BOS Legal is a Sydney CBD firm led by a commercial litigator. We act for businesses, directors and individuals in disputes across the Local, District and Supreme Courts of NSW, the Federal Court and NCAT. Before you spend a dollar on a fight, you’ll know where you stand, what it’s likely to cost, and whether it’s worth running.
BEEN SERVED?
Every one of these has a clock on it. Tap the one you've received.
Don't ignore it and don't reply in anger. What you write now shapes the whole dispute.
You have 28 days from service to file a defence. Miss it and judgment can be entered against you.
Your company has 21 days to pay, secure the debt, or apply to set it aside. No extensions.
These are heard in days, sometimes hours. Call us the day it arrives.
Most commercial disputes don’t start in court. They start with an unpaid invoice, a partner who’s stopped turning up, a supplier who didn’t deliver, or a contract that one side now reads differently. Our job is to work out early whether you’ve got a claim worth pursuing (or a claim worth defending), and then run it in the way that gets you the best commercial result, not the longest fight.
We act on both sides. Roughly half our commercial litigation work is defending claims. That matters, because knowing how the other side builds a case is how you take one apart.
We act on both sides. Roughly half our commercial litigation work is defending claims. That matters, because knowing how the other side builds a case is how you take one apart.
Supply, services, distribution, licensing, sale of business, termination and repudiation, claims for damages or specific performance.
Deadlock, oppression claims under s 232 of the Corporations Act, buy-outs, breaches of shareholders agreements, breaches of directors' duties, partnership dissolution.
Letters of demand, Local Court and District Court recovery, creditor's statutory demands, setting aside statutory demands, enforcement of judgments.
Claims and defences under s 18 of the Australian Consumer Law, misrepresentation in business sales and investment.
Unpaid rent, make-good, relocation and demolition clauses, lease termination, Retail Leases Act claims.
Security of Payment Act claims and adjudications, defect and delay claims between principals, builders and subcontractors.
Enforcing or resisting non-competes, protecting client lists and trade secrets, urgent injunctions.
Stopping a transfer, a sale, a breach or a disappearing asset before the damage is done.
Termination, Franchising Code obligations, exclusivity and territory fights.
Claims against accountants, advisers, brokers and other professionals whose advice cost you money.
Give us a call or send us a message, and we'll let you know how we can help. There's no charge for an initial conversation about your matter.
The amount in dispute (and what the dispute is about) decides which court hears it. That decision drives cost, procedure and how long it takes.
Informal. Rules of evidence don't apply. Costs recovery is capped, so you'll wear most of your own legal fees even if you win.
Formal hearing before a magistrate. Witnesses give evidence. Most small business debt and contract claims sit here.
Judge-run. Full pleadings, discovery, expert evidence where needed. Mid-sized commercial disputes.
Shareholder oppression, injunctions, complex contract claims, anything over $1.25 million.
Corporations Act, Australian Consumer Law, intellectual property, winding up applications.
Commercial litigation runs on clocks. Miss one and your options shrink. These are the four that catch people out.
From service, a company must pay, secure the debt, or file and serve an application to set it aside. The court cannot extend this. Failing to act creates a presumption the company is insolvent.
From service of a statement of claim. Miss it and the plaintiff can apply for default judgment without a hearing.
For breach of contract and most damages claims in NSW, measured from when the cause of action arose. Some claims are shorter. Don't sit on a claim.
Freezing orders and interlocutory injunctions can be listed within days. Delay in bringing one is itself a reason a court may refuse it.
Deadlines run from the date of service, not the date you read the document. If you're unsure when you were served, call the day you find it.
Litigation is a business decision with legal machinery attached. Before we recommend proceedings, we’ll give you a written view on these five things. If the answers don’t stack up, we’ll tell you to settle or walk, and we’ll tell you why.
Not "you've got a good case". A frank assessment of the strengths, the holes, and what the other side will argue.
Damages you can prove, not damages you feel. Lost profit has to be foreseeable and provable. Interest and costs are separate questions.
A judgment against a company with no assets is a piece of paper. We check before you spend money chasing it.
