Meg O’Brien
Eleven Wentworth
11/180 Phillip Street, Sydney, NSW, 2000
Email: mobrien@elevenwentworth
Phone: (02) 8023 9004
Overview: Barrister at Eleven Wentworth
EDUCATION
· 2013-2014: Masters of Law (First Class Honours) (Leonard Coling Scholarship), University of Cambridge
· 2003 – 2008: Bachelor of Arts (Dean’s Scholarship) and Bachelor of Laws (First Class Honours), Monash University
EMPLOYMENT HISTORY AND WORK EXPERIENCE
· May 2017 – Current: Barrister at Eleven Wentworth, Sydney, Australia
· October 2014 – October 2016: Supervising Associate at Simmons & Simmons LLP, London Commercial Litigation and International Arbitration)
o In this position I:
Ø acted for major UK-based banks in relation to various mis-selling claims;
Ø advised a major European bank in connection with litigation and related issues arising out of the collapse of a €1bn securitisation which it arranged and lead managed;
Ø acted for a Dutch company in an arbitration before the London Court of International Arbitration in relation to a shareholders’ dispute concerning various assets located in Eastern Europe;
Ø acted for an accountancy firm in the defence of claims of conspiracy and fraud brought against; and
Ø acted for a major UK-based bank against allegations of abuse of a dominant position.
· July 2014 – October 2014: Researcher in International Dispute Resolution, University of Cambridge
· November 2012 – October 2013: Lawyer at Arnold Bloch Leibler (Litigation)
o In this role I:
Ø acted for a high-net-worth individual regarding a construction dispute with the project manager of his residential property;
Ø provided advice and liaised with counsel in an arbitration between an engineering services firm and a contractor concerning the termination of a subsea oil field in the East Timor Sea;
Ø provided legal and strategic advice and drafted court documents in a Supreme Court dispute defending allegations of breach of confidence and breach of contract;
Ø provided general advice to a range of clients operating in the consumer goods or retail sectors concerning issues of advertising, brand and trademark protection, restraint of trade and insurance matters including drafting letters and related correspondence to competitors; and
Ø acted for a petroleum retailer in contractual dispute regarding a loyalty card scheme and assisted in the negotiation of a financial settlement.
· October 2011 – November 2012: Associate to Justice J Forrest, Supreme Court of Victoria
o This role involved preparing and maintaining the paperwork connected with the performance of the Judge’s functions; sitting in court; arraigning prisoners; empanelling juries; accepting the tender of evidence and documents; liaising with the profession and the public and performing legal research. This role also involved ongoing involvement in the management of the Victorian Black Saturday bushfire class actions.
· February 2009 – October 2011: Graduate and Solicitor at Mallesons Stephen Jaques (now King & Wood Mallesons) (Dispute Resolution)
o In this position, I worked in Mallesons’ Dispute Resolution team, acting in a range of litigious matters, predominantly in the financial services and energy sectors.
o I volunteered for the PILCH Homeless Persons’ Legal Clinic, the National Children’s and Youth Law Centre and the Prisoners’ Legal Service.
· January 2011 - June 2011: Secondee Solicitor at the Human Rights Law Centre
o In this role, I worked as a lawyer with the Human Rights Law Centre preparing and giving legal advice, preparing submissions, preparing information papers and updating resources published by the Centre.
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