Insolvency & Restructuring
LK’s insolvency experience spans some of the most significant corporate collapses internationally, arising from mismanagement and sophisticated corporate frauds. We trace assets, investigate wrongdoing, pursue claims against directors and company advisors and manage coordinated recovery actions across multiple jurisdictions. We work closely with liquidators and other professionals on these matters and our team includes former finance professionals whose skills are an advantage when dealing with financial concepts and experts.
Our aim is always restoring value to the company and its creditors by uncovering the cause, holding wrongdoers accountable and executing creative and rigorous recovery strategies.
Experience
Bell Group
Represented the Australian liquidator of Bell Group NV, a Curaçao-incorporated financing entity within the Bell Group, which collapsed with debts exceeding AU$1 billion. The firm pursued recovery claims against a consortium of banks, securing an increase in compensation from AU$1.7 billion to AU$2.8 billion in the Western Australia Court of Appeal. Further proceedings, including before the High Court of Australia, led to the recovery of more than AU$650 million for creditors. See case study below.
Kingate Funds
Represented the liquidators of a feeder fund that channelled billions of dollars into Bernard Madoff’s Ponzi scheme. The firm managed extensive proceedings in New York and Bermuda, and related actions in the British Virgin Islands and London.
Whyalla Steel Works
Principal legal adviser to the South Australian Government on the voluntary administration of OneSteel Manufacturing Pty Ltd, the operator of the Whyalla Steel Works, the only Australian producer of long form structural steel required for rail and large infrastructure projects, and vital for sovereign capacity.
Western Desert Resources
Represented the liquidator of an iron ore mining company that collapsed in 2014 pursuing a AU$120 million insolvent trading claim in the Supreme Court of South Australia against its former directors.
China Medical Technologies
Represent the Hong Kong and Cayman Islands liquidators of a NASDAQ-listed company that collapsed after the alleged theft of US$500 million by senior management. LK conducted investigations in Hong Kong, Singapore, the United States and Canada, and pursued claims for breach of duty, auditor negligence and dishonest assistance against two international banks.
Al Gosaibi Family & Group (AHAB)
Advised and represented AHAB, a family-owned Saudi business conglomerate, in its multi-billion-dollar civil fraud dispute with Maan Al Sanea and the Saad Group. The matter involved defending and settling claims brought by more than 100 banks worldwide and initiating proceedings against the Saad Group in the Cayman Islands.
Spring Gully Foods
Advising the administrator of iconic Australian food production group following its financial collapse in 2025, including on the sale of the company’s intellectual property assets ensuring continuity for the 79 year-old brand.
Platinum Partners Value Arbitrage Feeder Funds
Represented the liquidators of Platinum Partners in investigations and litigation in the United States and Cayman Islands following the funds’ 2016 collapse, which left investors owed approximately US$500 million.
One.Tel
Represented the liquidator of One.Tel in AU$132 million of claims before the Supreme Court of New South Wales against non-executive directors James Packer and Lachlan Murdoch, arising from alleged breaches of duty connected to the withdrawal of a renounceable rights issue.
Great Southern Group
Represented the liquidators of Australia’s largest publicly listed agricultural managed investment scheme prior to its collapse. LK investigated alleged misstatements in audited financial statements and successfully settled multi-million-dollar proceedings in the Supreme Court of Western Australia.
Spotlight
Bell Group NV
LK acted for the Australian liquidator of Bell Group NV in one of Australia’s most significant and complex insolvency proceedings. The Curaçao-incorporated financing arm of the former Bond Corporation collapsed in the 1990s with debts exceeding AU$1 billion.
Working alongside the liquidator, LK brought recovery actions against a consortium of banks involved in the Group’s refinancing. In the Western Australia Court of Appeal, the firm secured an increase in compensation from AU$1.7 billion to AU$2.8 billion, one of the largest judgments in Australian history. A subsequent High Court appeal was resolved through mediation, returning approximately AU$1.8 billion to the Group.
LK continued to represent Bell Group NV in proceedings before the Supreme Court of Western Australia, the Federal Court, and the High Court to determine the distribution of settlement proceeds. When the Western Australian Government sought to seize the Group’s assets through new legislation, LK successfully challenged its validity in the High Court, protecting creditors’ rights and preserving the integrity of the insolvency process.
The matter concluded in 2020 with more than AU$650 million returned to creditors. It is as a landmark case demonstrating LK’s capability in managing complex, multi-forum disputes.
LK Law is an exceptional and unique outfit. No other firm this size is capable of managing complex, international litigation so effectively.
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