News
The Federal Court of Australia (Anderson J) has delivered judgment in The Owners – Strata Plan No 87231 v 3A Composites GmbH (No 10) [2026] FCA 351, in which Sam Adair appeared (lead by Nicholas Owens SC, now a Judge of the Federal Court, and instructed by Wesley Rose of Wotton Kearney Lawyers) for the successful second respondent, Halifax Vogel Group (HVG).
This was a funded class action concerning the supply and use of two aluminium composite products (ACPs) in the Australian building industry between 2009 and 2019. The applicants claimed that the ACPs did not comply with consumer law guarantees, and also advanced causes of action for misleading conduct in contravention of the Australian Consumer Law and predecessor legislation.
The Court dismissed both actions, rejecting the applicants’ claims that the ACPs were inherently unsafe due to pleaded “risks” and accepting the respondents’ contentions that any of the pleaded “risks” depended on the particular use of the product on any given building.
The case provides useful guidance on matters including the scope of consumer law guarantees, identification of the “reasonable consumer” in consumer guarantee claims, assessment of whether conduct is misleading or deceptive, causation and limitation periods for purposes of s 236(2) of the ACL.
See the full judgment here.
The Supreme Court (Black J) recently dismissed an application by the provisional liquidators of the property development group known as the Crown Group. The provisional liquidators sought orders to enable them to cause a payment $3.99m to a company wholly owned by one of two directors of the Crown Group.
Amir Chowdhury led by Christian Bova SC and instructed by Madison Marcus appeared for the Interested Parties opposing the application.
A copy of the judgment can be found here.
We are pleased to celebrate eleven of our barristers who have been recognised in the 19th edition of Best Lawyers for their expertise across a broad range of practice areas.
Congratulations to:
1. The Hon P A Bergin AO SC, Alternative Dispute Resolution
2. The Hon Fabian Gleeson SC, Alternative Dispute Resolution
3. Katrina Howard SC, Intellectual Property Law
4. Andre Zahra SC, Legal Malpractice Litigation
5. Jack Hynes, Insolvency and Reorganisation Law
6. Sam Adair, Insurance Law
7. Ben Koch, Banking and Finance and Insolvency and Reorganisation Law
8. Mark Newton, Ethics and Professional Responsibility Practice and Insurance Law
9. Michael Swanson, Shipping and Maritime Law
10. Frank Tao, Insolvency and Reorganisation Law
11. Sefton Powrie, Insolvency and Reorganisation Law (Ones to Watch)
View the listings here.
We are pleased to congratulate Jack Hynes and Ben Koch on their inclusion in the 2026 Doyle’s Guide rankings as Leading Commercial Litigation & Dispute Resolution Junior Counsel in New South Wales.
See the full rankings here.










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