Mitchell (Mitch) Byrne is the founding partner of Coast to Coast Legal. After practising predominantly in commercial litigation at a law firm in West End, Brisbane for several years, Mitch decided to utilise that experience to start his own practice covering matters on the Sunshine Coast, the Gold Coast and everywhere in between.
Mitch’s experience in litigation and commercial matters is varied and has involved appearances in all Queensland courts as a solicitor advocate, as well as the Federal Court and Federal Circuit Court, including:
- In Tolteca Pty Ltd v Lillas & Loel Lawyers Pty Ltd [2015] QSC 148, Mitch appeared in the Supreme Court of Queensland on behalf of the law firm he was then employed by who were the defendant/respondent in the matter. In this precedent setting case, Mitch successful argued that a self-represented law firm is entitled to its own legal costs.
- In Old Coach Developments Pty Ltd & Ors v Devren Pty Ltd [2015] QCA 088, Mitch appeared in the Queensland Court of Appeal for the appellant, Devren Pty Ltd, who was the respondent to an application for security of costs. Old Coach Developments Pty Ltd argued that roughly $153,000 should be paid as security for costs of the appeal by Devren because Devren was an impecunious company (a fact admitted by Devren), but Mitch for the appellant argued that any security for costs should be limited to only $10,000, and the court ordered that security be paid in the sum of only $20,000 – a fraction of what Old Coach Developments was seeking.
- In Smits v Loel (No 3) [2015] FCA 77, Mitch appeared in the Federal Court of Australia for the respondent in an application brought by Smits for leave to appeal a former decision of the Federal Court. Mitch successfully argued that leave should not be granted and the application by Smits was dismissed.
- In Austshade Pty Ltd v Boss Shade [2016] FCA 287, Mitch advocated at trial for the respondents in a case involving several facets of intellectual property (patents, registered designs and copyright) and commercial disputes. Mitch obtained a favourable outcome for the respondents and subsequently successfully argued that the applicants should pay the respondents’ costs of the proceedings.
- In Miller & Anor v Devren Pty Ltd [2015] FCCA 1026, Mitch appeared in the Federal Circuit Court of Australia for the respondent, Devren Pty Ltd. Devren had issued a bankruptcy notice to Miller and Miller sought to set aside the bankruptcy notice. Mitch successfully argued against setting aside the bankruptcy notice and Miller’s application was dismissed.
Mitch has also appeared in many other unreported interlocutory matters in the Supreme, District, Magistrates and Federal Circuit Courts. Mitch’s experience before the many Supreme Court Justices has given him a good foresight on what will and what will not be successful on an interlocutory application and his professional relationship with various quality barristers is invaluable for any necessary second opinion.
Contact Mitch at mbyrne@coastlegal.com.au