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Summer Dow

Senior Associate
About

Summer Dow focuses her practice on insurance and dispute resolution. 

Summer also has experience acting in both litigated and unlitigated disputes in a range of jurisdictions. She has also handled financial lines disputes through the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS).

Summer's clients are from a broad range of sectors, including from the insurance, construction, property, finance and legal industries.

Professional QualificationsSolicitor of the High Court of Australia, 2009Solicitor of the Supreme Court of New South Wales, 2009

EXPERIENCE

Areas of Experience

Summer focuses in:

  • Public liability claims, having acted for residential care facilities, aged care facilities and local Councils in litigated matters as well as factual investigations and notifications
  • Professional negligence claims, having acted for a broad range of professionals including accountants, financial services professionals, builders, engineers, architects, real estate agents, insurance brokers, barristers and valuers
  • Directors' and officers' claims, including acting for not for profit companies and for directors in ASIC and receivers' examinations
  • Indemnity advice, having acted for London Underwriters and domestic insurers in indemnity disputes

Key Experience

  • Acting for the insurer of a residential care facility and its manager in defence of proceedings arising from allegations of negligence, assault, neglect and breaches of the Australian Consumer Law by a class action of former residents
  • Acting for the insurer of an aged care facility in defence of proceedings brought by relatives of a deceased resident alleging psychological injury arising from the treatment of the resident
  • Acting for the insurer of an aged care facility to undertake factual investigations into an incident at the facility causing personal injury to a resident due to mistaken instructions from a treating medical officer to registered nurses employed by the facility
  • Acting for the insurer of a farming company in defence of proceedings alleging damages for personal injury arising from an accident on the company's dairy farm
  • Acting for former directors and officers of an incorporated association in defence of proceedings brought by the receivers and managers of the company for breach of directors duties in making and managing certain loans made by the company

Key Clients

  • WR Berkley Insurance Australia Pty Ltd
  • Dual Australia Pty Ltd 
  • Ansvar Insurance
  • AmTrust Underwriting Limited
  • Wesfarmers Insurance
  • Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance Underwriting at Lloyd’s 
  • Markel International 
  • Canopius Underwriting Limited and Syndicate 4444 
  • QBE386 
  • Assetinsure Pty Ltd 
Education
  • University of Technology Sydney, Graduate Diploma of Legal Practice, (2008)
  • University of Technology Sydney, Bachelor of Laws (Hons), (2007)
  • Cambridge University, Master of Arts (Hons), (1999)

Prior Experience

Prior to joining DLA Piper, Summer worked for two years as a paralegal, graduate then solicitor at a boutique firm in Sydney and before that, was employed for five years as a litigation paralegal at a top tier law firm. Summer also worked as a research assistant in the Law Faculty at University of Technology, Sydney.

Memberships And Affiliations

  • Law Society of New South Wales 
  • Australian Insurance Law Association 
  • Women in Insurance 
  • Australian Professional Indemnity Group 
  • Chartered Institute of Arbitrators

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