Five years after steel-maker Arrium spectacularly collapsed owing more than $2.8 billion to creditors, the downfall of the former BHP Billiton division, spun off as OneSteel in 2000, faces a forensic examination in three interlinked legal actions getting under way on Monday.

All three will be heard by Justice Michael Ball. Robert Bakewell, Arrium’s former chief financial officer and a defendant in the actions, has launched a cross-claim against Herbert Smith Freehills over its advice.