Mary Brennan
Partner
Mary is the local managing partner of our Canberra office and manages both the Federal Litigation and Professional Indemnity/Public Liability groups in Canberra.
After being admitted in 1990, she specialised in professional indemnity, public liability & personal injury litigation. Before joining Sparke Helmore, Mary worked for more than nine years with another national law firm in Canberra, where she acted for Commonwealth and corporate clients.
In her time with the firm, Mary has been involved in the development and growth of the office's professional indemnity and public liability practices. She now acts for a large number of national insurers including a 10 year relationship for a boutique insurer defending claims against pharmacists, veterinary surgeons and chiropractors. She has also handled a number of matters for brokers, one of which manages negligence claims against ACT legal practitioners.
Also recognised for her technical skills and expertise in Federal Litigation, Mary has provided legal services to a variety of Commonwealth Government departments and agencies for more than 12 years.
These skills and expertise are enhanced by her first-hand understanding of the Commonwealth operating environment. She manages the Canberra office's claims for Comcare, Department of Veterans Affairs, Australia Post and Telstra. In this role she has also liaised with a number of Commonwealth agencies regarding the progress of claims and strategies for future management.
Mary has successfully defended a number of significant claims for large corporations and Commonwealth agencies and departments. This includes an excellent result she obtained in defending an $18m damages claim against a national superannuation fund. This case ran for eight weeks and required Mary to manage large volumes of complex documentation.
Mary has extensive experience in the AAT, the ACT Magistrates and Supreme Courts and the Federal Court of Australia.
Before entering private practice, Mary worked for the Commonwealth Government for 16 months and tutored at the ANU for three years.
She has brought her experience to counselling legal practitioners against whom complaints have been made for the Law Society. In 2004 Mary was a finalist in the Telstra Business Women of the Year Awards.
Memberships
- Civil Litigation Committee, ACT Law Society
- Lawyers Engaged in Alternative Dispute Resolution (LEADR)
