David Creais Commercial Disputes Building & Construction Lawyer

Areas of Expertise

David is an accredited specialist in commercial litigation and has been practising commercial law, litigation and dispute resolution for over 35 years. David has a strong understanding of construction and procurement law. He also advises on protecting assets using the Personal Property Securities Act 2009 and on the systems of corporate governance. David complements his commercial skills by being a highly effective mediator.

As a member of the Governance and Risk Management Committee of the board of Northholm Grammar School Ltd, David has direct practical experience of what it takes to run a successful business and set up and maintain good corporate governance. This means his advice is commercially focused, strategic and pragmatic – not just legally sound.

What David’s clients say

“David is a lawyer I enjoy instructing. I find his advice practical and commercial, avoiding disputes and high costs. I enjoy being able to give him work and making Council’s problems Bartier’s to resolve without push-back.” – General Counsel, Local Government City Council

“Great job David to you and your team. Thank you for everything David.” - Managing Director, subsidiary of Multinational Corporation

“David, I can’t remember a case in which the administration and support has been as good as it was in this case. Added to that, your contributions to the legal analysis, including your review of pleadings and other documents, played a great part in shaping and directing the case overall. My thanks to you and to the team at BP.“ – leading commercial senior counsel.

Qualifications/Memberships

Bachelor of Laws (University of Sydney)
Accredited Specialist in Commercial Litigation
Certificate of Commercial Mediation
Law Society of NSW
Australian Restructuring Insolvency and Turnaround Association
Honorary Solicitor Australian Society of Building Consultants
Corporate membership, Australian Institute of Credit Management

Specialist Accreditation is a structured peer to peer assessment process enabling legal practitioners to be recognised for their expertise. To be accredited specialists they must pass a series of meticulous assessments on both legal knowledge and its application in practice. To retain their accreditation specialists must undertake significant additional professional development in their area of expertise each year.

A word from David

"We took over a large litigation matter from a top tier global firm. It was clear they’d just been going through the motions. The MD of the client was frustrated and hadn’t been able to make a connection on a personal level with the lawyers who had conduct of the file.

By listening carefully to our client’s MD, asking pertinent questions and thoroughly reviewing the available materials, we were able to master the facts and background, and to identify and understand our client’s interests and goals. From that point we worked as a cohesive team with our client and our barristers to change the direction of the case and focus on our strong points, including arguments and documents that hadn’t been considered by the previous firm. The result was total victory for our client – both legally and commercially."

Career highlights

Acting as principal lawyer on a joint tender for the design and construction of a waste and recyclables processing facility or transfer station. This included drafting a 7-10 year contract to supply collection and processing services. The project required sound project management, stakeholder management and communication skills. The end result was a comprehensive, user-friendly tender document.
Successfully negotiating the settlement of three interstate unfair preference claims for our manufacturer client using Personal Property Securities Act arguments that are yet to be tested by the courts.
Reviewing our statutory corporation client’s standard construction contract, focusing on the provisions affecting the way it managed WHS issues and risks on construction sites.
Successfully representing our statutory corporation client in proceedings against a third-party contractor after a feeder cable failed, apparently as a result of damage during excavation. This included overcoming a lack of direct contemporaneous evidence that the contractor had damaged the cable by gathering historical evidence about the contractor’s actions. Our client was also awarded costs.
Advising on documentation of agreements between our local government client, a NSW Government agency, the Commonwealth and a State Owned Corporation to facilitate the construction and use of major transport infrastructure.
Successfully setting a multi-million dollar claim for the defective supply and installation of asphalt pavement at an international standard motor racing circuit.
Authoring sections of the Business Disputes topic, published online by LexisNexis as part of the Practical Guidance resource for legal practitioners.

Specific areas of focus

David drafts, negotiates and advises on procurement contracts and tenders for NSW Government agencies, State Owned Corporations, local government and SMEs, covering a range of services and materials including construction, maintenance, waste and information technology.

In his litigation practice David resolves commercial disputes in areas such as: