EXPERIENCE & EXPERTISE
Sonam’s general commercial litigation practice largely includes:
- Contractual disputes
- Company director, shareholder and partnership disputes
- Property disputes
- Estate litigation
- Franchise disputes
- Environmental law litigation and prosecution related to environmental offences
- Regulator prosecutions including building offences
- Consumer protection and misleading and deceptive conduct claims
- Defamation and reputational dispute
- Debt recovery
- Personal and Corporate insolvency matters.
Sonam also advises borrowers, lenders, guarantors and directors in disputes arising from business breakdowns, enforcement action and financial distress. Sonam also has significant experience in defending builders and business against prosecutions by Council or any regulated bodies for building and environmental related disputed.
Sonam’s practice supports a diverse client base including financiers and lenders, business owners, property owners, developers and builders, franchise owners, and private individuals.
Sonam has appeared and instructed in Supreme Court of Victoria, the Victorian Court of Appeal, County Court, Magistrates Court, as well as VCAT and in international arbitration. She works closely with various Senior Counsel and Kings Counsel on regular basis. Sonam has also acted and instructed in proceedings before Courts in South Australia, NSW and Tasmania.
Sonam is a highly motivated and commercially minded litigator and works closely with client in advising on litigation strategies. She ensures that a realistic approach is taken to achieving practical objectives customised for each client.
ACCOMPLISHMENTS
- A multi-party litigated matter in the Supreme Court on behalf of shareholders and directors of a group of companies, where specific performance was sought pursuant to an agreement and involved share transfer and sale disputes
- A large and well-known franchisor in a restraint of trade and non-solicitation of clients’ dispute
- A multi-party litigated matter in the Supreme Court on behalf of a beneficiary, where a multi-million-dollar estate distribution dispute was litigated
- Acting on behalf of a property developer in the Supreme Court and on appeal in the Court of Appeal, arising from the repudiation of a development contract
- A defamation proceeding on behalf of private individual against a well-known media network
- An injurious falsehood proceeding on behalf of a business involving reputation damage and consequences of false and negative online reviews against a business and business owner
- Clients and companies in the Supreme Court and Magistrates Courts involving appeal of Environmental Protection Notices, alleged environmental breaches and regulator prosecutions
- A builder in the Magistrates Court where the builder was prosecuted by Council for issues regarding a heritage overlay
- Acting on behalf of a farming entity in the Supreme Court and on appeal in the Court of Appeal, in relation to the dispute arising from the primary production tax exception provided by s67 of Land Tax Act
- Corporate clients in the County Court, where there was dispute over the sale of goods, obligations under the contract for sale and its purpose in export of those goods
- A Corporate client in the Supreme Court for a misleading deceptive conduct matter arising from a breach of contract
- A contractual dispute involving dispute over the business indemnity and warrant claims arising from the contact of sale of business
- Disputes relating to property in the Supreme Court including seeking injunctive relief, removal and maintenance of caveats, opposing mortgagee in possession sales and specific performance of contracts
- Acting for lenders and corporate clients in enforcement proceedings
- An Australian company in international (ICC) arbitration in relation to disputes over industrial machinery. Acted in Court proceedings seeking to enforce arbitral awards and appeals from arbitration.