Clyde & Co further bolsters Insurance practice with team led by Partner Danielle Skinner in Sydney

Global law firm Clyde & Co today announces the hire of Danielle Skinner as Insurance Partner from Carter Newell, where she led the general liability practice assisting clients in all aspects of public and product liability claims. Danielle is joined by Senior Associates Nina Abangan and Ann Chin, as well as Emma Woods and Niamh Murphy as junior support.

Danielle has over 15 years of experience and is a specialist in handling insurance matters relating to general liability matters. This includes both personal injury and property damage. Her expertise extends to complex and high-value matters involving multi-party construction cases, workplace fatalities, catastrophic injury and nervous shock claims as well as subrogated recoveries and product liability claims. She acts for domestic and international insurers, underwriting agencies, brokers, claims managers and corporate self-insureds. 

A global casualty claims defence offering

Danielle, together with her team, will form part of Clyde & Co’s casualty claims practice, which acts for insurers and their policyholders across the full spectrum of claims, including catastrophic injury, fraud, legacy and disease, employers’ liability, public liability, property liability, and abuse and neglect. In Australia, the practice regularly handles high-profile, multi-party and multi-jurisdictional disputes, leveraging the local and global firm knowledge, and has a dedicated team of incident response lawyers and consultants.

Gareth Horne, Australia Head of Insurance, Clyde & Co, Sydney, said: “The arrival of Danielle and her team further strengthens our general liability offering, where we have seen strong activity in the market and demand from clients. The move is another welcome addition that further bolsters our offering in core practice lines. We are particularly excited about Danielle’s ability to integrate both with our key clients and the global practice group more broadly, and about the opportunities that follow from that in terms of supporting a strong capability in general liability across all locations in which we operate.”

Rebecca Kelly, Clyde & Co Australia Managing Partner, Brisbane, said: “It is an exciting time to welcome Danielle and her team to Clyde & Co. Danielle is a recognised leader in the casualty and liability insurance market and her appointment further strengthens our market-leading insurance practice in Australia.  Over the past 12 months, we have continued to invest in strategic growth across the Australian business, welcoming six partners whose expertise reflects the evolving needs of our clients. These appointments include Sarah Wood as the head of our employment, workplace relations and safety team, Jessica Thurtell a specialist in life insurance, Malcolm Wood and Yvonne Lam in corporate insurance and financial services, Andrew Pullinger in commercial disputes and arbitration, and now Danielle Skinner in casualty and liability insurance. Together, these hires strengthen our capability across a number of key sectors and practice areas where our clients are navigating increasing regulatory, commercial and operational complexity. They also demonstrate our commitment to attracting leading talent and investing in areas aligned with our long-term growth strategy. Danielle's expertise, combined with the strength of our global insurance platform, ensures we are well positioned to support clients as they navigate increasingly complex claims, emerging liability risks and changing market conditions across Australia and internationally.”

Danielle said: “Clyde & Co brings together insurance expertise from Australia and around the world. I’m joining to put that expertise to work for clients: helping them understand their risks, make informed decisions and manage claims. My focus is on clear advice they can act on with confidence and delivering services which are of consistent high quality.” 

Danielle’s arrival follows the hire in Australia of partners Yvonne Lam and Malcolm Wood (both Insurance) in December 2025, Jessica Thurtell (Insurance) in March 2026, Sarah Wood (Employment) in June 2026, and Andrew Pullinger (Dispute resolution) in August 2026.

Harnessing AI in the global casualty practice

In its global casualty practice, Clyde & Co holds extensive data sets, which enables the firm to detect claims fraud and help clients predict it. It means Clyde & Co can provide detailed, benchmarked Management Information (MI) to clients, helping identify areas where claims handling performance can be improved, and it allows AI and machine learning to function more effectively.

Clyde & Co’s service offering Clyde & Co Newton includes products that automate much of the claims process, which frees up clients’ claims teams and helps them reduce overall indemnity spend.