Emily Schneider

Emily is a Partner in Melbourne and her practice focuses on Financial Lines, D&O and Professional Indemnity for a range of professionals including accountants and financial advisors, construction professionals, property valuers and real estate agents as well as solicitors and law firms.

In the construction space, Emily is frequently appointed to act as defence counsel for construction, certification and design professionals in relation to large-scale commercial, State owned and residential projects (including D&C contractors, architects, civil and fire engineers and surveyors).

Emily also acts for local councils, statutory authorities, not-for-profits, trustees and small to medium enterprises.

In addition to answering allegations of breach of contract, negligence, statutory or contractual immunities and misleading or deceptive conduct, Emily also acts in intellectual property disputes, regulatory investigations and prosecutions as well as in class actions. 

Emily appears in all jurisdictions including the Supreme Court of Victoria, County Court of Victoria, VCAT and the Federal Court of Australia.  Emily also regularly acts for professionals based in South Australia and Tasmania.

In the technical defamation arena, Emily regularly acts for both plaintiffs and defendant publishers in defamation claims ranging from high profile allegations attracting media attention to claims arising from publications on social media platforms.

In addition to defence, Emily is recognised by the local and London market for her coverage advice and appointments on subrogated recoveries.

In recognition of her contribution to pro bono legal services, Emily was a Named Finalist for the Lawyers Weekly Women in Law Awards in the category of Pro Bono Lawyers of the Year – 2017.

Emily contributed to the writing of Kennedys' ‘Rewriting the risk: Addressing the challenge of climate change’ report, which was published in July 2022.

Market recognition

A Recommended Lawyer in Doyles Guide: Leading Professional Indemnity Lawyers - Victoria 2021, 2022 and 2023.

Ranked in both dispute resolution and media and entertainment in the Legal 500 Asia Pacific 2022.

Work highlights

• In 2022, acted in a domestic building dispute in the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal which is recognised as the longest running trial in that jurisdiction;
• Acted for an architectural firm in relation to a high-value, multi-party Supreme Court of Victoria proceedings commenced by a head contractor to seek to recover rectification costs from its contractors following the design and installation of combustible cladding on a large state-owned hospital;
• Acted for numerous building surveyors in response to allegations of negligent issuing of the various permits and/or negligent inspections for residential dwellings;
• Acted for a large financial institution at first instance and at appeal in relation to disputes over the title of properties offered as security for reverse mortgage lending following the collapse of an unregistered managed investment scheme, Money for Living;
• Acted for numerous Australian Financial Services Licence holders and financial advisors in relation to the collapse of various publicly listed companies and managed investment schemes (including non-litigated disputes, complaints lodged with the Australian Financial Complaints Authority and litigation in the Supreme Courts of Victoria and New South Wales). A number of these disputes were anticipated to exceed the policy limit but were resolved without the need to exhaust the policy;
• Acted for mortgage manager in relation to its alleged role in relation to a range of fraudulent mortgage transactions;
• Acted in the Supreme Court of New South Wales for a private school and a number of teachers in litigation concerning an allegedly defamatory publication;
• Acting for the London market in relation to various claims for indemnity by one of the “Big 4” banks in relation to claims said to arise out of the Banking and Finance Royal Commission.