Suzanne is a litigation and dispute resolution lawyer with over 14 years' experience primarily in insurance law, advising both local and international insurers. Her focus is on professional indemnity, including financial lines and construction, and general commercial litigation.
Suzanne has extensive experience providing coverage advice and as defence counsel in litigated and non-litigated disputes.
Experience
Prior to joining Lander & Rogers Suzanne spent nine years in the insurance team of an international law firm in Sydney, providing coverage advice and acting as defence counsel in litigated and non-litigated disputes, with a focus on professional indemnity matters and general commercial litigation. In 2016 Suzanne completed a five-month secondment with a local claims handling agency, where she gained significant experience in managing claims and exposure to different insurance policies. Suzanne has also worked in-house and was employed by a Big 4 professional services firm as a legal counsel in the Disputes team of the General Counsel's office.
Suzanne's areas of expertise include:
- professional indemnity, including financial lines and claims against lawyers
- financial services
- coverage
- construction, including claims against builders, architects, engineers and certifiers
- commercial litigation.
Career highlights
Suzanne's career highlights include:
- acting in the defence of Supreme Court of Queensland proceedings on behalf of an accountant being sued by a former client for tax advice provided relating to the treatment of franking credits
- acting for employees of an audit company issued with section 19 examination notices by ASIC in relation to audit work undertaken by them of a company in liquidation
- acting in the defence of a claim brought in the Supreme Court of New South Wales against a professional indemnity insurer by a deregistered financial advisory firm seeking indemnity for 83 separate claims brought by former clients alleging misleading financial advice
- advising insurers on the application of a Rectification Costs Extension clause in a Management Liability policy for a large rectification costs claim made by an insured builder
- acting for a certifier in Supreme Court of New South Wales proceedings brought by an Owners Corporation involving numerous defendants arising from retrospective fire safety compulsory works ordered by the local council
- acting as coverage and monitoring counsel for excess layer insurers in a claim for compensation and defence costs brought by a lender in relation to a compensation scheme for customers provided with negligent financial advice across a number of years
- acting for a builder in a subrogated recovery action against an engineering subcontractor for damages arising from the subcontractor's defective structural design of a warehouse
- acting for a solicitor in Supreme Court of New South Wales proceedings involving a claim brought by the solicitor's former client in negligence and for breach of fiduciary duties with respect to advice provided about entering into a loan
- acting for a solicitor in District Court of New South Wales proceedings involving a claim for a personal costs order pursuant to section 99 of the Civil Procedure Act 2005 (NSW) by a former client.