Current practice
Denis Davies is the head of the Melbourne office. He has had more than 30 years of experience in commercial litigation.
Denis acts as instructing solicitor to counsel for both plaintiffs and defendants. He is frequently the team leader in managing the preparation for trial and the conduct of the trial in complex litigation matters. He is a very skilful negotiator and is trained in the practice of alternative dispute resolution, crisis management techniques, and has served as a Law Institute-appointed arbitrator. In the construction engineering field he has acted as counsel and solicitor for owners, contractors, sub-contractors and consultants.
Experience
Significant matters in which Denis has acted include:
- acting for a public hospital in a dispute over the construction of a major ward block
- litigation against BHP Petroleum in relation to the construction of an offshore mooring facility for the recovery of oil in the Timor Sea
- acting for the principal contractor against the State of Victoria and its engineers over the construction of the State Swimming Centre
- advising a creditor of Compass Airlines in protecting its position before the appointment of the liquidator;
- acting for Lloyd's of London in litigation by a Lloyd's name in Australia
- advising investment banks in regard to the recovery of a $360m loan facility
- a member of the Freehills team that acted on behalf of the four domestic airlines in the Airline Pilots Dispute
- acting for clients in significant matters involving the National Crime Authority and the ASIC
- acting for defendants in Auditors negligence claims and also involvement in significant matters relating to white collar crime
- acting for clients in major engineering and construction disputes relating to Australian and offshore projects.
Professional background
Denis has Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Laws degrees from the University of Melbourne. He joined the firm in 1966 and was made a partner in 1970.
Denis served on a Law Institute Committee which was involved in the revision of the Victorian Supreme Court Rules in 1986. He is a joint editor of the four volume legal publication Court Forms, Precedents and Pleadings – Victoria. He has written and presented many papers at seminars involving aspects of litigation.
