Ann is a dispute resolution Special Counsel with a particular focus on restructuring and insolvency, corporate workouts and banking and debt recovery. Commercially minded, Ann focuses on reaching straight forward solutions in a timely manner.
Ann provides advice to companies and their directors on restructuring and insolvency matters and also advises administrators, liquidators, receivers, trustees in bankruptcy and Government and regulatory bodies. During her career she has also acted for financiers and credit providers, including each of Australia’s top four banks, on matters involving enforcement of securities, lender-led restructuring, asset and debt recovery and loss minimisation.
Ann’s experience includes working for small to medium sized businesses as well as publicly listed entities within a number of sectors including retail, property, mining and resources. Ann assists her clients in both an advisory and litigious capacity, often running a matter from the early stages through to a negotiated out of court resolution or successfully prosecuting contested litigation.
Her technical knowledge covers complex corporate insolvency, restructuring and workouts, and consumer lending and credit as well as complicated issues involving the Personal Property Securities Act.
Ann was the winner of the 2023 Women in Insolvency and Restructuring Queensland award – being an award presented to an outstanding female who has worked in the insolvency and restructuring industry for over 5 years and has demonstrated an exceptional level of leadership and commitment to women in the industry in the previous 12 months.
Ann was a finalist in the 2018 Lawyers Weekly 30 under 30 awards in the Dispute Resolution category.
Ann received the award for the highest grade in Queensland for the 2016 ARITA Advanced Insolvency Course.
Experience
- Providing advice to various boards of publicly listed and large private companies in relation to access to the safe harbour protection against insolvent trading.
- Acting for the Commonwealth Department of Jobs and Small Business and the Attorney General’s Department in various matters to recover funds paid under the Fair Entitlements Guarantee Scheme.
- Providing insolvency advice to Integrity Life in respect of a scheme under Part 9 of the life insurance act which was the most complex transfer of its type ever attempted and the first transaction of its kind in 35 years.
- Acted for the liquidators of Delta Mining and conducted lengthy ‘mothership proceedings’ in respect of over 20 unfair preference claims.
- Acted for the directors of a large construction oriented company in a whole of organisation restructure (including partial recapitalisation, managing complex court proceedings and liaising with key stakeholders including creditors and workers’ unions).
- Advised a United States Based private equity firm in respect of a prospective insolvency in one of it’s Australian investments.
- Regularly engaged as an advisor for all manner of insolvency advice by Trafigura, one of the world’s largest suppliers of commodities.
- Advised the directors and acted for the administrators of Bounty Mining Limited.
- Acted for the voluntary administrators and liquidators of Lyon Solar, a group of companies developing solar farms.
Women in Insolvency and Restructuring Queensland 2023
The Woman in Insolvency and Restructuring Qld Award
The Legal 500 Asia Pacific 2024
2024 | Dispute resolution: litigation and Restructuring and insolvency
2022 | Dispute resolution: litigation
Lawyers Weekly 2018
30 under 30
- Professional Member, Australian Restructuring and Turnaround Association (ARITA).
- Member and QLD Committee member, Turnaround Management Association (TMA) (subcommittee member of the TMA Network of Women initiative).
- Current member of the Law Council of Australia’s Insolvency and Restructuring Committee.
- 2022 Chair, TMA NextGen QLD committee.
- Previous member of the ARITA Young Professionals QLD committee (2017 to 2019).
- Member, Queensland Law Society.