first two conferences and drives every subsequent decision: what to disclose, when to seek urgent orders, which Court to commence in, and whether senior counsel should be briefed at the outset.

Commercially focused resolution

Most commercial disputes settle. The question is whether the settlement arrives early, on terms that protect the client's commercial position, or arrives late, on terms that reflect the parties' fatigue. Where mediation or expert determination is required by an agreement, that pathway is engaged on its own terms. Where it is not, the timing and shape of settlement discussions are part of the strategy. Targeted interlocutory applications, including books inspection orders and freezing orders, are often the lever that brings a matter to a sensible settlement window. We use them where they fit the case and resist using them where they would only escalate cost.

Litigation discipline

Where the matter cannot be settled and must run, the litigation is conducted with discipline. The Commercial Court of the Supreme Court of Victoria and the Federal Court of Australia both run active case management regimes. Compliance with directions, proper preparation of expert reports, and credible engagement with the other side at the bar table are not optional. We brief senior counsel where the relief is significant, the matter is likely to be reported, or the respondent is well resourced. We do not over brief on smaller matters where it adds cost without changing outcomes.

Specialist areas

Four areas where Pentana Stanton runs concentrated practice

Each sub area runs as its own retainer where the matter is contained, or as part of a coordinated workstream where the dispute spans more than one. The four pages below set out our framework, the authorities we work to, and how we approach matters in each area.

i. Shareholder Disputes and Minority Oppression Part 2F.1 of the Corporations Act 2001 (Cth), buy out orders under section 233, section 247A books inspection, and the strategic use of just and equitable winding up to concentrate settlement. Read the framework ii. Director Disputes and Statutory Derivative Actions Director removal under section 203D, the section 203E restriction in proprietary companies, leave applications for derivative actions under section 237, and the breach of duty claims that ground them. Read the framework iii. Partnership Disputes and Joint Venture Conflicts Fiduciary duties between partners, the Partnership Act 1958 (Vic) sections 32 to 34, dissolution by the Court under section 39, and joint and several liability when the partnership unwinds. Read the framework iv. Urgent Injunctions and Freezing Orders Same day applications to the Practice Court of the Supreme Court of Victoria and the duty judge of the Federal Court. Freezing orders under Order 37A, search orders, and the undertaking as to damages that applicants underestimate. Read the framework
Industries we act across

Where our commercial litigation work concentrates

Our clients are private companies, family owned groups, professional services firms, and the high net worth individuals who own or control them. The industries below are where contested commercial matters most often surface in Victoria.

Property and Development Joint venture disputes, project agreements, profit share, security enforcement.
Construction Builder and subcontractor disputes, security of payment, defect claims.
Professional Services Partnership exits, equity disputes, restraint and confidentiality enforcement.
Healthcare and Medical Medical practice partnership disputes, practice sales, restraint matters.
Financial Services Investor disputes, fund manager exits, related party transaction reviews.
Hospitality and Retail Lease disputes, supplier conflicts, brand and franchise litigation.
Technology Founder disputes, IP and confidentiality breaches, equity vesting fights.
Family Owned Groups Generational handover disputes, trust controllership conflicts, sibling separations.
Strategy

Litigation, or commercial resolution

Not every commercial dispute warrants the immediate commencement of court proceedings. In many matters, a structured commercial response, including without prejudice correspondence, mediation, expert determination, or a targeted interlocutory application designed to bring the other side to the table, will produce a faster and less destructive outcome than full proceedings.

Other disputes cannot realistically be resolved without curial intervention. Where the matter involves allegations of dishonesty, dissipation of assets, breaches of fiduciary duty, serious oppressive conduct, or threatened breaches that will become irreversible without an order, court proceedings are the right pathway. Pretending otherwise wastes time and gives the other side runway.

Our role is to make that call with rigour. We assess the strength of the legal position, the available commercial leverage, the realistic litigation costs and outcomes, and the consequences for the client's broader interests. In some matters, strategic restraint produces a better outcome than aggressive litigation. In others, immediate court action is required to protect the client's position. The correct strategy depends on the facts, the documents, and the commercial reality. It is not a matter of preference.

For high net worth clients in particular, the cost of getting the early call wrong is rarely just the legal fees. It is the reputational consequence of a poorly chosen proceeding, the family law impact of disclosures made in commercial pleadings, and the long term effect on commercial relationships that may need to continue after the dispute is over. The first decision in a commercial dispute is the strategic one. We treat it that way.

Across Melbourne and Victoria

A Melbourne CBD practice acting across the State

Our principal office is in Melbourne CBD on Lonsdale Street, within walking distance of the Commercial Court of the Supreme Court of Victoria, the Federal Court of Australia, and the William Cooper Justice Centre. The CBD location matters because most contested commercial matters in Victoria sit in those buildings, and proximity is part of how we run urgent matters.

We also maintain an office in Dandenong serving south eastern Melbourne and Gippsland. Our clients come from across Melbourne and regional Victoria. The dispute is usually run from the CBD even where the client is not, because the Courts and the senior commercial bar are there.

