Her work history includes roles at HFW, Herbert Smith Freehills, Ashurst
Clayton Utz has announced the addition of Sophy Woodward, a specialist insurance disputes lawyer, to its partnership and its commercial litigation practice in Melbourne.
“Sophy's move to Clayton Utz will build on our proud record of acting for policy holders in insurance disputes,” said Greg Williams, national practice group leader and commercial litigation partner, in a media release. “It also reflects our view of Melbourne as a growing litigation market.”
Williams called Woodward’s track record with insurance disputes outstanding. Throughout her legal career, Woodward has gained over two decades of experience in dealing with complex disputes such as contested insurance claims, construction disputes, regulatory investigations, and class actions.
Her focus areas include insurance and risk management issues, risk allocation, and all the insurance aspects of major transactions. She also assists clients with their regulatory requirements and their claims-handling obligations.
Work history
“Sophy has not only held partnership and other senior legal positions at major law firms, but also has legal counsel experience at major businesses, including BHP and Transurban,” Williams said in Clayton Utz’s media release.
According to her LinkedIn page, prior to joining Clayton Utz, Woodward was a Melbourne-based partner at Holman Fenwick Willan (HFW). In that role, she focused on complex disputes such as contested insurance coverage disputes for both policyholders and insurers. She also offered front-end insurance advice regarding policy placement, risk management, and regulatory requirements.
Before that, she was a senior associate at Herbert Smith Freehills for nine years, as per her LinkedIn page. In that position, she assisted clients involved in high-profile disputes, particularly insurance coverage disputes, class actions, and regulatory proceedings. These clients included mining companies, major banks, and infrastructure companies.
Woodward also worked as a solicitor at Ashurst in Melbourne for about 10 months, according to her LinkedIn page.
Last year, she was recognised by the legal directory Legal 500 for the Asia Pacific region in both the insurance and dispute resolution categories.