Experience & Expertise
Sarah is an experienced commercial litigation, and building & construction lawyer. She has an impeccable track record on major disputes in all courts including the High Court, Court of Appeal and Supreme Court.
She has particular expertise in disputes pursuant to the Building and Construction Industry Security of Payment Act 1999 (NSW), and judicial review challenges to decisions under that legislation in the New South Wales Supreme Court.
Her experience also extends to providing advice on the negotiation and conclusion of high risk and high value commercial contracts (professional services, supply of goods and/or services, master supply, ICT (including software licencing, IT consultancy, server maintenance, cloud hosting), IP) and construction contracts (D&C (including GC21, AS 4300), construct only, minor works, professional services).
She has also spent considerable time on major client retainers and secondments, including with public and statutory bodies and publicly listed companies.
Clients commend Sarah on her complex problem-solving and strategic decision making.
In particular, she enjoys assisting construction professionals to keep projects on track by offering early, practical assistance to avoid and resolve disputes and manage claims and notifications (such as payment claims and schedules, EOT claims, delay notifications, variation claims, latent conditions and completion notification).
ACCOMPLISHMENTS
Between 2016 and 2018 Sarah acted for the successful party in the landmark proceedings of Probuild Constructions (Aust) Pty Ltd v Shade Systems Pty Ltd which culminated in a unanimous decision of the High Court that the Building and Construction Industry Security of Payment Act 1999 ousted the jurisdiction of the Supreme Court to quash adjudicator’s decisions for non-jurisdictional errors of law on the face of the record.
Her notable cases include:
- Probuild Constructions (Aust) Pty Ltd v Shade Systems Pty Ltd (2018) 264 CLR 1
- Shade Systems Pty Ltd v Probuild Constructions (Aust) Pty Ltd (No 4) [2018] NSWCA 52
- Shade Systems Pty Ltd v Probuild Constructions (Aust) Pty Ltd [2018] NSWCA 33
- Shade Systems Pty Ltd v Probuild Constructions (Aust) Pty Ltd [2016] NSWCA 382
- Shade Systems Pty Ltd v Probuild Constructions (Aust) Pty Ltd (No 2) (2016) 95 NSWLR 157
- Flynn
v PPK Mining Equipment Pty Ltd (No 2) [2022] NSWSC 1640
- Futurepower Developments Pty Ltd v TJ & RF Fordham Pty Ltd [2019] NSWSC 1554
- Pinnacle Construction Group Pty Ltd v Dimension Joinery & Interiors Pty Ltd [2018] NSWSC 894
- Southern Cross Electrical Engineering v Steve Magill Earthmoving [2018] NSWSC 1027
- Futurepower Developments Pty Ltd v TJ & RF Fordham Pty Ltd [2017] NSWSC 232
- Probuild Constructions (Aust) Pty Ltd v Shade Systems Pty Ltd [2016] NSWSC 770