Kirsty Smith has been a key member of the firm’s Building and Construction practice for 14 years, and is an experienced construction dispute lawyer and front-end lawyer.
Kirsty has been recognised as a thought leader in the Autumn 2021 Mondaq Thought Leadership Awards for Australia in Arbitration & Dispute Resolution.
Experience
Kirsty Smith is a partner in Holding Redlich’s Construction, Infrastructure and Projects Team, specialising in the resolution of disputes. She is experienced in litigation, expert determination, mediation and arbitration concerning a wide range of issues on construction projects that often lead to complex negotiations, disputes and settlements.
Kirsty works as part of a specialised team to successfully achieve objectives set by clients, including coordinating high pressure adjudication proceedings. Her understanding and interest in her client’s business and projects helps her to achieve the best result possible for her clients. Those successful outcomes are founded on her dedication to her clients as well as her pragmatic approach to advising on strategies to overcome obstacles. She operates across all jurisdictions in Australia for contractors, consultants and principals, including government.
Examples of Kirsty’s construction dispute experience include the following:
Road infrastructure - advising the Queensland Department of Transport and Main Roads (TMR) on various design and construction disputes, and acting on TMR’s behalf in adjudication proceedings
Solar farms - acting for the head contractor in relation to a dispute concerning an aborted solar farm project, including in relation to a dispute with an international supplier of solar panels
Building product liability disputes – acted for an ASX listed company regarding the performance of building products
Civil infrastructure – acted for various principals and contractors in civil construction disputes (Supreme Court and adjudications)
Brisbane Airport — acted in relation to 2 significant disputes (between $10 million and $30 million+) in relation to design works and Supreme Court Proceedings
Western Corridor Recycled Water Project – acted for the civil engineering contractor in an arbitration concerning the Western Corridor Recycled Water Project
GIS Substation project in New South Wales (Holroyd and Rookwood Road Project) — acted for a professional service consultancy company in relation to the design works and involving adjudications and advice on substantive proceedings, and resulting in a commercial settlement
Northern Territory Secure Facilities Project — acted for an Australian subsidiary of a Fortune 100 company in relation to a security systems subcontract involving a maximum security prison in the Northern Territory, resulting in complex adjudication proceedings and successfully defending an appeal of the adjudication decision in the Northern Territory Supreme Court
Long Bay Prison Hospital Facilities – acted for the Facilities Matter in proceedings in the Supreme Court of New South Wales in relation to a dispute concerning the hydraulic system
Sino Iron Ore Project — acted for a civil contractor in relation to major civil pipeline construction projects in Western Australia involving adjudications, mediations, a commercial arbitration and substantive Federal Court proceedings. In addition to contributing the all aspects of the proceedings, Kirsty was responsible for implementing an electronic disclosure regime which resulted in review of over 100,000 documents
Legacy Way Tunnel, Project Connection — acted for a joint venture in defending a claim brought by Energex Limited under the security of payment legislation in Queensland, resulting in a commercial settlement
“The Sands” at Yamba — acted for a commercial building company in relation to a residential building claim by a body corporate concluding to a successful determination by the Consumer, Trader and Tenancy Tribunal in New South Wales
Clem Jones Tunnel in Queensland — acted in alternative dispute resolution proceedings and Court of Appeal proceedings in relation to signage works on the Clem Jones Tunnel in Queensland, which resulted in a commercial settlement.
Injunctions
acted in various Originating Applications seeking urgent injunctive relief in the Supreme and Federal Courts
acted in various applications for prohibitory injunctions to restrain Principals on construction projects from having recourse to the security (bank guarantees) (acting both for Principals and against Principals)
acted in proceedings for mandatory injunctions seeking delivery up of goods.
Debt recovery
advising clients of options for enforcing judgment debts
enforcement of judgment debts in the Supreme and District Court of Queensland, including
acting in proceedings for the enforcement of a judgment debt against a Director of a company liable for the judgment debt pursuant to a personal guarantee
applying for enforcement warrants for the seizure and sale of property
applying for, and instructing Counsel at, an enforcement hearing
applying for the appointment of a receiver to call up informal loans made by the debtor company to interrelated companies payable on demand
enforcement of a judgment debt in the small claims division of the Local Court of New South Wales, by way of a Notice of Motion for the issue of a writ for the levy of property against the judgment debtor
lodging/removing caveats over property
recovery of debts under the Subcontractors’ Charges Act 1974 (Qld), including instructing Counsel in associated proceedings in the Supreme Court of Queensland
issuing statutory demands under the Corporations Act 2001 (Cth).
We highlight significant developments in the construction industry next year, including new climate reporting mandates, persistent cladding challenges and potential reforms in New South Wales, Queensland and Victoria.
While it is generally legal and ethical to speak to the opposing party’s expert witness in building disputes, we explore several factors that must be considered carefully before deciding to make this move.
Construction defects can significantly impact a project’s safety, integrity and budget. This edition covers key concepts including defects liability period, a contractor’s right to remedy defects and maintaining privilege during defect investigations.
Following the outcome of a recent disciplinary proceeding against an engineer in Queensland, we discuss the types of conduct that could lead to an investigation and potential disciplinary proceedings.
Arbitration is an increasingly common form of dispute resolution in the Australian construction industry. In this article, we consider who is bound to arbitrate, as it is not always limited only to the parties to the contract
In this article, we consider two recent decisions and what they mean for the recognition and enforcement of international arbitration awards in Australia.
We consider the challenges associated with recovering performance security under construction contracts, and how Western Australia has legislated to overcome these challenges.
The NSW Supreme Court decision of Turnkey v Witron has raised concerns on the validity of payment schedules where only part of the payment claim is addressed.
In the sixth instalment of this series on the AS4902 standard form design and construct contract, we discuss how contracts deal with defective work and rectification.
