Joseph Scarcella Partner

Joseph is a preeminent restructuring and insolvency lawyer specialising in all aspects of insolvency administrations, security enforcement, insolvency related litigation, restructuring techniques and workouts.

He has instructed in respect of almost every major corporate insolvency in Australia; is an expert litigator and advocate and handles complex litigious matters both in out of the insolvency arena.

Joseph's experience spans complex insolvencies such as the collapse of multi-jurisdictional hedge fund, finance and insurance companies.  He acts for corporate clients in respect of their exposure to lenders or financially precarious counterparties. His clients include domestic and international insolvency practitioners, ASX listed corporations, investment banks and litigation funders.

Joseph is known for the commerciality and speed of his advice. Clients particularly value his tenacity in litigious circumstances. He is recognised as a leading lawyer in Restructuring & Insolvency by Chambers Asia-Pacific, Best Lawyers Australia and preeminent by Doyle’s Guide to the Australian Legal Profession. Joseph also sits on the Federal Court User Group in relation to Commercial and Corporations (Insolvency) matters.

Experience

General

Griffin Coal

Acting for the receivers (Deloitte) of this West Australian coal mine.

Clough

Acting on key aspects of administration for Deloitte as administrators.

Revolution Roofing

Acting for Earlypay (secured creditor) and Grant Thornton (receivers and managers) in respect of one of the largest insolvencies in South Australia.

[Confidential]

Acting for a global professional services firm in respect of two separate frauds, including advising on recovery option, dealing with regulators and overseeing changes of internal protocols.

Theta Asset Management

Acted for the liquidators of the responsible entity of the collapsed Sterling Group.

Rapid Securities

Acted in respect of the successful restructure of this group.

Lagardare Group

Acted for this multinational retailer in respect of the impact of COVID-19 on its business.

Grocon

Appointed as strategic advisor to the directors of the Grocon Group to help navigate it through a complex administration process, secure the future of the Group and provide an adequate return to creditors.

Adaman Resources

Acted for shareholders and creditors of WA gold miner in respect of its administration.

Various Companies

Acting for a range of liquidators in respect of prosecutions by various regulators.

HIH

Acted for the liquidators of the HIH Group, which remains Australia's largest corporate insolvency. Acted in respect of several thousand shareholder claims made against HIH, including in the landmark case of HIH Insurance Limited (In Liquidation) and others [2016] NSWSC 482 - which remains the only final decision in Australian establishing the indirect causation doctrine.

Shareholder Defence Actions

Successfully defending various proceedings in relation to claims by shareholders for breach of continuous disclosure obligations and alleged misleading and deceptive conduct.

CBD Energy

Acted for the administrators of the CBD Energy Group, which is the first successful reconstruction of an Australian entity publicly listed on the NASDAQ in the US.

Rapid Loans

Acting on the successful restructure and recapitalisation of Rapid via a pre-packed Deed of Company Arrangement.

Babcock & Brown

Acting as principal legal advisor to the liquidator, including in respect of prosecution of major claims and successful defence of several shareholder class actions.

Defence of a liquidator

The successful defence of a liquidator in proceedings by ASIC: Australian Securities and Investments Commission v Wily & Hurst [2019] NSWSC 521.

Colton Coal

Acting for the administrators then liquidators of this coal miner.

Mega Petroleum

Acting for the Receivers of this public fuel company.

Casson Investments

Acting on behalf of a litigation funder in obtaining a common fund order.

Courtenay House

Acted for a representative class of creditors in respect of Australia’s largest Ponzi Scheme.

Allco

Acted as the principal legal advisor to the liquidators of the the Allco Group of companies.

Macquarie Bank

Advised in relation to its exposure to the Dick Smith Group.

Banksia Securities

Acted for the receivers in respect of prosecution of several causes of action.

Recognition

Career & qualifications

Qualifications

  • Bachelor of Laws (Hons), Macquarie University
  • Bachelor of Commerce, Macquarie University

Memberships

  • Australian Restructuring Insolvency & Turnaround Association (member of technical committee)
  • Turnaround Management Association
  • Australian Institute of Credit Management

International experience

  • Acted for certain Italian creditors in the Parmalat collapse (fluent in conversational Italian)

Insights Read more insight

Launching our 2023 Insolvency & Restructuring Case Summaries publication

We are delighted to share with you the next edition of our Insolvency & Restructuring Case Summaries. With over 45 case summaries highlighting the key takeaways and the practical implications for...

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No more s 588FL vesting for security interests granted post appointment: Cubic Interiors NSW & Ors

A decision which insolvency practitioners will welcome in, Cathro, in the matter of Cubic Interiors NSW Pty Ltd (In Liq) [2023] FCA 694, the Federal Court clarified that s588FL of the Corporations...

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Launching our Insolvency & Restructuring Case Summaries for 2021-2022

We are delighted to launch the first edition of our Insolvency & Restructuring Case Summaries for 2021-2022, with over 45 case summaries highlighting the key takeaways and the practical...

More

News

External publications

  • Corporate Insolvency and Reconstruction - chapter 13 in the Australian Corporate Finance Law looseleaf service (Butterworths)
  • Various publications in the ARITA Journal and AICM Magazine

Presentations

  • Presented at numerous National and State based ARITA Conferences on a variety of topics
  • Presented at numerous National Conferences of the Australian Institute of Credit Management on a variety of topics