Two kinds of people call an agency lawyer. Firms in Melbourne, Perth, Newcastle or three suburbs away with a mention at the Downing Centre and nobody free. And people who have just discovered, from overseas or interstate or a letter that sat unopened, that a creditor’s petition is listed at 9:30 tomorrow and a sequestration order will be made if nobody stands up. We do both. For firms, a solicitor appears on your instructions and reports the same day. For everyone else, a solicitor appears for you, asks the court for what can realistically be asked for, and tells you what happened before you’ve finished your coffee in whatever time zone you’re in.
Listed tomorrow? Call now. The earlier we have the documents, the more we can ask the court for.
Where you stand
Four situations, one thing in common: someone needs to be standing in a Sydney courtroom soon. Tap the one that's yours.
We are not the cheapest agent in Sydney and we are not trying to be. We are the one that reads the file before standing up.
If the letter has a court date on it, that date is real whether or not you’ve replied. Courts make orders against people who aren’t there every day of the week.
What we do
Two kinds of instruction. One from a firm, one from the person themselves. Same solicitor, same courts.
Agency work has always been the quiet part of practice: a solicitor in the city appearing for a firm that isn’t, on instructions, and reporting back. That is still most of it, and we do it for interstate, regional and Sydney firms across the Supreme, District, Local and Federal courts. But the same skill serves a second group nobody writes for. The person overseas with a hearing tomorrow doesn’t need an agent in the technical sense. They need a solicitor who will appear for them on a limited retainer, ask the court for an adjournment with proper reasons, and be honest about what the court is likely to do. That is what the second half of this list is.
Local, District and Supreme Court. Confirming appearance, seeking dates, consenting to orders, holding the position.
Supreme Court Corporations List, Commercial List and Equity Duty. Federal Court directions. FCFCOA registrar lists.
Creditor's petitions in the Federal Circuit and Family Court. Winding up applications in the Supreme and Federal Courts. Applicant or respondent.
Notices of motion, set-aside applications, adjournment applications and short contested matters on your instructions.
Registry attendances, filing in person where e-filing isn't available, inspecting and copying subpoenaed material.
Sitting behind your barrister when your solicitor can't travel, with notes and a same-day report.
Appearing to seek an adjournment, or to oppose the sequestration order on solvency or other sufficient cause.
Filing a notice of appearance and grounds of opposition, and appearing for the company in the Corporations List.
The 21-day set-aside application under s 459G, filed and served in time. Or advice that it's already too late, and what that means.
Applications to set aside where you didn't know, weren't served, or have a defence.
Civil and criminal first mentions, AVO mentions and adjournment requests where you cannot attend.
Any other Sydney list where a solicitor appearing with instructions changes what the court will do.
For individuals, this is a limited-scope retainer: we act for the appearance and what’s needed to run it, we tell you the cost before we accept it, and we tell you plainly if the better option is a different kind of lawyer. For firms, we act on your instructions and never for your client.
The deadlines that matter
One that can't be extended, one that sets the earliest hearing, one that measures how fast an order lands, and one that decides how long the pressure lasts.
Urgent court work runs on a small number of statutory clocks, and which one you’re on decides what is still possible. Some of them are generous and the court will listen to a good reason. One of them is not, and no reason on earth will move it. Knowing which is which before you call means the call is about what to do, not about what you’ve already lost.
From service. The application must be filed and served inside the 21 days, and the court has no power to extend it by a single day. Miss it and the company is presumed insolvent. s 459G Corporations Act.
The petition must be personally served at least five clear business days before the hearing. Served yesterday for a hearing tomorrow? That alone is a ground to adjourn.
Once made, the order is sealed and available on the Commonwealth Courts Portal within a day. It is public, and far harder to unwind than to prevent.
After a statutory demand expires unanswered, the creditor has three months to file a winding up application on the presumption. The window doesn't close when the demand does. s 459C(2).
The 21 days is the only date on this list the court has no power to move. Every other one can, with reasons and evidence, be the subject of an adjournment application. That is what an appearance is for.
Tell us the court, the date and what you’ve been served with. We’ll tell you the same day whether an appearance can help, what it would cost, and what we’d ask the court for.
The empty chair
Courts don't wait. The table below is the difference between an order made against you in your absence and a solicitor standing up with a reason.
Every court list has a default outcome for the party who doesn’t turn up, and in the lists that matter most it is not a postponement. It is the order the other side came for. A creditor’s petition heard without the debtor usually ends in a sequestration order. A winding up application without the company usually ends in a liquidator. A civil claim without a defence ends in default judgment. None of that is the court being harsh; it is the court doing what the rules say when one side is silent. An appearance changes the question the court is asking, from “is there any reason not to make the order” to “here is the reason, and here is the evidence”. The table is honest about both columns.
The third column is what can be asked for, not what the court will do. Every one of those requests needs a reason and, usually, a document behind it. That is why the difference between a 3 PM call and a 9 PM call is the difference between an affidavit and an apology.
