Zenith Vinyl sought to set aside the statutory demand on the basis that there was a genuine dispute under the Legal Profession Uniform Law.

According to Justice Jim Delany, there were three main issues for Kain Law, the first being that an amount of $26,785 for work performed between November 2023 and April 2024 was “almost three times the amount” included in a November costs estimate.

The second was Zenith Vinyl’s dispute about the receipt of a costs estimate said to have been provided in February 2024, which estimated the costs of between $15,000 and $20,000, plus GST.

Finally, the amount of the disputed invoice was 20 per cent higher than the costs estimate in a February 2024 letter.

In support of its application, Zenith Vinyl said the variance in the amounts of $9,000 – for a mediation – and $26,000 was an issue for the costs court to determine, “and that this sufficiently raises a genuine dispute as to the claimed debt” in the statutory demand.

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The issues called into question “whether there has been compliance by the defendant with his disclosure obligations” under the Legal Profession Uniform Law, Justice Delany determined.

“For these reasons, I am satisfied that there is a genuine dispute – between the plaintiff and the defendant about the existence or amount of the debt to which the statutory demand relates,” he said.

The case: Re Zenith Vinyl Ptd Ltd [2025] VSC 274 (16 May 2025)