Chris Stakis

Senior Associate

Commercial Litigation

I have been at Wisewoulds a few months now, having come over from a firm where I had stayed for over 7 years. I quickly realised that Wisewoulds would be different but in a good way. The first thing that struck me about Wisewoulds was the sense of belonging staff have with the firm. Ultimately, that serves clients very well.

Whilst I was never sure if I would enjoy being a lawyer, I have now practised for over 7 years. Prior to that, I was as an Associate to Judge Michael Strong in the County Court who rotated between various jurisdictions including crime, WorkCover and civil. This gave me a real taste for litigation and a real sense of presenting the best possible case for the client.

I have since been involved in a variety of different matters ranging from small scale recovery actions to large scale criminal and civil matters. I have acted in professional negligence matters, defamation actions, building and contractual disputes, body corporate matters and a number of shareholder disputes. I have also conducted matters in the Federal Court involving administrative review of government decisions.

Although initially reluctant, in recent times, I have acted in insolvency matters, both defending actions for preference payments and winding up actions against debtors.

Just in case I didn't have enough variety, in 2007 I became involved as an instructing solicitor in a lengthy criminal trial conducted in Sydney defending fraud charges against a former First Assistant Commissioner of Taxation.

I think the biggest highlight has been conducting a matter in the Full Court of Appeal and the High Court, which involved the interpretation of the extension provisions of the Limitation of Actions Act in respect of personal injuries consisting of 'disease or disorder', even though I did not agree with the decision ultimately given.