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Omni Bridgeway secures 5 appointments for investment team
Omni Bridgeway’s dispute finance team has made five new appointments in its Australian investment committee and investment management team.
Naomi Neilson
The Omni Bridgeway team has added a senior counsel, Michelle Painter SC, alongside senior lawyers Grant Covington and Phillippa Briggs and associate investment managers Chris Lisica and Christopher Kahwaji.
“Omni Bridgeway is a founder of the dispute finance industry in Australia and the largest dispute finance team in Australia and around the world. The macro economic landscape, implications from the pandemic, and increasing appetite for dispute finance among corporate clients, are generating exciting opportunities for our team.”
Ms Painter has joined the investment committee, which will act as the decision-making body responsible for selecting the group’s investments. She will consider the cases for funding alongside the committee, which already comprises former judges, experienced practitioners and founders of the dispute finance industry.
Ms Painter has decades of experience as a senior counsel at the NSW bar and as a solicitor in Canberra, where she served for a time in the Office of the Australian Government Solicitor and the Office of General Counsel, Commonwealth Attorney-General’s Department and solicitor in a leading firm.
Mr Covington joins the team as an investment manager based in Sydney. With over 20 years of experience, Mr Covington has experience in insurance law and commercial litigation, where he has advised clients of major insurers, underwriters and underwriting agencies operating within the Australian market.
Previously, Mr Covington was special counsel at Wotton + Kearney, where he acted for insureds in complex professional indemnity and D&O claims.
Joining from Minter Ellison, Ms Briggs will join the team as an investment manager in Sydney. Ms Briggs will bring comprehensive experience in commercial, insurance and corporate litigation, including large scale complex litigation, professional indemnity, directors’ and officers’ liability, medical malpractice, and more.
Moving into the team as an associate investment manager, Mr Lisica was formerly a senior associate at Herbert Smith Freehills and brings significant experience in complex and large scale commercial disputes and product liability litigation. Mr Lisica was also with DLA Piper’s litigation and regulatory team, where he primarily focused on professional indemnity and general liability disputes.
Mr Kahwaji joined the investment management team as an associate investment manager. He brings experience in the dispute finance industry, where he has managed funded claims covering insolvency, commercial disputes and class actions. Mr Kahwaji was previously with Herbert Smith Freehills and has extensive experience in the Supreme Court and the Federal Court of Australia.
Naomi Neilson
Naomi Neilson is a senior journalist with a focus on court reporting for Lawyers Weekly.
You can email Naomi at:
