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Facing problems in your business, disputes? We provide independent pathways for all parties to satisfactorily resolve issues.
At Astor Turnbull, we help business owners and company directors manage and resolve disputes before they escalate into costly litigation.
Our focus is on strategic, commercially realistic solutions — not just legal theory — enabling clients to preserve business value, key relationships, and their own peace of mind.
Our Approach
Disputes are inevitable in business — with suppliers, partners, franchisors, landlords, customers, or the ATO. The key is to manage them early, professionally, and with a clear commercial outcome in mind.
Our team guides you through every step: from assessing the dispute and identifying leverage points, to negotiating resolutions and documenting agreements that stand the test of time.
What We Do
Our Methods
We use proven dispute resolution techniques — mediation, facilitation, and expert advisory processes — within a commercial advisory framework.
This means we don’t just “mediate”; we strategise, negotiate, and resolve.
Why Businesses Choose Astor Turnbull
At Astor Turnbull, we help business owners and company directors manage commercial disputes with clarity, discretion, and strategic insight.
Our purpose is simple: to achieve commercial resolutions before legal confrontation becomes inevitable.
We work with directors and business owners across Australia to defuse conflict, preserve value, and maintain reputation. Whether the issue involves a supplier, business partner, landlord, franchisor, or the ATO, our advisers provide measured, practical guidance designed to protect your business and personal position.
We’re not a law firm, and we don’t try to be. Instead, we act as your strategic partner — bridging the gap between commercial reality and legal process. Our advisory model integrates business understanding, negotiation expertise, and strong networks with professional partners to achieve effective outcomes, quietly and efficiently.
Our Services
1. Strategic Guidance for Business Owners and Directors
We work directly with company directors, owners, and management teams to develop strategies that address disputes early — before they threaten business continuity or control.
Our guidance covers commercial, partnership, contractual, supplier, and ATO-related matters, always with a focus on preserving operations and relationships while securing favourable commercial outcomes.
2. Dispute Assessment & Resolution Pathways
Astor Turnbull provides objective assessments of the facts, personalities, and commercial implications of each dispute.
We analyse the strengths and weaknesses of each party’s position, evaluate the likelihood of recovery or settlement, and recommend clear, practical pathways toward resolution — whether through structured negotiation, mediated settlement, or referral to appropriate professional advisers.
3. Negotiation & Communication Frameworks
Our advisers bring structure and composure to conflict situations.
We help clients communicate strategically, negotiate effectively, and manage interactions with key stakeholders — from suppliers and franchisors to creditors and government agencies.
This approach reduces tension, limits exposure, and preserves working relationships even in complex or emotionally charged circumstances.
4. Collaboration with Professional Advisers
Astor Turnbull operates best as part of a coordinated advisory team.
We regularly collaborate with accountants, legal practitioners, financial advisers, and licensed insolvency practitioners to ensure our clients receive advice that is commercially aligned and legally sound.
Our role is to keep all parties focused on the shared objective: a swift, commercially intelligent resolution that protects the business and the people behind it.
At Astor Turnbull, we believe that the best business outcomes are achieved before a matter reaches court. Or if it is already before the court we provide an intervention process that helps resolve the dispute before it becomes a costly court process.
Litigation is expensive, time-consuming, and often damaging to relationships and reputation — even when you “win.” Our role is to help company directors and business owners avoid that path wherever possible through expert commercial analysis, structured negotiation, and practical resolution strategies.
More than 90 percent of commercial disputes are settled without a court appearance. The real question is not whether to seek a resolution, but how early to act.
Our team helps clients identify leverage points, evaluate the commercial and reputational risks, and navigate discussions towards sustainable settlements that make sense in the real world.
Our Expertise
We bring extensive commercial and legal insight — yet we are not legal practitioners and do not provide legal advice. Instead, we operate as trusted business dispute advisors, focused on practical outcomes and professional collaboration with your existing advisers.
An Experienced, Multi-Disciplinary Team
At Astor Turnbull, the strength of our practice does not rest on any one individual.
We operate as a cohesive, highly experienced and diverse team, bringing together professionals from complementary disciplines to deliver clear, strategic solutions in times of business dispute and financial pressure.