  • Melbourne CBD
  • Southbank
  • Docklands
  • Richmond
  • South Yarra
  • Toorak
  • Brighton
  • Hawthorn
  • Kew
  • Camberwell
  • Dandenong
  • Regional Victoria
Why clients engage us

Senior judgment, considered counsel, and a refusal to template the matter

Commercial litigation is a senior judgment business. The matters we are engaged on are commercially material to the client, often personally consequential, and rarely amenable to a one size fits all approach. The reasons clients return to Pentana Stanton are the same reasons our work attracts the matters it does.

Senior practitioners from the first conference

The senior practitioner who reads the documents and frames the matter is the same senior practitioner who runs it. Matters are not handed down the list once they are scoped.

Coordinated across commercial, family law, and estate

For high net worth clients, the dispute rarely sits cleanly in one practice area. We coordinate the corporate position with separation, trust, and estate workstreams where they intersect.

Verified authorities, not generic content

The legal frameworks set out across our pages are anchored in named cases and specific statutory sections that practitioners and Courts actually use. Citations are verified before they are written, not after.

Discretion is part of the brief

For private clients, the management of who knows what, when, is often as important as the legal position. Our retainer is run accordingly. We do not publicise our matters.

Comfortable in the CBD Courts

We run matters in the Commercial Court of the Supreme Court of Victoria and the Federal Court of Australia as a matter of course. Urgent applications go before duty judges and the Practice Court the same week.

Strategic, not procedural, billing

Time is spent on the decisions that move the matter forward. Procedural correspondence that does not change the position is kept short, and we explain the reason.

Frequently asked

Questions clients ask before they engage

Our commercial litigation practice in Melbourne CBD acts in contested commercial and corporate matters across Victoria. The core areas are shareholder disputes and minority oppression under Part 2F.1 of the Corporations Act 2001 (Cth), director disputes including removal and statutory derivative actions, partnership and joint venture disputes under the Partnership Act 1958 (Vic) and at general law, urgent interlocutory applications and freezing orders in the Supreme Court of Victoria and the Federal Court, breach of contract claims of commercial significance, misleading and deceptive conduct claims under the Australian Consumer Law, breaches of restraint of trade and misuse of confidential information, and corporate insolvency disputes. The work is for business owners, directors, shareholders, professionals, family offices, and high net worth individuals. We do not act in consumer volume litigation.
The choice of Court is part of the strategy and turns on the nature of the relief sought, the value and complexity of the claim, the residence of the parties, and whether the matter involves Commonwealth statutory provisions. Most contested commercial matters in Victoria proceed in the Commercial Court of the Supreme Court of Victoria, which runs an active case management list designed for substantial commercial disputes. Matters involving Commonwealth law, including substantial claims under the Australian Consumer Law, corporate enforcement matters, and intellectual property disputes, often sit better in the Federal Court of Australia. Urgent interlocutory applications can be made in either Court depending on the cause of action. The choice is made at the outset of the matter, not later, because the procedural pathway is different in each Court.
Early. The first ninety days of a commercial dispute usually determine the runway of the matter. Decisions made in that window about evidence preservation, the position taken in correspondence, whether urgent relief should be sought, and which Court the matter should be commenced in, are the decisions that drive cost and outcome over the next two years. Late corrections are expensive and not always available. Where the matter is genuinely urgent, including where assets may be dissipated, confidential information may be misused, or a meeting or resolution is imminent, an application for interlocutory relief can be brought on within days. Our urgent injunction practice runs these matters regularly.
Most commercial disputes settle, and the question is rarely whether to settle but when, on what terms, and through what process. Where the relevant agreement contains a mediation, expert determination, or arbitration clause, that pathway is engaged on its own terms. Where it does not, mediation can still be conducted privately at any stage, often after early procedural steps that establish the position. Disputes that cannot be settled commercially are usually those involving allegations of dishonesty, dissipation of assets, serious fiduciary breaches, or threatened conduct that will become irreversible without a court order. In those matters, court proceedings are not optional and pretending otherwise gives the other side runway.
Commercial litigation is billed on a time costed basis under a written costs disclosure issued at the start of the retainer. Where the matter has natural stages, including a pre proceedings phase, a first directions hearing, mediation, and trial, we provide an estimate for each stage and revise it as the matter progresses. For discrete pieces of work, including books inspection applications under section 247A of the Corporations Act 2001 (Cth) or urgent interlocutory applications, we can provide fixed fee or capped fee arrangements where the scope is contained. We do not act on speculative fee arrangements in commercial litigation. The reason is that fee structures tied to outcomes tend to align the lawyer's interests with running rather than settling, which is rarely in the client's commercial interest.
Yes. Our principal office is in Melbourne CBD on Lonsdale Street, within walking distance of the Commercial Court of the Supreme Court of Victoria and the Federal Court of Australia. We also have an office in Dandenong serving south eastern Melbourne and Gippsland. Our clients come from across Melbourne, including Southbank, Docklands, Richmond, South Yarra, Toorak, Brighton, Hawthorn, Kew, and Camberwell, and from regional Victoria. The proceedings themselves are almost always run from the CBD because the Courts and the senior commercial bar are there. Initial conferences can be conducted in person at either office, by video, or by phone, depending on the matter.
Speak with us

Senior commercial counsel, before the first letter goes out.

We act for business owners, directors, shareholders, and high net worth individuals in complex commercial litigation across Victoria. Initial consultations are confidential and run by senior practitioners.

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Specialist areas: Shareholder Disputes, Director Disputes, Partnership Disputes, Urgent Injunctions.