Natasha Toholka
Natasha Toholka
Biography
Natasha Toholka is a financial services, restructuring and insolvency lawyer based in Melbourne. She also advises clients operating in the technology and innovation sector.
Natasha advises clients on all aspects of banking and finance litigation, security enforcement, insolvency (reconstructions, workouts, formal appointments and cross-border matters), general commercial disputes, disciplinary proceedings and regulatory investigations.
Natasha is an ARITA Fellow and national Chair of the Law Council of Australia's Insolvency and Restructuring Committee.
Natasha leads the firm's Melbourne office Diversity, Equity and Inclusion committee and is sponsor of the Cultural Diversity Think Tank.
Professional experience
Representative experience
Representative experience
- Lenders – acting in proceedings before all superior Victorian and Federal courts on behalf of lenders (including priority disputes, penalty proceedings, obtaining injunctive relief and freezing orders)
- External administrators/trustees – all matters in the external administration life cycle including applications for directions, relief from personal liability, extension of convening periods/moratoria, bringing and defending sale at undervalue, breach of duty and voidable transaction claims, application of UNCITRAL Model Law on cross-border insolvency. Examples include the voluntary administrations of Roger David and Aussie Farmers Direct, the liquidations of Timbercorp Securities Limited and the HRL Group, the receivership of the Great Southern Group and acting for the Official Trustee in Bankruptcy in the High Court of Australia
- Corporate groups – providing structuring and restructuring advice in respect of corporate groups, including Australian Stock Exchange listed entities
- Creditors and debtors – prosecuting and defending enforcement and winding up/bankruptcy proceedings
- Cross-border – acting for Australian liquidators in a proceeding in the Bankruptcy Court, District of Nevada – the first time an Australian voluntary winding up was recognised in the US or anywhere else, as a "foreign main proceeding"
- Insolvency practitioners - before disciplinary boards and committees and in ASIC investigations
- Enforcement –recovery of large debt portfolios
Rankings and recognitions
Rankings and recognitions
- Voted by peers as one of Australia's Best Lawyers in insolvency and reorganisation law (2016-2023)
- Leading lawyer (Victoria) for insolvency and restructuring - Doyles (2022 onwards)
- Recommended for restructuring and insolvency, dispute resolution by The Legal 500 Asia Pacific (2018)
Education
Education
- Bachelor of Laws, Monash University
- Bachelor of Arts, Monash University
- Insolvency Education Program, University of Southern Queensland, (ARITA Advanced Certification)
Admissions
Admissions
- High Court of Australia 2000
- Supreme Court of Victoria 1999
Publications
Publications
- Managed Investment Schemes - When is it just and equitable to wind up? Australian Insolvency Journal (2009) 21(4)
- Court rules that uploaded electronic signature did not download a loan guarantee Image and Data Manager (2016) 8 July 2016
- Zone of Insolvency - various, see: https://www.zoneofinsolvencyblog.com/category/australia/
- Australia’s unfair preference laws: What lies ahead for liquidators in a period of legislative reform and dynamic change in the courts? | Global law firm | Norton Rose Fulbright
- A single insolvency regime with a single insolvency regulator? | Australia | Global law firm | Norton Rose Fulbright
- Insolvency practitioners’ independence obligations clarified by Supreme Court of Western Australia – Court of Appeal | Australia | Global law firm | Norton Rose Fulbright
Speaking engagements
Speaking engagements
- ARITA Advanced Certification workshop leader (2018 onwards)
- ARITA Vic/Tas conference - Challenges facing the insolvency profession (2019)
- ARITA National conference - The business case for diversity with Emma Isaacs, CEO Business Chicks (2020)
- Law Institute of Victoria CLE program - Insolvency update with C Rome-Sievers and M Galvin QC of the Victorian Bar (2020)
- Law Council of Australia, Insolvency and Restructuring Committee Workshop (invitation only) – panellist External administrators and personal liability (2022) and Deeds of Company Arrangement (2023)
- ARITA expert series - regular presenter, including In the matter of ... (2023)
Memberships and activities
Memberships and activities
- ARITA (Fellow)
- INSOL International
- National Chair, Insolvency and Restructuring Committee, Law Council of Australia
- Asian Australian Lawyers' Association
Languages
Languages
- English
Insights and news
Insights
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