Jenny Thornton

Full Profile

Jenny advises insurers in a range of professional indemnity actions including in respect of engineers, architects, investment managers, financial planners, auditors, accountants, solicitors and medical practitioners.

Jenny also advises on directors and officers' insurance claims and, on insurers' instructions, defends directors/officers involved in commercial litigation and quasi-judicial inquiries. She has represented directors in actions alleging breaches of OH&S legislation and allegations of wrongful dismissal, misleading and deceptive conduct, and insider trading.

She advises on industrial special risks, contractors all risks and contract works policies. She also drafts and negotiates clauses in project contracts which reflect appropriate insurance arrangements and she handles coverage, defence and subrogated recovery matters.

Jenny has been recognised as a leading lawyer in Doyle's WA Professional Indemnity and Public Liability rankings and Australia's Best Lawyers (since 2011). She has also been named as a leading insurance lawyer in Australia in Chambers Asia Pacific and Legal 500 Asia Pacific (both since 2015).

Experience

• Commercial litigation – On representing electrical engineers in Australian arbitration in a dispute of the liability for a fire in a generator on a West African mine site in defending the arbitration and subsequent civil proceedings;
• Commercial litigation – On conduct of subrogated recovery claims arising from contamination of food products with allergens;
• Directors and officers – On instructions from insurers, acting for executive and non-executive directors in claims brought by shareholders and/or liquidators arising out of the insolvency or collapse of companies;
• Professional liability: financial advisers – On instructions from an insurer, acting for financial advisers the subject of claims by clients who had incurred large losses arising out of the global financial crisis;
• Professional liability: accountants – On instructions from an underwriter, representing accountants in two large claims regarding allegations of negligent tax advice;

• Professional liability: construction – Acting for a large consulting engineering firm in relation to Federal Court of Australia proceedings which alleged they were responsible for the collapse of underground mine workings;

• Property: resources – Advising an international gold mining company on whether a flood at its mine site was covered by its property damage and business interruption insurance;

• Property: resources – Acting for the industrial special risks insurer in a mining project in respect of a large claim for double insurance against the contracts work insurer;

• Property: energy – Acting for a large energy company in Supreme Court of Western Australia proceedings and international arbitrations arising out of indemnity issues relating to property damage and business interruption at a mine site in Eastern Africa;
• Property: resources – Advising an international mining company on its property damage and business interruption policy following a fire at its mine site where the insurers had alleged a failure to take reasonable care;
• Reinsurance: energy – Acting for the insurer of an international mining company on claims on its policy following a mine wall collapse in the USA; and
• Corporate insurance: resources – Drafting insurance policies including a material damage and business interruption policy for a mining company’s global programme; and advising a major mining company on insurance arrangements for a proposed joint venture with another mining company in Western Australia.