An agent asking for an adjournment is not the same as an agent getting one. The court will want to know why, how long, and what evidence exists. The reasons the courts actually accept — a dispute on foot elsewhere, service short of the required days, payment about to land, a defence on the merits — need documents behind them, and documents take hours to get from a client on the other side of the world. That is why the call needs to be today.
Empty chair tomorrow morning?
Send us the court documents tonight, whatever time zone you’re in. We’ll tell you before the list opens what we can ask for and what it costs.
What actually happens
Nothing about an urgent appearance is mysterious. This is what has to happen, in order, and where the time goes.
People assume an urgent appearance is a phone call and a solicitor turning up. It is a phone call, then a conflict check, then a retainer and a costs agreement, then whatever documents the court will need, then the appearance, then the report. The steps are the same whether you’re a firm in Perth or a director in Singapore. What changes is how much can be done in the time left, and that depends almost entirely on when the first call is made. Three in the afternoon leaves enough hours for an affidavit. Nine at night does not.
From a 3 PM call to a 9:30 AM listing. Enough for a properly documented adjournment application. The later the first call, the more of this collapses into the overnight step.
Court, date, list, what you've been served with, what you want to happen. We say yes or no on the call, including if an appearance won't change the outcome.
Names run against the firm's records. Costs disclosure and a fixed-fee limited retainer sent for electronic signature. Nothing is drafted until it's back.
The originating process, the affidavits, anything that shows a dispute, a payment or a defence. Photographs are fine. Forwarded from a lawyer overseas is fine. Nothing at all is the problem.
What we'll ask the court for and on what basis. Whether an affidavit is needed and from whom. Whether we tell the other side tonight, which sometimes gets the adjournment by consent before anyone stands up.
Notice of appearance, grounds of opposition or the adjournment affidavit drafted and sworn where it can be. Filed on the portal before the list opens. This is the step that eats the hours you didn't give it.
A solicitor stands up, makes the application, answers the registrar or the judge, and takes the orders. If something unexpected comes up, you get a call from the court steps before we agree to it.
In writing: what was said, what was ordered, what happens next and by when, orders attached. Same morning, in your inbox, whatever time zone you read it in.
Time for an affidavit, a call to the other side, and a filed position. This is the version that works.
An appearance with reasons but probably no sworn evidence. Sometimes enough. Often not in bankruptcy.
A solicitor can still appear and ask. Without documents the answer is usually the order. We'll say that rather than take the fee.
Eighteen hours is enough for a well-documented adjournment application. It is not enough for a contested solvency case, and it is never enough for a set-aside application on a statutory demand whose 21 days expired last week. We’ll say which you’re in on the first call.
It’s after 6 PM and the hearing is at 9:30?
Call anyway. The court, the date and the documents are enough for us to tell you tonight whether an appearance is worth it.
Where it's listed
The court and the date are on the first page of what you've been served with. The building is the part people get wrong.
Sydney’s courts sit in four buildings within a fifteen-minute walk of each other, and the name on the document doesn’t always tell you which. Bankruptcy is heard in the Federal Circuit and Family Court, not the Federal Court, and the two are in different buildings. The District Court’s civil list isn’t at the Downing Centre with its criminal list. The Supreme Court’s Corporations List, where companies are wound up, sits in Queens Square with the Federal Court, whose winding up list is upstairs. Knowing the building is the first thing we confirm and the last thing anyone reads.
Walk times are from our office at Grosvenor Place, 225 George Street. If the listing is in a building not on this list, tell us the court and we'll say straight away whether we can cover it.
General information only. This page describes what an agent can ask a court for, not what a court will do. It is not legal advice for your matter. Court addresses and walk times are as at September 2026. Reviewed on any change to the Bankruptcy Rules or Part 5.4 of the Corporations Act.
For law firms
What we need, when we need it, and what comes back.
The day before is comfortable. The morning of is usually workable for a mention. For anything contested, or anything that needs an affidavit, we'll tell you on the call whether the notice is enough.
Need someone at the Downing Centre on Thursday?
Send the court, the date and what you want. We’ll confirm the fee and the solicitor by return.
Who runs your matter
Independent, on the right side of the numbers, and honest about what a percentage would cost you.
Agency work goes wrong in one of two ways. The agent didn't have the instructions, or the agent didn't read them. The first is fixed by the checklist above. The second is fixed by a rule we don't bend: the solicitor who takes the brief is the solicitor standing in the list, and they have read the last set of orders before they leave the office.
For the second kind of caller, the director in Singapore or the debtor in Perth who has just found the petition, the rule is the same and the honesty matters more. We will say on the first call whether an appearance can change anything. If the 21 days on a statutory demand expired last week, or the only ground is that you'd rather not be bankrupt, we'll say so rather than take the fee. An agent who stands up with nothing to say is not a service. It's a receipt.
Three things decide whether tomorrow goes differently. Which building, what the court will accept as a reason, and whether the document that proves it can reach us tonight. All three are questions for this afternoon, not for 9:15.
