Bio:
Karen is a commercial barrister with specialist experience in insolvency and corporations law. She is most often briefed in large commercial litigation and arbitrations involving cross-border issues and complex financial transactions.
She has been briefed in many of Australia’s leading cross-border insolvency cases. She acted for a representative creditor in Re Halifax, a financial services insolvency concerning Australian and New Zealand law and she advised CSAM in connection with its exposure to Greensill Capital UK and the GFG Group. She has appeared in several applications for recognition of foreign insolvency proceedings under the Cross Border Insolvency Act 2008, which implements the UNCITRAL Model Law on Cross Border Insolvency in Australia. Before being called to the Bar, Karen was a solicitor in the Restructuring and Insolvency team of Allen & Overy LLP in London, where her practice was entirely cross-border insolvency and restructuring (both contentious and advisory).
She has received recognition as a leading restructuring and insolvency practitioner worldwide and a leading commercial junior barrister in Australia. In 2023 she was included in the Doyle’s Guide as a Recommended Insolvency & Restructuring Junior Counsel and by The Legal 500 in its 2023 Australian Bar rankings as a leading junior in commercial disputes (Tier 3) where she was described as “responsive, commercial and intellectual”. In 2022 she was recognised as one of the world’s leading young insolvency and restructuring specialists by the Global Restructuring Review in its 40-under-40 list.
Karen holds a Master of Corporate Law (First Class) from the University of Cambridge, where she was awarded a Jennings Prize for first class performance in the final examinations. She holds a Bachelor of Law (Hons 1) and a Bachelor of Arts (Communication) from the University of Technology, Sydney.
Karen is admitted to practise in all Australian jurisdictions and in England and Wales and she is entitled to appear in the Singapore International Commercial Court.