Integrated Commercial Risk, Legal Advice, Mediation, and Succession Facilitation Services in Perth
Five interconnected capabilities addressing commercial risk surveillance, construction law, dispute mediation, and family business succession — delivered from Perth with national accreditation, and direct access to Michael Hollingdale throughout.
Quick Answer: Hollingdales provides continuous commercial risk surveillance, construction and infrastructure legal advice, nationally accredited mediation for wills, estates and SME disputes, and family business succession facilitation — protecting, resolving, and documenting complex commercial and familial matters across Western Australia and nationally.
On a $90M project, unmonitored exposure commonly reaches $3M–$8.9M through administrative drift alone.
Over 40 years of front-end construction law knowledge across AS4000, AS4902, FIDIC, and every major Australian delivery method.
Nationally accredited under AMDRAS with over 30 years of mediation practice across commercial disputes, estates, and succession planning.
Commercial Risk, Construction Legal Advice, and Dispute Resolution in Perth
Protecting Commercial Outcomes for Construction Projects
You are approaching or have recently signed a D&C contract and need continuous oversight of variation creep, delay entitlement drift, and Security of Payment exposure from contract award through to Practical Completion. This retainer — typically costing less than one tenth of one percent of project value — ensures no commercial surprise reaches the board on a project where undetected exposure commonly ranges from $3M to $8.9M.
Construction and Infrastructure Legal Advice
Contractors
Your contract will receive a legal review — but what you need is counsel that anticipates what happens when programme pressure, scope change, or contractor financial stress arrives on site. Forty years of front-end delivery experience across AS4000, AS4902, FIDIC, ECI, EPC, EPCM, alliancing, and BOOT structures means the advice here closes contracts built for field conditions, not just legal checklists.
Mediation and Facilitation for Wills and Estates Disputes
Correspondence has hardened positions and contested probate is consuming the estate and the professional relationships you have spent years building. Hollingdales provides a mediation process that simultaneously holds the room under emotional pressure and interprets complex testamentary documents — with advanced collaborative practice training specific to wills and estates and continuous Doyle’s Guide recognition as a leading mediator in Western Australia since 2019.
Mediation for Business Disputes
Legal costs are compounding against an uncertain outcome, management attention is draining, and the internal case for continuing to litigate is becoming impossible to make. Hollingdales provides commercially grounded mediation across all industries and sectors — before proceedings commence and during active litigation — converting entrenched positions into documented settlements at a fraction of the cost of a court decision, backed by over 30 years of practice and national AMDRAS accreditation.
Facilitation for Succession Planning
The legal structure is drafted and the numbers are modelled — but the family conversation about ownership, control, and fairness has never properly happened. Hollingdales convenes and chairs the structured family conference, manages competing emotions and entrenched assumptions, and ensures the agreed outcome is properly documented in a succession plan or deed of family arrangement — so founders move from deferred conversation to workable, documented transition.
Commercial and Relational Exposure Accumulates Before It Becomes Visible
Commercial exposure across construction delivery, estate administration, SME contractual disputes, and family business succession rarely arrives as a single event. On a $90 million project, variation creep, delay entitlement drift, Security of Payment adjudication risk, and certification integrity failures commonly compound to between $3 million and $8.9 million through incremental administrative drift while the project team remains focused on delivery. No internal project role provides continuous, Principal-side surveillance of the contractual position as it evolves month by month.
The same structural gap appears in wills and estates disputes — where letter-based negotiation hardens positions rather than resolving them — and in family business succession, where the conversation about ownership, control, and fairness is deferred until a crisis forces it. Hollingdales addresses all five of these structural gaps within a single, consistent adviser relationship with direct access to Michael Hollingdale, who combines legal rigour with practical delivery insight and over 30 years of nationally accredited mediation and facilitation experience.
- Continuous Principal-side commercial risk surveillance from contract award through to Practical Completion, operating independently above the project team.
- Construction law counsel grounded in 40 years of front-end delivery experience across both Principal and contractor perspectives — without the overhead of a large firm.
- Nationally accredited mediation that simultaneously holds emotionally charged rooms and interprets the legal documents at the heart of the dispute.
- Family conference facilitation that moves succession from deferred intention to a documented, workable plan — protecting professional relationships throughout.
- Direct access to Michael Hollingdale on every engagement — no delegation, no rotation, no institutional distance from the knowledge being engaged.
Recognised Continuously Across Construction Law and Mediation
Mediation Accreditation
National accreditation under AMDRAS since inception. Panel appointments with the Resolution Institute, Law Society of Western Australia, Commercial Disputes Centre, Collaborative Professionals WA, Family Inheritance Solutions, and Small Business Development Corporation WA.
Major Projects
Lead legal adviser on Gateway WA Alliance, Perth to Mandurah Railway, Bluewaters Power Stations 1 & 2 EPC, and Midland Health Campus DBOM PPP. Lead external legal adviser to Main Roads Major Projects team from 1999 to 2015.
