Insurance &
Dispute Resolution
Insurance & Dispute Resolution
Litigation is driven by timetables, imposed by procedural rules, judicial orders and, not least, client imperatives. A firm cannot effectively maintain a litigation practice as diverse as ours unless it has the experience and depth to meet those time constraints with quality, cost-efficient responses. Our general litigation practice continues to grow, reflecting our ability to meet new challenges presented by this practice area in the 21st century.
We’re proud of the fact King & Company have been on the panel of providers to the Queensland Local Government Mutual Insurance Pool since its inception more than a quarter of a century ago. Our expertise in handling public liability and professional indemnity claims against local governments has resulted in our appointment for provision of like services to insurer and superannuation trustee clients, including in other specialist insurance lines, such as life and TPD insurance. We act in partnership with our clients to provide cost-effective and practical quality outcomes.
Administrative appeals (including judicial reviews) are another significant feature of our local government litigation practice, as is rates and debt recovery (including the sale of land for overdue rates), and proceedings involving building or construction disputes involving a range of contracts and agreements across the full gamut of projects and infrastructure.
Works (design and construction) contracts regularly generate a wide variety of disputes and, when those disputes arise, we’re geared to conduct proceedings to resolve them for our local government and other institutional clients.
We have an expanding practice in defamation, human rights and anti-discrimination.
Our practitioners are highly experienced litigators with a detailed understanding of substantive law and civil procedure. We pride ourselves on our ability to advocate vigorously for our clients as part of the overall service we provide as expert litigators.
Q: Expertise
Our litigation practice is diverse and growing. We’re either preparing for proceedings or in Court daily for all sorts of reasons such as:
- Judicial reviews and Commissions of Inquiry
- Debt, including rates, recovery
- Prosecutions and Enforcement
- Development and Planning Disputes
- Industrial Relations
- Defamation
- Public liability and professional negligence claims
- Life insurance and TPD claims
- Building and construction disputes
- Human rights and anti-discrimination disputes.
Q: How We Work
We’re professional but personable. We’re expert but amicable. We care about our clients and our clients know this. We’re here to help and our clients know this too.
We’re proud of the management strategies we’ve developed and assiduously apply to ensure maximum satisfaction for our clients.
For instance, our Executive Partner, Tim Fynes-Clinton is the first point of contact for all new matters (unless you’re an existing client who already has a relationship with another of our staff) and Tim is always available to discuss the status of any continuing matter with all of our clients. But all our staff are “on call” to our clients.
The location of our office at Quay Central on Brisbane’s North Quay is by design. We’re placed within a few minutes’ walk from the Supreme, District, Planning & Environment and Magistrates Courts and just a one-minute stroll from the Federal and High Courts. And most of the leading Counsel and Senior Counsel in Queensland have their chambers in either our building, the adjoining Inns of Court or nearby Santos Place. All this means is that, in litigation matters, we’re perfectly placed for conferences with counsel, even urgent, short-notice ones, and court appearances and hearings.
We may be Brisbane-based but we travel – all the time and all over Queensland. Or, if our clients don’t need us for face-to-face, on-site meetings, we’ll be there virtually via Zoom, Skype, Teams or whatever platform suits the situation.
- In 2021 we successfully acted for the Gold Coast City Council in Island Resorts (Apartments) Pty Ltd v Gold Coast City Council in an appeal challenging the Council’s rating decision.
- In 2021 we successfully acted for Logan City Council in the QIRC in Kelsey v Logan City Council & Ors, with the Council cleared of unlawfully dismissing its former CEO.
- Also in 2021 we successfully defended Somerset Regional Council’s refusal of a development application seeking approval for a new use of rural land in the form of a hard rock quarry extracting up to 100,000 tonnes per annum and a concrete batching plant (Edith Pastoral Company Pty Ltd v Somerset Regional Council & Ors).
Meet The Team
Mark Williams
Partner
Partner
John Butt
Partner
Partner
Darius Isaacs
Partner
Partner
Michael Cerruto
Special Counsel
Special Counsel
Kirsty Ling
Senior Associate
Senior Associate
Erin Kay
Senior Associate
Senior Associate
Ethan Edwards
Associate
Associate
Peita Crombie
Paralegal
Paralegal
