Stephanie is experienced in insurance and commercial litigation, specialising in directors’ and officers’ liability, professional indemnity, and management liability. She acts for Australian and London market insurers, underwriting agencies, and ASX listed entities in a range of claims, from large-scale and high-value disputes to nuisance-value claims.
Stephanie represents clients in a diverse range of disputes, including actions alleging professional negligence, breach of contract, misleading or deceptive conduct, insolvent trading, minority shareholder oppression, wrongful dismissal, sex discrimination, and breach of directors’ duties. She defends professionals from various specialist sectors including insurance brokers, accountants, and solicitors.
Her notable recent experience includes successfully defending Federal Court and Full Court proceedings involving allegations of unconscionable conduct, contravention of the Fair Work Act, and oppression (Flaguel v WeDrive Pty Ltd [2020] FCA 166; Flaguel v Wedrive Pty Ltd [2021] FCAFC 102), and acting for an insurance broker in a case concerning notification under s40(3) of the Insurance Contracts Act of facts addressing a “wide problem” of the use of non-compliant cladding (MS Amlin Corporate Member Ltd v L U Simon Builders Pty Ltd [2023] FCA 581).
In addition to her defence practice, Stephanie regularly advises primary and excess insurers on coverage issues arising from financial lines insurance policies, including aggregation, contribution, and those which arise out of ss. 13, 21, 28(3), 40(3), 45, 51 and 54 of the Insurance Contracts Act. She has defended litigated coverage disputes before State and Federal Courts, notably as a member of the team that successfully defended a professional indemnity insurer joined to proceedings by chartered accountants following a denial of cover (Richie v Woodward (Executor of Estate of the Late Woodward).
Clients trust Stephanie to provide pragmatic and commercial advice and appreciate her ability to distil complex technical and legal issues into plain English advice. Stephanie has extensive alternative dispute resolution experience and is a highly effective negotiator, with a strong record of achieving sensible commercial results (when appropriate).