Experience
United Medical Protection
We acted for the provisional liquidator of United Medical Protection (UMP), the largest medical defence organisation in Australia. The case made corporate history because it is the only time a company has been successfully restructured and able to come out of provisional liquidation. We represented the provisional liquidator in negotiations for an indemnity from the Federal Government to allow UMP to continue trading. This included a number of applications relating to UMP’s dealings with international re-insurance companies. We also provided input into the ongoing negotiations with the government on proposed legislation in relation to the medical indemnity industry including the IBNR (incurred but not reported) levy and the various court applications and hearings this restructure entailed.
HIH Insurance Limited
We acted for the underwriters of the directors’ and officers’ liability policy of the HIH Group. The liquidation of the HIH Group, one of Australia’s largest general insurers and reported to be Australia’s largest corporate collapse at over $5 billion, led to various issues and queries as to the manner in which the insurance and financial services industry is regulated in Australia. We were involved in all aspects of this matter, including the HIH Royal Commission.
Promina
We acted for Royal & SunAlliance in the initial public offering (IPO) of Promina, the largest composite insurance company in Australia. We advised on the due diligence conducted on the float company and on the preparation of the prospectus for the IPO.
Femcare
We acted on behalf of Femcare, the manufacturer of a well known female sterilisation device, and its insurer, in a major representative proceeding in the Federal Court as well as in numerous individual claims. To date, Freehills has succeeded in obtaining judgment in favour of our client in 16 individual claims. Freehills also had substantial success in the representative proceedings.
Lloyd’s
We regularly provide advice to the Corporation of Lloyd’s, including advice to Lloyd’s in relation to the alternative dispute resolution clauses contained in their standard policy wordings, to encourage the use of alternative dispute resolution techniques for resolving disputes between corporate insureds and their insurers. We also represented the Corporation of Lloyd’s in relation to the ‘Names’ litigation in Australia.
Swiss Re
We advised on a novel directors’ and officers’ insurance arrangement for global reinsurer Swiss Re. The parties involved in the matter came from around the globe and included a captive reinsurer in Bermuda, insurance brokers in Singapore, parties in London and Melbourne, the client in Sydney and team members from Freehills Sydney and Brisbane.
