DWF has a strong national presence in Australia with offices in Brisbane, Melbourne, Sydney and Gold Coast. Led by Managing Partners Matt Dudakov and Hamish Broadbent, the Australian offices specialise in Insurance and disputes. Our teams have deep knowledge of the Australian insurance market and are highly experienced in advising both local and international clients. DWF in Australia also offers Risk, Employment, Safety and Construction law services to government and corporate clients across multiple sectors.
The General Insurance team, led by Matt Dudakov, undertakes work and holds panel appointments for general insurers, cover holders and high deductible insureds, as well as numerous Lloyd’s syndicates. Many of these relationships are part of global arrangements, with the Australian team closely affiliated with the General Insurance teams in other DWF offices. We manage major insurance lines including casualty, professional indemnity, health, financial lines / D&O, institutional abuse and property / recoveries, in a broad range of claims from simple slips and trips and small property claims through to large scale natural disasters, class actions, catastrophic injuries and high profile professional negligence actions, as well as high value, multi-party, complex and commercially sensitive claims.
DWF Claims and Proclaim are key elements of the Australian business, specialising in management and administration of all classes of commercial lines claims. Led by Jon Broome and Andrea Mulchrone, DWF has the leading claims management offering in the Australian market and is part of DWF's global claims management and adjusting business, working with Lloyds syndicates, domestic insurers and corporates. The team have particular expertise in professional indemnity, general liability, marine liability, financial institutions, D&O, management liability, legal expenses, property insurance, cyber claims and medical negligence.
DWF's Compensation, Government and Health team, under the leadership of Hamish Broadbent, operates a large personal injury practice dedicated to the defence of claims made against its clients and insureds. The team specialises in casualty, workers compensation, medical malpractice, institutional abuse and catastrophic injuries actions. The team is appointed to a range of government legal services panels including WorkCover Queensland and the Queensland Government Insurance Fund as well as the State of Queensland panel and the Whole of Australian Government Panel for Compensation.
DWF's Employment & Safety team is led by Mason Fettell. Our Employment and Industrial Relations lawyers have extensive experience in advising on all legal issues that affect workforces, including unfair dismissal matters, general protections claims, enterprise agreements, employment disputes, employment contracts and policy, restructures and terminations, disciplinary processes, workplace investigations and performance management. Our WHS lawyers operate one of the most highly regarded safety practices in Australia. The range of work includes incident response and management, officer liability, notices to produce, notice reviews, legislative compliance, right of entry issues, coronial inquests and defence of prosecutions by health and safety regulators.
The Australian Construction & Infrastructure team, led by Lex Orange, advises government, developers, contractors, subcontractors, operators, financiers and designers on construction, infrastructure and resources projects across all sectors and industries. This entails delivery methods, procurement, regulatory issues, contract administration, security of payment claims and responses, dispute resolution and construction and infrastructure litigation.
DWF Risk is led by National Manager Darren Sharry and provides independent Work Health and Safety and workplace relations consulting services. The Risk team helps businesses to manage their compliance and legislative obligations whilst achieving business objectives. Speciality areas include WHS Management Systems, managing psychosocial hazards and risks, assurance activities, Officer Due Diligence training, incident investigations, workplace conduct investigations, risk assessment and management frameworks and strategies, incident response and crisis management and WHS resourcing.
