Mitchell McMartin

Full Profile

Mitchell is an experienced insurance and regulatory lawyer, specialising in advising the insurance industry (as coverage and defence counsel) on high profile and strategically important claims. Mitchell also assists the industry with its response and adaptability to emerging regulatory issues.

Mitchell specialises in directors & officers’ liability, professional indemnity, business interruption and warranty & indemnity disputes. In Australia, Mitchell frequently appears on behalf of insurers in defence of coverage disputes and coverage class actions before the NSW Supreme Court and the Federal Court of Australia. He has represented financial services companies, manufacturers, construction and hospitality companies in regulatory investigations and inquires before ASIC, the Financial Services Royal Commission, the NSW Coroners Court and WHS prosecutors.

Mitchell also regularly advises clients on corporate, commercial and consumer law matters. Mitchell regularly assists underwriters in performing coverage, legal and regulatory reviews of policy wordings and new products. He assists clients with navigating the changing regulatory environment affecting their business and has a focus on the long-term strategic implications for their business.

Mitchell has been recognised as a finalist in the Lawyers Weekly Australian Law Awards (2018).

Experience

• Business Interruption Insurance – Acting for various insurers in the First and Second AFCA Test Cases, and subsequent litigation, which considered the application of policy triggers, exclusions, trends and adjustment clauses to COVID-19 business interruption claims
• Business Interruption Insurance Class Actions – Acting for various insurers in their successful application to ‘declass’ the COVID-19 business interruption class actions of their representative proceeding status
• Civil Liability – Acting as coverage counsel on claims by a finance lender made under a civil liability policy, arising from the FCA’s investigations into secret commissions, forbearance arrangements and premium financing products
• COVID-19 Insurance Response – Advising the insurance industry and various insurers on their responses to COVID-19 claims under business interruption, landlords, travel insurance and accident & health income protection policies, including strategies for efficient claims management
• Directors & Officers – Acting as coverage counsel for various insurers on claims made under a directors’ & officers’ policy in the context of an insolvency of an Australian publicly listed construction company
• Professional Indemnity – Successfully defending a broker from claims that it failed to appropriately notify insurers of claims arising from the 2014 Melbourne Lacrosse building combustible cladding fire
• Warranty & Indemnity – Successfully defending excess insurers against a $242 million claim under a warranty and indemnity policy for alleged breaches of accounts and disclosure warranties arising from the sale of a global facilities management business
• Warranty & Indemnity – Defending a claim under a warranty and indemnity policy in response to a dispute about alleged breaches of the accounts warranties in an M&A transaction
• Investigation: Authorised Representatives – Advising an insurer on its investigations into the misconduct of an underwriter employed by an authorised representative, including coverage advice on trade credit claims arising from those policies
• Regulatory: ASIC Investigation – Acting for a life insurance intermediatory on its response to an ASIC investigation into its operations and compliance with its financial services license conditions
• Regulatory: Coronial Inquest – Acting for a global vehicle manufacturer in a high profile NSW Coronial Inquest into Australian deaths and injuries involving Takata Airbags, including investigations into industry and regulatory recall responses
• Regulatory: Financial Services Royal Commission – Acting for a life insurance intermediary with its response to the Financial Services Royal Commission’s requests for information and appearance at the public hearings as a nominated case for the life insurance industry
• Regulatory: Product Development – Advising underwriters on coverage, legal and regulatory policy review wordings across cyber, general and management liability, latent defect, marine, multiform, product liability, title and trade credit policies