Claire has specialised in insurance litigation since 2000. She joined Wotton + Kearney as a Senior Associate in June 2009. Prior to joining Wotton + Kearney, Claire was employed as a Senior Associate in a small boutique law firm and as a Senior Associate in the insurance division of 3 national law firms.
Claire holds a Bachelor of Arts (majoring in Criminology and Classical Studies), a Bachelor of Laws from Victoria University in Wellington, New Zealand, and a Diploma of Laws. She is admitted to practice in the Supreme Court of New South Wales, the High Court of Australia and the High Court of New Zealand.
She has represented clients' interests in proceedings instituted in various Courts of New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland, South Australia, Tasmania, Australian Capital Territory and Western Australia including the Federal Magistrates Court and Federal Court of Australia.
Claire's recent matters include:
- successful defence of large scale construction litigation involving the builder, architects, engineer and State of New South Wales in the Supreme Court of NSW;
- successful defence of claim by an insured against its insurer for indemnity pursuant to its policy of insurance in the Federal Court;
- acting for and defending claims instituted against the largest owner of shopping centres in Australia;
- acting for a financial institution in recovery proceedings against the external auditors who failed to detect defalcations of an employee carrying out the annual external audit;
- acting in the Judicial Inquiry into the conviction of Phuong Ngo ordered by the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court pursuant to section 79 of the Crimes (Appeal and Review) Act 2001;
- acting for a New Zealand based manufacturer of aerobridges which allegedly failed and caused $4 million damage to a Singapore Airlines jumbo jet;
- acting for the manufacturer of circular saws which were subject to a product recall, in various claims of personal injury caused by the retractable guard 'jamming'; and
- acting on a number of claims arising from accidents occurring in building sites, and specifically those involving scaffolding.
Memberships
Claire is currently a member of the Australian Insurance Law Association and the Association for Women In Insurance.