Michael is a Partner of Taylor David. Michael has specialised in the areas of insolvency, restructuring and commercial litigation for over 20 years.
Michael returned to Australia in 2023, having spent over 15 years of his career practicing in the Cayman Islands and Hong Kong. Michael maintains an active practice in offshore law, principally acting in the offshore investment fund sector, as well as for corporations listed on global stock exchanges including the HKEX, NYSE, NASDAQ, LSC and AIM.
While in the Cayman Islands, Michael acted for a significant number of distressed hedge funds during the global financial crisis of 2008, providing advice in relation to all aspects of the operations and management of the funds and related litigation (redemptions, gates, side-pockets, directors’ duties, restructuring and winding up proceedings). In Hong Kong, Michael was managing partner and a partner (respectively) of two offshore law firms and managing director for Asia of a US-based private equity firm in the litigation funding and specialty finance sector.
Notable Matters include:
- Acting for representatives of Grant Thornton as joint official liquidator of Weavering Macro Fixed Income Fund Limited. This matter involved heavy commercial litigation against various service providers to the Fund, spanning some 7 years. The litigation was settled on confidential terms.
- Acting for eHi Car Services Limited (HKSE listed) in winding up proceedings initiated by a shareholder as part of a hostile takeover bid. Michael was successful in striking-out the winding up petition at a summary stage and subsequently in striking-out writ proceedings filed by the same shareholder.
- Acting for the petitioning minority shareholder in just and equitable winding up proceedings against a family-owned, multi-billion-dollar property development enterprise in Asia (headquartered in the Cayman Islands). The hard-fought and lengthy proceedings involved allegations of quasi-partnership, justifiable loss of confidence in management, fraud and exclusion from management. The proceedings included the appointment of Inspectors under the Cayman Island Companies Act, and culminated in an O’Neill v Phillips buy-out offer by the majority shareholders.
- Acting for a major investor in a Chinese based pharmaceutical company in relation to the investor’s redemption rights and investment recovery options.
- Acting for a publicly owned trust company in defending legal proceedings filed in the Supreme Court of Bermuda. The proceedings concerned the appointment of the trust company as ‘Security Trustee’ for a consortium of lenders and the subsequent sale by the trust company of significant mining assets in Africa. The proceedings involved allegations of sale at an undervalue, professional negligence, breach of duty and conspiracy.
- Acting for a HKSE listed company in relation to liquidity issues, enforcement action by creditors, insolvency proceedings and asset realisation. The matter involved recognition in the British Virgin Islands of a foreign arbitration award, and related security enforcement issues in the British Virgin Islands. The matter also involved defending winding up proceedings filed by a creditor in the Bermuda Supreme Court.
- Acting for a HKSE listed company in relation to the enforcement of security and appointment of receivers over shares held by the group. The matter involved detailed analysis of complex security documents and provision of advice to the Board and Chairman of the company about steps to protect the group. The matter involved issues of offshore law, and the interaction of same with the HKSE listing rules and procedures.
The Chambers Global legal guide reported that Michael is “applauded [by his clients] for [his] technical grasp of the law as much as [his] shrewd commercial perspective.” Legal 500 noted that Michael is “an excellent litigator, who fits seamlessly into any multi-jurisdictional team” and “genuinely cares about his clients and their cases, and takes a vested interest in delivering practical and creative solutions”. Michael was named in Asia Legal Business magazine’s ‘Top 15 Offshore Litigators 2022’.