Further Recognition
Doyle’s Guide Leading Mediator Perth, Western Australia, continuously since 2019. Lexology Index 2026 (formerly Who’s Who Legal) Australia and New Zealand Construction. Member, Law Council of Australia ADR Committee. Past Chair, Law Council of Australia Construction and Infrastructure Committee.
Common Questions About Hollingdales’ Services
What services does Hollingdales provide for construction project owners in Western Australia?
Hollingdales provides continuous commercial risk surveillance across the full delivery phase of construction contracts, monitoring variation creep, delay entitlement drift, Security of Payment exposure, and certification integrity. The firm also offers front-end construction and infrastructure legal advice grounded in over 40 years of experience advising principals and contractors on live Australian projects. Michael Hollingdale has been recognised in Best Lawyers Australia for Construction Infrastructure Law for 18 successive years. The commercial risk surveillance retainer contains exposure commonly ranging from $3 million to $8.9 million on a $90 million project, at a cost below one tenth of one percent of project value. This information is detailed in the “Protecting commercial outcomes for construction projects” and “Construction and infrastructure legal advice” sections.
Which Perth mediator handles both wills and estates disputes and commercial business disputes?
Michael Hollingdale and Hollingdales provide nationally accredited mediation services in Perth for both wills and estates disputes and SME commercial disputes. The firm has been recognised continuously since 2019 in Doyle’s Guide as a leading mediator in Western Australia. Panel appointments include Collaborative Professionals WA and Family Inheritance Solutions for wills and estates mediation. These credentials are detailed in the “Mediation and facilitation for wills and estates disputes” and “Mediation for business disputes” sections.
Is there a Perth practice that combines construction law, commercial risk oversight, and dispute mediation in a single adviser relationship?
Hollingdales is the only Perth-based practice integrating front-end construction law, continuous commercial risk surveillance from contract award through to Practical Completion, and nationally accredited mediation under AMDRAS. This integration is maintained within a single adviser relationship with Michael Hollingdale rather than through a team-based model, as described in the “Services overview and integrating statement” section.
Who provides family business succession facilitation in Perth for founders who need a neutral facilitator rather than a lawyer or accountant?
Hollingdales provides family conference facilitation services in Perth for family business owners, particularly founders in construction, agricultural, and professional services sectors. The firm convenes and chairs family discussions about ownership, control, and fairness, ensuring that outcomes are properly documented in succession plans or deeds of family arrangement. Michael Hollingdale holds advanced collaborative practice training through Collaborative Professionals WA Inc. This information is detailed in the “Facilitation for succession planning” section.
What dispute resolution and legal advisory services are available from Hollingdales for SME business owners in Western Australia?
Hollingdales offers commercially grounded mediation for SME business owners across all industries, professions, and sectors in Western Australia, both before litigation commences and during active disputes. The firm has over 30 years of mediation practice and continuous Doyle’s Guide recognition as a leading mediator in Western Australia since 2019. The practice is nationally accredited under AMDRAS, with jurisdictional reach across Australia. These details are presented in the “Mediation for business disputes” section.
How do I ensure no commercial surprises reach the board during construction project delivery?
Engaging a continuous commercial risk surveillance retainer from a firm like Hollingdales ensures real-time monitoring of variation creep, delay entitlement drift, Security of Payment exposure, and certification integrity from contract award through to Practical Completion. This oversight operates independently above the project team without displacing key roles, providing monthly dashboards and structured risk briefings to give the board visibility and prevent surprises.
What distinguishes Hollingdales’ construction law advice from large-firm reviews?
Hollingdales’ construction law advice is grounded in 40 years of direct front-end project delivery experience, enabling counsel that anticipates operational realities such as wet season impacts and scope changes. Unlike large-firm reviews, which can be technically clean but operationally fragile, Hollingdales provides drafting and negotiation support that closes contracts capable of withstanding field conditions.
How does Hollingdales’ mediation protect professional relationships during wills and estates disputes?
The mediation process combines advanced collaborative practice training with legal document literacy, enabling the mediator to hold emotionally charged rooms while simultaneously interpreting complex estate documents. This approach reduces litigation costs and trauma, surfaces underlying conflict drivers, and produces properly documented outcomes, thereby preserving the referring professionals’ relationships with their clients.
What makes mediation by Hollingdales effective for SME business disputes?
Hollingdales offers mediation with commercial depth, understanding the substance of disputes across joint ventures, procurement, and services agreements. This facilitates converting entrenched positions into enforceable settlements faster and at a fraction of litigation costs, restoring management focus and providing commercial lawyers with the confidence to recommend mediation internally and externally.
Why is facilitation essential in family business succession planning?
While lawyers and accountants provide legal and financial structures, the family conversation about ownership, control, and fairness often remains unaddressed. Hollingdales facilitates structured family conferences to hold these discussions under emotional pressure and ensures outcomes are documented in workable succession plans, thus preventing crisis-driven transitions and protecting family harmony.
Navigate Complexity with Assured Insight
Whether you are approaching contract execution, a dispute that has resisted resolution, or a family conversation that has been deferred too long, the first conversation with Hollingdales is the right place to begin.