Profile

Francine is a Senior Associate in the Insurance team in Brisbane. She acts predominantly for international and national insurers, underwriters, Lloyd’s syndicates, and reinsurers in a variety of financial lines matters, including professional indemnity, management liability, directors and officers insurance, and first and third party property damage, in both defence and coverage roles.

Prior to joining Kennedys, Francine practised at a large Australian law firm where she acted in a range of financial lines matters including defending professional negligence claims against financial advisors, accountants, construction professionals, engineers, architects, certifiers, and migration agents. She also has significant experience providing coverage advice to international insurers on claims and risks arising out of complex regulatory proceedings and litigation.

Francine completed a secondment as a complex claims examiner at a global insurer where she gained exposure to a broad spectrum of financial lines insurance matters.

Qualifications and admissions

  • Bachelor of Laws (Hons) / Bachelor of Arts | University of Queensland | 2017
  • Supreme Court of Queensland | 2019
  • High Court of Australia | 2019

Work highlights

  • Providing coverage and strategic advice to primary and excess layer international underwriters on the claims and complex risks faced by a ‘Big-4 bank’ arising out of a regulatory proceeding commenced by the anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing regulator, Austrac
  • Defending multi-party Supreme Court of Queensland proceedings in relation to property damage to the Soul Tower, Gold Coast
  • Acting for insurers in litigated and non-litigated coverage matters involving the application of trade credit policies
  • Acting for insurers and insured parties in relation to a range of construction professional indemnity claims, including responding to regulatory breach notices issued by the Queensland Building and Construction Commission
  • Defending a ‘Big-4 bank’ in relation to financial advice provided by Authorised Representatives in the Supreme Court of Queensland
  • Acting on behalf of an insured party to oppose defamation proceedings in the Supreme Court of Queensland, and the Court of Appeal