A staged estimate: letter of demand, pleadings, mediation, hearing. You approve each stage before it starts.
A defended Supreme Court matter typically runs 12 to 24 months to a final hearing. That's management attention, not just money.
Sometimes the right answer is a strong letter and a settlement deed inside six weeks. Sometimes it's a hearing. We'll tell you which, and we won't change the answer to keep the file open.
Every matter is different, but the road is the same. Here’s what each stage involves and roughly where the cost sits, so nothing on your invoice is a surprise.
We read the contract, the correspondence and the numbers, and give you a written view on prospects, quantum and strategy. This is where most bad litigation is avoided.
A properly drafted letter sets out the claim, the legal basis and a deadline. It's evidence of a genuine attempt to resolve the dispute, which NSW courts expect under the Civil Procedure Act. A large share of disputes end here.
Without prejudice discussions, Calderbank offers, formal offers of compromise under the Uniform Civil Procedure Rules. A well-timed offer shifts the costs risk onto the other side if they refuse it and do worse at hearing.
Statement of claim or summons, defence and cross-claim, directions, discovery, evidence. This is where cost scales with the court and the complexity.
NSW courts can order mediation whether or not both sides agree, and in the Supreme Court they usually do. Most commercial matters settle at or shortly after mediation.
If it doesn't settle, a judge decides. Then, if you've won, we enforce: garnishee orders, writs, examination notices, bankruptcy or winding up. A judgment is only worth what you can collect.
Nobody enjoys this section, so we’ll be direct.
Fixed fees for the first three stages: assessment, letter of demand, and a response to a claim. Everything after that is estimated stage by stage in writing, and you approve each stage before it starts. You'll never get a bill for work you didn't authorise. We also tell you when a stage isn't worth doing.
Erica's hourly rate: $X plus GSTA Local Court debt or contract claim that runs to hearing is usually a five-figure exercise. A defended District or Supreme Court matter to final hearing is commonly $50,000 to $150,000 and above, depending on discovery, experts and counsel.
That's why the assessment stage exists: to make sure the claim justifies the spend before you commit to it.
In NSW, costs usually "follow the event": the loser pays a portion of the winner's costs. That portion is assessed on the ordinary basis and commonly lands somewhere between half and three-quarters of what you actually spent. Even the winning party is out of pocket.
The Small Claims Division caps recoverable costs at a very low figure, so sub-$20,000 claims are almost always about the debt, not the costs.
A formal offer of compromise, or a Calderbank letter, made at the right time puts the other side on notice: refuse it and do worse at hearing, and they may be ordered to pay your costs on the indemnity basis from the date of the offer.
Timing these offers is one of the most useful things a litigator does for you.
Your legal spend against what a costs order typically gets back. The gap is yours, even when you win.
Book the free 20-minute call. We’ll tell you what the first stage costs before it starts.
Erica is a commercial litigator and the principal of BOS Legal. She leads the firm's advisory work because she has spent her career at the other end of it: the shareholders agreement that didn't cover the exit, the sale contract with the warranty nobody read, the restraint that didn't hold. Every document she drafts is written against that experience.
With nearly twenty years in civil and commercial law, Erica has acted for corporations, business owners, builders and private clients in matters ranging from breach of contract and insolvency through to large group proceedings. She cuts through legal complexity and explains what actually matters, so clients can make confident decisions about their commercial position.
Her test for every clause is the same. If this goes wrong in three years, what does a judge do with it? If the answer isn't clear, the clause gets rewritten.
Half of commercial litigation is defending it, and a defence run well is often the best settlement leverage you’ll ever have.
If you’ve been served, the first job is triage. We’ll answer these four things in the first conference, then file what needs filing, on time, and start applying pressure back.
Before anything else, this is what we work out.
Then: file on time, and start applying pressure back. A defence run well is often the best settlement leverage you'll ever have.
Common defended work
The principal of the firm is a commercial litigator. This practice area is the reason the firm exists.
You get a written view on prospects, value and cost before proceedings are recommended. If the numbers don't work, we say so.
Fixed fees on the early stages. Staged estimates after that. Nothing starts without your approval.