Court, date and list are on the first page of what you were served with. Send that before anything else.
Grosvenor Place is four minutes from Queens Square and twelve from Goulburn Street. Nobody is coming from the suburbs.
What can be asked for, what the court is likely to say, and whether the fee is worth paying. On the first call.
Why BOS Legal
In the city, on foot, and honest about the empty chair.
The file, the last orders, what the other side wants. An agent who hasn't read it is a body in a suit, and the registrar can tell inside a sentence.
Firms brief us for mentions. Directors and debtors brief us the night before a petition. The second kind teaches you what actually persuades a registrar at 9:35, and the first kind benefits from it.
If an appearance won't change the outcome, or the 21 days is already gone, we'll tell you on the call rather than take the fee. That's cheaper for you and better for us.
Grosvenor Place is four minutes from Queens Square and twelve from Goulburn Street. Nobody is coming from Parramatta to make your 9:30.
An adjournment buys time. What you do with it, whether that’s setting aside a demand, defending the claim underneath a default judgment, or negotiating with the creditor while the petition is stood over, runs on the same rules as every other dispute in the Supreme Court. That’s the next page.
No charge for the first conversation. Confidential.
Four deadlines run in an urgent matter. Only one of them can never be moved, and one of them is already tomorrow.
Call today. The hours between now and 9:30 are the ones that matter.
Agency Appearances
Yes. A solicitor admitted in NSW can appear for you in any Sydney court on your instructions. You'll need to sign a retainer and costs agreement, which can be done electronically, and the court may want an affidavit from you explaining why you're not there and what you're asking for. That affidavit can be sworn overseas before a notary or Australian consular officer, or in some cases affirmed remotely. What matters is that instructions and documents reach us with enough hours to prepare.
Adjourn it under s 33 of the Bankruptcy Act, dismiss it under s 52(2) if you prove solvency or other sufficient cause, or make the order. The debtor's only onus is solvency or sufficient cause. The court will usually adjourn where the underlying debt is being genuinely disputed in another court. It will sometimes go behind a default judgment where the debt itself is contested, but rarely behind a judgment that was defended on the merits.
For a mention, directions or callover, the day before is comfortable and the morning of is usually workable. For anything contested, or anything where an affidavit is needed, the more hours the better, and there is a point in the evening past which an affidavit for a 9:30 listing can't be sworn in time. We'll tell you where that point is when you call.
For firms, a fixed fee for the appearance, quoted and confirmed before we accept the brief. For individuals on an urgent matter, a fixed fee for the appearance and a separate estimate for any affidavit or application that has to be prepared, both in writing before work starts. We'll also say, on the same call, if an appearance isn't worth paying for.
Almost certainly a sequestration order. The Federal Circuit and Family Court's own guidance says that if the debtor doesn't attend, any notice of grounds of opposition is likely to be dismissed and a sequestration order made in their absence. It's sealed and on the Commonwealth Courts Portal within 24 hours. An appearance changes that, if there's a reason the court can act on: a dispute about the debt on foot elsewhere, short service, payment imminent, or evidence of solvency.
Not on the demand. The 21 days to apply under s 459G cannot be extended, and the application has to be filed and served within it. What's left is the winding up hearing, where the company can seek an adjournment to pay, oppose on filed grounds, or apply for leave under s 459S to raise a dispute it could have raised earlier — and that leave is only given where the ground goes to solvency. We'll say on the call which of those is realistic.
Yes, in writing, the same business day, with the orders attached where we have them. If something unexpected comes up in the list, you'll get a call from the court before we agree to it, not a report afterwards explaining why we did.
For firms, a fixed fee for the appearance, quoted and confirmed before we accept the brief. For individuals on an urgent matter, a fixed fee for the appearance and a separate estimate for any affidavit or application that has to be prepared, both in writing before work starts. We'll also say, on the same call, if an appearance isn't worth paying for.
Bring the court documents, or the brief if you're a firm. Photographs are fine.
And if it does, what we'll ask for, what the court is likely to say, and what has to be signed tonight.
A fixed fee for the appearance, in writing, before we accept it.
Sydney and regional NSW court appearances for interstate and out-of-town solicitors. Fixed fee, same-day confirmation, court-by-court pricing.
Contract, shareholder, debt and business disputes in every NSW court. A written view on prospects and cost before you commit to a fight.
Unfair dismissal, general protections, redundancy and restraints of trade. Acting for employees and employers. Strict 21-day deadlines apply.
Separation, property settlement, parenting arrangements and de facto claims. Clear advice at a difficult time, without inflaming it.
Wills, powers of attorney, probate and estate administration, and contesting a will in NSW. Structured properly the first time, so your family isn't left arguing.
Company structures, shareholders agreements, contracts and business sales. Set up properly now, so the dispute never starts.
Leave your name and number. A lawyer calls you back, tells you where you stand and what happens next. No charge, no obligation.
Twenty minutes with a lawyer. You'll leave the call knowing where you stand, what your options are, and what the first step costs.
