Welcome to the beginning of the series on Law Stories. These are my war stories, with lessons learned from the battlefield of the Courtroom. My own practice began with a client (let’s call him John) who spurned his former lover. No – this wasn’t a case about a divorce or custody dispute; this was about how John lost millions of dollars in blue chip real estate because he didn’t open his mail. Crazy? Yes! Possible – well, it’s more likely than you would imagine. John’s company received a Creditor’s Statutory Demand (Demand) at its registered office – where John lived with his former lover. The Demand was served by (let’s call them) Evil Debt Recovery for an alleged debt of about $100,000 owed
The final entry in this enforcement series concerns the ‘garnishee’ order. A ‘garnishee order’, with various equivalent terms Australia-wide, is where the Court has ordered that John Smith (the bad guy) pay you money, but he doesn’t have any! Rather than continuing to wring your hands in frustration, you can – remarkably – get someone else (in legal-speak a ‘third party’) to pay the debt that John Smith owes you. But how? Simple … you just have to be able to obtain one of the following types of Court orders – That John Smith’s employer pays you the money; or That someone who owes John Smith money (a debtor) pay that money directly to you instead of John Smith. Whilst not without its detracto
