+61 3 9225 8444

Wendy Harris KC

Bar Roll: 1997 Silk: 2010
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61 3 9225 7719 61 411 260 706
Room 2313 Aickin Chambers

Wendy is a commercial barrister and Kings’s Counsel specialising in complex disputes and transactional advice, particularly in the banking and finance, insurance and securities sectors.

She has a large class action practice, and has acted in numerous securities class actions for ASX-listed entities including NAB, Worley Parsons, BHP, Newcrest, Murray Goulburn, UGL, and UBS.  Securities class actions are both a growth area and in a dynamic state of development, and her clients trust Wendy to steer them through this rapidly evolving landscape.

Wendy makes it a priority to understand her client’s business and appreciates the commercial, strategic and human considerations which inform the way a matter should be conducted and the client’s perspective on what might represent a ‘good outcome’.  Her appreciation of the ‘boardroom perspective’ has been enhanced by NED roles, including as Chair of the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre and current directorship of the Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Healthcare.

Wendy is also past President of the Victorian Bar and past President of the Commercial Bar Association.

Wendy has significant experience in banking and finance, including acting for National Australia Bank in the Financial Services Royal Commission and in the bank bill swap rate litigation brought by ASIC, and in the context of many large-scale insolvencies.

Wendy is sought out for her appellate advocacy.  This is an area where she has often appeared in cases outside the commercial context, where specialist advocacy skills are required. She has also acted in a significant number of matters in the original jurisdiction of the High Court and in its appellate jurisdiction.

Sharon Cook, Chief Legal & Commercial Counsel, National Australia Bank Ltd says:

“NAB briefs Wendy in many of our significant matters and I have worked closely with her in my role as the Chief Legal and Commercial Counsel. I appreciate, in particular, Wendy’s –

– deep knowledge of financial services law and the workings of the financial services sector

– deep understanding of NAB’s business

– understanding of NAB’s commercial and reputational drivers, and the commercial lens she brings to her advice

– clarity of written and oral advice and the confidence and trust she engenders in senior management and directors

– diligence, capacity for hard work and excellent organisational skills

– calmness, composure and genuine concern for the wellbeing of the legal and business team instructing her

– collaborative approach to working with the NAB Legal team and the business.”

 

 

*Liability limited by a scheme approved under Professional Standards legislation

Areas of Practice

Banking & FinanceBanking, Finance & InsolvencyCommercialConstitutional LawCorporate & CommercialCorporationsDefamation & Media LawInsuranceMerits ReviewProfessional NegligencePublic LawTrade Practices/Consumer Protection

QUALIFICATIONS

LLB (Hons)

MEMBERSHIPS & ASSOCIATIONS

Senior Vice - President Victorian Bar Council;
President - Commercial Bar Association;
Member of the Advisory Board of the Centre for Comparative Constitutional Studies at the University of Melbourne.

Wendy Harris KC

Bar Roll: 1997 Silk: 2010
print vcard

Profile

61 3 9225 7719 61 411 260 706
Room 2313 Aickin Chambers

Wendy is a commercial barrister and Kings’s Counsel specialising in complex disputes and transactional advice, particularly in the banking and finance, insurance and securities sectors.

She has a large class action practice, and has acted in numerous securities class actions for ASX-listed entities including NAB, Worley Parsons, BHP, Newcrest, Murray Goulburn, UGL, and UBS.  Securities class actions are both a growth area and in a dynamic state of development, and her clients trust Wendy to steer them through this rapidly evolving landscape.

Wendy makes it a priority to understand her client’s business and appreciates the commercial, strategic and human considerations which inform the way a matter should be conducted and the client’s perspective on what might represent a ‘good outcome’.  Her appreciation of the ‘boardroom perspective’ has been enhanced by NED roles, including as Chair of the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre and current directorship of the Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Healthcare.

Wendy is also past President of the Victorian Bar and past President of the Commercial Bar Association.

Wendy has significant experience in banking and finance, including acting for National Australia Bank in the Financial Services Royal Commission and in the bank bill swap rate litigation brought by ASIC, and in the context of many large-scale insolvencies.

Wendy is sought out for her appellate advocacy.  This is an area where she has often appeared in cases outside the commercial context, where specialist advocacy skills are required. She has also acted in a significant number of matters in the original jurisdiction of the High Court and in its appellate jurisdiction.

Sharon Cook, Chief Legal & Commercial Counsel, National Australia Bank Ltd says:

“NAB briefs Wendy in many of our significant matters and I have worked closely with her in my role as the Chief Legal and Commercial Counsel. I appreciate, in particular, Wendy’s –

– deep knowledge of financial services law and the workings of the financial services sector

– deep understanding of NAB’s business

– understanding of NAB’s commercial and reputational drivers, and the commercial lens she brings to her advice

– clarity of written and oral advice and the confidence and trust she engenders in senior management and directors

– diligence, capacity for hard work and excellent organisational skills

– calmness, composure and genuine concern for the wellbeing of the legal and business team instructing her

– collaborative approach to working with the NAB Legal team and the business.”

 

 

*Liability limited by a scheme approved under Professional Standards legislation

Areas of Practice

Banking & FinanceBanking, Finance & InsolvencyCommercialConstitutional LawCorporate & CommercialCorporationsDefamation & Media LawInsuranceMerits ReviewProfessional NegligencePublic LawTrade Practices/Consumer Protection

Cases

Qualifications & Memberships

QUALIFICATIONS

LLB (Hons)

MEMBERSHIPS & ASSOCIATIONS

Senior Vice - President Victorian Bar Council;
President - Commercial Bar Association;
Member of the Advisory Board of the Centre for Comparative Constitutional Studies at the University of Melbourne.