CORPORATE INSOLVENCY
When a company faces financial crisis, decisions made now will define what comes next.
Corporate insolvency is rarely a single event. It is a sequence of decisions, each one narrowing or opening options for directors, creditors, and stakeholders. The earlier specialist advice is sought, the more options remain available.
Boyle Litigation acts for directors, creditors, and insolvency practitioners across the full lifecycle of corporate insolvency matters.
Corporate Insolvency. Handled With Clarity and Speed.
Corporate insolvency is rarely a single event. It is a sequence of decisions, each one narrowing or opening options for directors, creditors, and stakeholders. Early, specialist advice is the difference between a structured outcome and a disorderly collapse.
Boyle Litigation Lawyers acts across the full lifecycle of corporate insolvency matters: from the first warning signs of financial distress through to formal administration, liquidation, recovery litigation, and enforcement. Our focus is commercial litigation only. We are not a general practice firm. Every matter is handled by a Queensland Law Society Accredited Specialist in Commercial Litigation.
Whether you are a director navigating obligations, a creditor protecting your position, or an insolvency practitioner needing specialist litigation support, we provide strategic advice grounded in commercial reality.
Who We Act For
Our clients in corporate insolvency matters include:
- Directors and officers facing insolvent trading exposure or personal liability risk
- Business owners responding to statutory demands, winding-up applications, or creditor pressure
- Secured and unsecured creditors seeking to protect or recover debt
- Liquidators, receivers, voluntary administrators, and trustees requiring specialist litigation and recovery support
- Related party creditors and third parties involved in voidable transaction claims
- Shareholders and directors in disputes arising during or after an insolvency event
What We Do
Voluntary Administration
When a company is insolvent or at risk of becoming insolvent, voluntary administration offers a structured path to assess options before liquidation becomes inevitable. We advise directors on the decision to appoint an administrator, the implications for stakeholders, and the available outcomes including Deeds of Company Arrangement (DOCAs). We also advise administrators on contentious matters arising during an administration.
Liquidation
Court-ordered and creditors’ voluntary liquidations both generate complex legal questions. We advise liquidators on the investigation of company affairs, recovery of assets, pursuit of voidable transaction claims, and litigation against directors for breaches of duty. We also advise creditors and contributories on their rights during a winding up.
Insolvent Trading
Directors who allow a company to trade while insolvent face personal liability under the Corporations Act 2001 (Cth). We advise directors on their exposure, the availability of the safe harbour defence under section 588GA, and their obligations in restructuring scenarios. For liquidators, we assess the merits of insolvent trading claims and conduct recovery litigation where the evidence supports it.
Voidable Transactions
Unfair preferences, uncommercial transactions, and transactions to defeat creditors can be set aside by a liquidator and recovered for the benefit of the general body of creditors. We advise liquidators on the investigation and pursuit of these claims, and we advise recipients of such payments on their defences, including the good faith and change of position defences under the Corporations Act.
Director Duties and Liability
Insolvency often triggers scrutiny of director conduct prior to the company’s collapse. We advise directors facing personal claims, ASIC investigations, or examinations under Part 5.9 of the Corporations Act. We also act for liquidators pursuing directors for breaches of the duty to prevent insolvent trading, failure to keep proper records, and other statutory obligations.
PPSA and Security Enforcement
The Personal Property Securities Act 2009 (Cth) creates significant risks for creditors who do not properly register and perfect their security interests. In insolvency, unperfected security interests vest in the company and are lost. We advise on security registration, enforcement of security interests, and the ranking of competing claims in a liquidation or administration.
Statutory Demands and Winding-Up Applications
A statutory demand is a formal demand requiring a company to pay a debt within 21 days or face a presumption of insolvency. Failure to respond correctly can result in a winding-up order. We advise both creditors issuing statutory demands and companies seeking to set them aside on genuine dispute or offsetting claim grounds.
Section 596A and 596B Examinations
Court-ordered examinations under Part 5.9 of the Corporations Act are a powerful investigative tool available to liquidators and others. We advise on examination strategy, the conduct of examinations, challenges to examination summonses, and the use of examination material in subsequent recovery proceedings.
Debt Recovery and Enforcement
Where a company is in financial difficulty but not yet in formal insolvency, we assist creditors with debt recovery through litigation, default enforcement, and asset preservation orders. Acting early often preserves options that disappear once administration or liquidation begins.
FOR INSOLVENCY PRACTITIONERS
Litigation Support for Liquidators, Receivers, and Administrators
We work regularly alongside insolvency practitioners to provide specialist litigation support across the full lifecycle of an appointment. We understand the commercial and reporting demands you face. We provide clear assessments of recovery prospects, realistic litigation funding analysis, and court-ready work product without the theatre.
Our support to insolvency practitioners includes:
- Investigation and assessment of voidable transaction claims (unfair preferences, uncommercial transactions)
- Insolvent trading claims against directors and shadow director
- Director liability and duty breach claims
- Examination summonses and examination strategy under Part 5.9
- PPSA enforcement and security priority disputes
- Debt recovery and enforcement actions for the estat
- Litigation funding analysis and creditor reporting
- Contentious matters arising during voluntary administration
Speed-to-advice matters. We respond to urgent referrals the same day.
