Ivana Vasić

Full Profile

Ivana is an insurance and commercial litigation lawyer with broad experience acting across insurance related matters and commercial litigation, acting for both plaintiffs and defendants. She has been involved in cases litigated in Courts in Western Australia and Victoria and the Federal Court of Australia. 

Ivana has also acted as defence counsel on behalf of directors and officers, on insurers’ instructions, in respect of regulatory investigations, including by ASIC.

Ivana also has experience working in a construction and infrastructure practice, where she worked on front-end and back-end construction matters. Having experience acting on front-end transactions on small and large scale projects (from tender through to contract negotiation and preparation of contracts and execution) has been invaluable when advising on claims and disputes on construction projects in the commercial and engineering spaces.

Prior to moving into private practice, Ivana worked in-house at an international construction company.

Experience

Professional indemnity

• Acting for a London insurer in respect of a $28 million claim against the insured, a multi-disciplined engineering company, in relation to the construction of a gold milling plant. Advising on indemnity.
• Appointed by insurers to act on behalf of an accounting firm and an accountant (fifth and sixth defendants in Supreme Court proceedings) in respect of a complex dispute brought by multiple plaintiffs that are related entities, directors and financial advisors regarding alleged contraventions of the Corporations Act relating to the duties of financial services providers and reporting to ASIC.
• Appointed by insurers to act for an architect in defending Federal Court proceedings commenced against it for defective design.
• Appointed by insurers to act for a financial planner and financial services firm in defending a $5 million claim relating to the provision of advice in respect of life and total and permanent disability insurance arrangements.

Directors and officers

• Appointed by a global insurer to act as defence counsel, on behalf a former director of a gold exploration and mining company in respect of regulatory investigations by ASIC.
• Acting on behalf of a then-CFO, of an ASX listed company (with subsidiaries in the United States), as defence counsel in respect of regulatory investigations in Australia by ASIC and in the US by the Department of Justice (criminal division) and the Securities Exchange Commission (civil). Liaising with coverage counsel in relation to indemnity under the D&O policy.
• Appointed by insurers to act as defence counsel for a former director of a multidiscipline contractor (who provided specialised equipment, construction, commission and maintenance) to the energy, resources and infrastructure sectors in defending allegations of misleading and deceptive conduct in relation the company’s financials prior to acquisition of 98% of the company’s shareholding.  The quantum of the claim was approx. $12 million.
• Appointed by insurers to act for a former director of a mining company, defendant in District Court proceedings, in defending allegations of misleading and deceptive conduct in respect of representations made during a capital raise regarding value of shares and gold and nickel mines.

Property damage

• Appointed by insurers to act as defence counsel on behalf of a construction and maintenance contractor in respect of defending a $500 million claim in respect of a fire at an iron ore site.
• Appointed by an insurer to act as defence counsel in the Supreme Court of Victoria in respect of four claims for indemnity under the policy totalling $60 million, in respect of damage to tunnel caused by sinkholes.
• Acted for a designer and builder of storage facilities, tanks and terminals in defending a claim against it in the Supreme Court for defective design and defective workmanship.