Our team includes:
Because our backgrounds span both the legal and financial spheres, we understand not only how disputes arise but how they can be resolved quickly, commercially, and without unnecessary cost.
For more than a decade, members of our team have engaged directly with disputing parties, frequently in matters involving significant debts or threatened legal action. We know how to stabilise a situation, open constructive dialogue, and negotiate outcomes that avoid protracted courtroom battles.
Whether the issue involves:
Astor Turnbull provides the steady guidance, skilled negotiation and strategic insight required to reach a satisfactory resolution.
We liaise, mediate and negotiate with the goal of achieving swift, practical outcomes that allow businesses and individuals to move forward without the disruption of lengthy litigation.
Astor Turnbull assists company directors from the first meeting when their business faces liquidation through a Federal Court winding up application often initiated by the ATO.
We quickly assess the company’s financial position, identify what information is missing, and determine the true extent of debts, tax lodgements, superannuation, and assets. Where the relationship with the external accountant has broken down, we step in to recommend and intro accountants who can quickly establish clarity and direction.
Once the financial platform is clear, AT outlines practical options whether a Small Business Restructuring Plan (SBRP), voluntary administration, or other recovery strategy and connects directors with trusted professionals: insolvency practitioners, accountants, lawyers, and lenders who can help fund the process.
Astor Turnbull delivers calm, coordinated guidance when time, accuracy, and strategic decisions matter most.
Contact Astor Turnbull today for a confidential consultation and take the first step towards clarity, control, and a realistic path forward.
SEE a detailed outline of this service in our BUSINESS NEWS
When a company faces financial stress, ATO demands, or even Federal Court hearings, timing and coordination are critical. The Small Business Restructuring Process (SBRP) gives directors of eligible companies a structured, legally recognised way to reorganise debts while keeping control of their business.
However, success depends on accurate financials, strict compliance, and clear communication between directors, accountants, and the appointed insolvency practitioner. This is where Astor Turnbull adds real value.
Our Role
Astor Turnbull acts as the central coordinator between all key parties — the director, company accountant, licensed insolvency practitioner, and legal team ensuring deadlines are met, documents are complete, and communication remains efficient and professional.
We help:
Our expertise bridges the gap between financial, legal, and practical requirements giving directors confidence that the process will run smoothly and effectively.
Take the Next Step
If your company is under pressure from the ATO or creditors, early action is vital.
Astor Turnbull works alongside your accountant, legal team, and insolvency practitioner to achieve the best possible restructuring outcome.
SEE a detailed outline of this service in our BUSINESS NEWS
When a company has entered liquidation, directors often face ongoing stress, uncertainty, and complex requests from liquidators and government agencies. At Astor Turnbull, we provide post-liquidation support to help directors manage these challenges calmly, confidently, and professionally.
Our role is to guide directors through what follows — understanding their obligations, responding to information requests, and maintaining control of the narrative. We help them:
We work discreetly alongside accountants, lawyers, and other advisers to ensure directors meet their responsibilities while safeguarding their professional standing and future opportunities.
Astor Turnbull’s approach is practical, confidential, and commercially focused — offering clarity when directors need it most.
SCROLL DOWN to our BUSINESS NEWS to see a detailed outline of this "lifesaver" service.
""My experience with Astor Turnbull has been extremely positive. The firm's team are knowledgeable and determined to help, and they're considerate of the amount of time they have to spend to get the results" A.M. Sydney NSW
"Working with these people has been outstanding. They are responsive and tactful. Their knowledge, professionalism and resourcefulness are trumped only by their good character and cheerfulness. Having this firm's expertise at my fingertips enables me to face the myriad of challenges of running a business with confidence." W.C. Gold Coast QLD
"Each time I contact Astor Turnbull their response is very timely and handled thoroughly and very professionally. Not only that, it is so refreshing that they take time to know us personally and really have a feel for our individual needs. So thank you very much for helping me. I wish you continued success." Brad. Central Coast NSW
Thanks everyone - that's great news.
Cannot thank you all enough, you've taken a huge amount of stress and fear of the unknown out of this process for me.
L.K. Melbourne VIC
The support I have gotten from your team and what you have charged me for this support have been invaluable.
I cannot thank you all enough.
S. QLD