Brenton Devanny

Brenton Devanny has a broad commercial practice. He has a focus on insolvency, banking and finance, commercial arbitration and corporations law.

Brenton appears both unled and as a junior. He is a market leader in high-tech legal conferencing and remote appearances with state-of-the-art chambers in Melbourne.  He often appears remotely throughout Australia and beyond and is a member of the Innovation and Technology Committee.

Brenton holds a Master of Laws from the University of Melbourne (with a focus on International Insolvency and Arbitration) as well as a Bachelor of Laws (with Honours) and a Bachelor of Commerce.  

Experience

At the Bar, Brenton has a broad commercial practice, including:

• applying for urgent interlocutory injunctions;
• trustee claims under the Bankruptcy Act, in particular for sale of vested property;
• defending appeals to the Federal Court (unled) against orders for sale, including opposing applications for a stay pending appeal;
• successfully appealing in the Federal Court (unled) to the extent that a bankrupt's property was 'protected' under the Bankruptcy Act;
• applications for annulments of bankruptcy, both for and against;
• disputes concerning Small Business Restructuring;
• shareholder disputes;
• disputes conterning Personal Insolvency Agreements or Debt Agreements;
• disputes concerning Creditor’s Statutory Demands;
• antecedent transaction litigation such as unfair preference, uncommercial transaction and unreasonable director-related transaction litigation;
• disputes over property secured under the Personal Property Securities Act;
• applications by liquidators and trustees for orders and directions, including remuneration applications;
• commercial disputes, including construction disputes;
• caveat disputes;
• lease disputes, including Retail Leases and Residential Tenancies;
• mediations and commercial arbitrations;
• International insolvency, both personal and corpororate under the UNCITRAL Model Law incorporated into the Cross-Border Insolvency Act;
• Trusts and estates litigation; and
• civil appeals.

Brenton is also a contributing author to Lexis Nexis' Bankruptcy Law and Practice in the areas of:

• Court's jurisdiction in bankruptcy;
• Acts of bankruptcy;
• Creditors' petitions;
• Voluntary bankruptcy; and
• Bankruptcy of deceased estates.

Brenton read with Peter Fary SC and his senior mentor was Garry Bigmore KC.