Stephanie is a Partner in our Professional Indemnity Team, widely recognised for her thorough approach, her intellectual prowess and her compassion in assisting professionals through the ordeal of lawsuits and disciplinary investigations.
Experience & expertise
Stephanie’s principal area of focus is in professional indemnity claims against legal professionals. She has assisted countless barristers and solicitors through the professional embarrassment of negligence claims, stressful disciplinary investigations and the affront of personal costs applications. Stephanie’s lawyer clients are reassured by her understanding of reputational sensitivities and her ability to provide objective and strategic advice in a calm and sympathetic manner.
Stephanie’s experience is in providing sound advice to insurers and insureds in all manner of disputes. In addition to acting for lawyers, Stephanie has acted for a range of medical practitioners in malpractice claims. She has successfully advocated for judgments in favour of doctors and steered disputes to sensible settlements where there is a genuine risk of an adverse outcome.
Stephanie has instructed in many coronial inquests, expertly managing the sensitivities involved in dealing with a grieving family and distressed witnesses, whilst also advocating against potentially unjust and unrealistic outcomes for her clients.
Stephanie’s insurer clients benefit from the wealth of her experience in complex coverage disputes across all policy types, including many involving multi-million dollar claims. Stephanie’s clients appreciate her strong legal skills and her insight into the commercial realities in which insurers and insureds operate.
Stephanie has also acted for private clients in need of legal assistance on a pro bono basis, which she finds deeply rewarding.
Work highlights
Stephanie was involved in the insurance case of the decade, CIMIC Group Limited v AIG Group Limited [2022] NSWSC 999, and the appeal proceeding in which Stephanie’s client was successful and recovered its costs of the proceedings: Zurich Australian Insurance Limited v CIMIC Group Limited & Ors [2024] NSWCA 229.
Stephanie instructed in three high profile coronial inquests involving immigration detention centres that were heard together, in which Stephanie was instrumental in steering the matters toward a sensible outcome: Inquest into the death of Muhammad Hafizuddin Bin Zaini, Inquest into the death of Leah Jane Porter and Inquest into the death of Moses Kellie.
Professional background