Why Boyle Litigation
Specialist. Not generalist. Our practice is commercial litigation only. We do not run corporate transactions, conveyancing, or family law matters on the side. Disputes are our entire practice.
Strategic from day one. Insolvency matters involve competing pressures: time, cost, creditor dynamics, director exposure, and regulatory risk. We assess the full picture and advise on the sequence of steps, not just the immediate task.
Court-ready and commercial. We can take a matter from initial assessment through to trial if required. We also know when negotiation is the stronger play. Our advice reflects both.
Discreet. Insolvency matters often involve sensitive business information and reputational risk for directors and associated parties. We operate with appropriate discretion as a matter of course.
Fast. Recovery and insolvency matters are time-sensitive. Assets move. Limitation periods run. We move quickly when urgency demands it.
Frequently asked questions
What is corporate insolvency under Australian law?
A company is insolvent when it cannot pay its debts as and when they fall due. This is assessed primarily by the cash flow test, not just by comparing assets and liabilities on a balance sheet. Once a company is insolvent, directors have strict obligations under the Corporations Act 2001 (Cth) to avoid further insolvent trading. Legal advice should be obtained immediately on the financial position being identified.
What are a director's personal obligations when a company is insolvent?
Directors who allow a company to incur debts when it is insolvent, or when there are reasonable grounds to suspect insolvency, can be held personally liable for those debts under section 588G of the Corporations Act. There is a safe harbour defence available where a director is taking genuine steps to restructure and improve the company’s financial position. Directors facing this risk should obtain independent specialist advice without delay.
What is the difference between voluntary administration and liquidation?
Voluntary administration is an external administration process designed to give a financially distressed company a chance to restructure its affairs, often resulting in a Deed of Company Arrangement (DOCA). A liquidator’s role is to wind up the company, collect and realise its assets, and distribute proceeds to creditors according to statutory priority. Voluntary administration does not necessarily lead to liquidation, though it can if creditors vote that way at the second creditors’ meeting.
What is an unfair preference claim?
A liquidator can recover payments made to creditors in the six months before the winding-up commenced, where the company was insolvent at the time of payment and the creditor received more than they would have in a liquidation. The recipient can defend the claim by establishing they received the payment in good faith, without suspicion of insolvency, and that they provided valuable consideration. We advise both liquidators pursuing these claims and creditors defending them.
In the event that you require legal advice in respect of a creditor of a company that has gone into a form of insolvency administration, then we invite you to contact us. Our team of corporate insolvency lawyers at our Gold Coast and Brisbane offices can provide trusted insolvency advice and take steps to protect your interests.
What is a PPSA security interest and why does registration matter?
The Personal Property Securities Act 2009 (Cth) creates a national register for security interests over personal property. If a security interest is not properly registered and perfected, it may vest in the company on the appointment of an administrator, receiver, or liquidator and be lost entirely. Timely registration and correct documentation are critical for any creditor holding a charge, retention of title arrangement, or other security over company assets.In the event that you require legal advice in respect of a creditor of a company that has gone into a form of insolvency administration, then we invite you to contact us. Our team of corporate insolvency lawyers at our Gold Coast and Brisbane offices can provide trusted insolvency advice and take steps to protect your interests.
What is a statutory demand and what happens if a company ignores one?
A statutory demand is a formal written demand under section 459E of the Corporations Act requiring a company to pay a debt of $4,000 or more within 21 days. If the company does not comply and does not apply to set the demand aside within that period, the creditor can apply to the court for a winding-up order. The company is presumed insolvent for the purposes of the application. Setting aside a statutory demand requires evidence of a genuine dispute about the debt or an offsetting claim of equivalent value.In the event that you require legal advice in respect of a creditor of a company that has gone into a form of insolvency administration, then we invite you to contact us. Our team of corporate insolvency lawyers at our Gold Coast and Brisbane offices can provide trusted insolvency advice and take steps to protect your interests.
How does Boyle Litigation support insolvency practitioners?
We work alongside liquidators, receivers, voluntary administrators, and trustees as specialist litigation counsel. We assess and run recovery claims, advise on examination strategy and conduct section 596 examinations, pursue voidable transactions, and advise on PPSA enforcement. We provide clear written opinions on claim prospects and commercial recovery analysis, and we move quickly when timing is critical to the outcome.In the event that you require legal advice in respect of a creditor of a company that has gone into a form of insolvency administration, then we invite you to contact us. Our team of corporate insolvency lawyers at our Gold Coast and Brisbane offices can provide trusted insolvency advice and take steps to protect your interests.
Where does Boyle Litigation act in insolvency matters?
We are a Brisbane-based specialist litigation firm and act nationally. We appear in the Federal Court of Australia and the Supreme Courts of Queensland and other states in complex insolvency litigation, and we advise clients across Australia.In the event that you require legal advice in respect of a creditor of a company that has gone into a form of insolvency administration, then we invite you to contact us. Our team of corporate insolvency lawyers at our Gold Coast and Brisbane offices can provide trusted insolvency advice and take steps to protect your interests.
Your dispute. Our battle.
Confidential advice. Decisive action. Direct access from day one.