Grosvenor Place, five minutes from the Supreme Court, Federal Court and Downing Centre. Agency work across 40+ NSW courts when your matter is out of town.
Prevent the next oneMost of the disputes we run trace back to a contract that was never signed, a shareholders agreement that was never drafted, or terms of trade nobody read. When this matter is done, we'll help you make sure there isn't a next one.
Corporate & Commercial AdvisoryNo charge for the first conversation. Confidential.
Don't ignore it and don't fire back an angry reply. Note the deadline, gather the contract and the correspondence, and get advice before you respond. A letter of demand is not a court document and it doesn't create a judgment, but how you respond sets the tone and the evidence for everything that follows. Often a well-drafted response ends the matter. Sometimes the right response is a cross-demand.
In NSW you have 28 days from the date of service to file a defence. If you don't, the plaintiff can apply for default judgment, which means they win without a hearing. If you've missed the deadline, call immediately. Default judgments can sometimes be set aside, but it costs more and it's harder than filing on time.
Possibly, and quickly. Interlocutory injunctions and freezing orders can be heard within days in the Supreme Court and Federal Court. You'll need to show a serious question to be tried, that damages wouldn't be an adequate remedy, and that the balance of convenience favours the order. Delay works against you. If this is your situation, call today, not next week.
Letter of demand stage: weeks. Local Court matters: months. A defended Supreme Court proceeding: typically 12 to 24 months to a final hearing, though most settle before then, usually at or after court-ordered mediation. Urgent injunctions are the exception and can be heard within days.
Not always before you file, but expect it. Under s 26 of the Civil Procedure Act 2005 (NSW) the court can refer a matter to mediation with or without the parties' consent, and in the Supreme Court it almost always does. Some contracts also require negotiation or mediation before proceedings. Courts expect a genuine attempt to resolve the dispute and can penalise parties in costs if they didn't make one.
Letter of demand stage: weeks. Local Court matters: months. A defended Supreme Court proceeding: typically 12 to 24 months to a final hearing, though most settle before then, usually at or after court-ordered mediation. Urgent injunctions are the exception and can be heard within days.
Not always before you file, but expect it. Under s 26 of the Civil Procedure Act 2005 (NSW) the court can refer a matter to mediation with or without the parties' consent, and in the Supreme Court it almost always does. Some contracts also require negotiation or mediation before proceedings. Courts expect a genuine attempt to resolve the dispute and can penalise parties in costs if they didn't make one.
Usually a portion of them. Costs in NSW generally follow the event, meaning the loser is ordered to pay the winner's costs, assessed on the ordinary basis. In practice that recovers something like half to three-quarters of what you actually spent. A well-timed offer of compromise or Calderbank offer can lift that to the indemnity basis for costs after the offer.
Six years from when the breach occurred, under the Limitation Act 1969 (NSW). Claims under the Australian Consumer Law for misleading conduct also carry a six-year limit. Some claims are shorter and some time limits are contractual, so check early.
You can, but you may not want to. A judgment against an insolvent company is worth nothing unless there are assets, a guarantee from a director, or an insurer behind it. Before proceedings we check the company, its directors and any personal guarantees. If the money isn't there, we'll tell you before you spend yours.
Often, yes. A letter of demand on a law firm letterhead resolves a large share of commercial debts. For debts of $4,000 or more owed by a company, a creditor's statutory demand puts a 21-day clock on the debtor with a winding-up application at the end of it. That focuses minds. Where the debt is genuinely disputed, court proceedings are the right path and a statutory demand is the wrong one.
Yes. We act for clients across New South Wales and appear in courts state-wide, and we can conduct most of a matter by phone, video and email. If you're a solicitor outside Sydney needing a local appearance, see our Agency Appearances service.
Sydney and regional NSW court appearances for interstate and out-of-town solicitors. Fixed fee, same-day confirmation, court-by-court pricing.
Company structures, shareholders agreements, contracts and business sales. Set up properly now, so the dispute never starts.
Local Court through to appeal. Charges, bail, drink and drug driving, licence appeals and work licences. Urgent matters answered the same day.
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.
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.
