Nicholas Bender SC

Silk 2022
Call 2007
Email bender@banco.net.au
Phone +61 2 9376 0666
PDF
CV

Nicholas Bender SC has a broad-ranging, commercial practice and regularly appears in difficult cases involving substantial quantum.

He practises in all areas relating to commercial, corporate and financial disputes. He is also highly experienced in appearing in class actions and in inquiries involving matters of significance to the client.

Nicholas is listed in Chambers & Partners, where he is described as “fantastically diligent with an excellent brain” and is “recognised for his handling of high-value commercial, corporate and insolvency matters”, in Doyle's Guide in the “Leading” band for both commercial and insolvency law, and in Best Lawyers Australia.

Following are some notable recent matters:

AUSTRAC v. The Star: appearing for The Star in large and complex regulatory proceedings brought against it arising from alleged contraventions of the Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorism Financing Act 2006.
Palmer v. McGowan: appeared for the Premier of Western Australia in defamation proceedings brought against him by Clive Palmer.
ASIC v. Caddick: appointed as contradictor in the trial of civil penalty proceedings brought by ASIC against Melissa Caddick in which ASIC sought orders for the sale and distribution to investors of Ms Caddick’s estate.
Greensill Bank: appearing for Greensill Bank and its German administrator in a set of complex and high-value proceedings arising out of Greensill’s collapse.
Camenzuli v. Hawke: appointed as amicus curiae in the urgent final hearing of proceedings to resolve the status of the Executive Committee of the NSW Liberal Party during the pre-selection phase of the last Federal election.
Hall v. Arnold Bloch Leibler: appeared for the partners of Arnold Bloch Leibler in representative proceedings brought in connection with Slater & Gordon’s acquisition of the Professional Services Division of Quindell plc.
MB Australia Pty Ltd v. Citadel Group Properties: appearing for the seven principal defendants in a claim brought by the liquidators of the Max Brenner group of companies seeking to recover property valued by the liquidators at $70 million.
Daiwa Can v. Koutsoukos: appearing for a large, Japanese, listed company in an $11 million claim against Australian liquidators of its subsidiary.
ASIC v. GetSwift: appeared for one of three director defendants in regulatory proceedings brought by ASIC.
GetSwift class action: appeared for the director defendant in representative proceedings in connection with alleged breaches of continuous disclosure obligations.
Surfstitch class action: appeared for the director defendant in representative proceedings in connection with alleged breaches of directors duties.
Forge Group Ltd (in liq): appeared for three director defendants in proceedings brought by the liquidators in connection with the collapse of the Forge Group.
ICAC Operation Gerda: appeared for the University of Sydney in a 2.5 week hearing into corruption in relation to the University’s private security contracting arrangements.

Nicholas has appeared as lead counsel in several appeals in the New South Wales Court of Appeal and the Full Court of the Federal Court of Australia.

Over the course of his career, Nicholas has appeared in many other large and complex cases, such as AUSTRAC’s prosecution of the CBA, class action proceedings involving the sale of metal-on-metal hip replacement devices by Johnson & Johnson, the complex Boart Longyear scheme of arrangement proceedings, the prosecution by ASIC of the directors and officers of James Hardie, and a wide range of Commissions and Inquiries (including substantial experience appearing at ICAC).

In the past, Nicholas has been a Visiting Fellow at both the University of New South Wales and University College London where he taught private international law and international arbitration.