Find Lawyers in Canberra, Australia for Insurance Law
Practice Area Overview
Insurance is a wide practice area covering a range of insurance policies, industry sectors, and areas of legal expertise.
Specialist insurance lawyers typically act on behalf of insurers in the investigation and defence of claims made against parties who hold insurance policies, and/or in providing related coverage advice as to whether the relevant insurance policy (or policies, in the case of dual insurance) responds to those claims.
Where coverage advice is required, some insurers prefer to split the role of ‘defence’ and ‘coverage’ counsel, while others will engage lawyers to perform a dual role. In the event of a coverage dispute (and therefore a conflict of interests) between the insurer and insured, separate representation is required to ensure a timely identification of the relevant issues and resolution of the dispute.
The types of policy vary widely, including for example Professional Indemnity, Medical Malpractice, Directors’ and Officers’ Liability, Management Liability, Employment Practices Liability, Statutory Liability, Cyber Risks, Crime, General (Public and Product Liability), Aviation, various Broadform policies covering a range of risks, and various policies relevant to the construction industry, such as Contract Works.
Within each class of policy are a number of sub-specialities. For example, Professional Indemnity policies are issued to accountants, barristers, doctors, engineers, financial advisers, mortgage brokers, real estate agents solicitors, valuers, and many more.
With such a broad range of policies, lawyers advising in this area require a detailed understanding of the industries in which they practice and the relevant legislation, in addition to expertise in insurance law (for example, Insurance Contracts Act 1984 (Cth)), contract law, tort (primarily negligence), and the Australian Consumer Law, and of legal practice and procedure in State and Federal jurisdictions.
Industry expertise will include a thorough knowledge of the relevant disciplines involved in the underlying conduct or transaction giving rise to the claim, to advise on the technical issues arising in the context of the applicable legal framework. This will ensure the ability to quickly identify the relevant issues and the most appropriate resolution strategy, whether by way of an early compromise, alternative dispute resolution or court proceedings and a trial.
The commercial discipline for any insurance lawyer is to be able to distil often complex technical and legal issues as quickly as possible, to enable the most appropriate resolution to be identified and achieved as cost effectively as possible for the benefit of all the interested stakeholders (insurers, insureds, and intermediaries).
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Maxine is a safety and disputes lawyer who works with private and public sector clients, including employers and insurers. She leads our State Compensation team in Canberra. What she does Maxine specialises in common law and statutory claims arising from work incidents, work health and safety (WHS) matters, coronial inquests, workplace behaviour and code of conduct matters. She advises on litigated and non-litigated matters, investigations and inquiries, regulatory compliance and audit, risk ...
Stuart concentrates on Commonwealth statutory classes of insurance and administrative law. He is one of the firm's most experienced practitioners in these areas and has advised Commonwealth agencies on a range of issues regarding their statutory functions. He has represented clients in proceedings in the Administrative Appeals Tribunal and Federal Court at the Commonwealth level, as well as in various local and state courts. Stuart is currently seconded part-time to a Commonwealth Government ...
Matthew has over 18 years experience in insurance litigation and specialises in defending state statutory class and common law claims arising in the challenging Australian Capital Territory jurisdiction. He regularly assists insurers and self-insurers to liaise with the ACT regulator on issues concerning the ACT scheme. Matthew is highly experienced in the defence of state statutory classes litigation and uses his knowledge to assist clients with strategic claims management in order to achiev...
Rebecca has extensive experience in advising the Commonwealth in relation to workers’ compensation matters. She is fully cognisant of the responsibilities of the Commonwealth in adhering to the Model Litigant Policy and the unique challenges that this can bring. In a previous role Rebecca successfully held the position of National Client Service Manager for Comcare, which, as a significant client, brought enormous responsibility from a business perspective. Rebecca is focussed on delive...
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