Edwina has 10 years’ experience in insolvency and restructuring. She has been a barrister at the New South Wales Bar and the Victorian Bar for over five years. Prior to that she was a solicitor for working at firms in South Australia, Victoria and New South Wales.
Edwina has specialised in insolvency since the beginning of her career and during her time at the Victorian Bar she served on the executive committee of the Women in Insolvency and Restructuring Victoria (the Victorian WINA counterpart).
Edwina is regularly briefed to appear in the New South Wales, Federal and Victorian superior courts. That work includes liquidations and complex winding up proceedings, appearing for liquidators conducting public examinations, shareholder and director disputes, mortgage and debt recovery, and banking and finance related proceedings. She also advises and prepares in a wide range of matters including investigations and examinations by liquidators and trustees in bankruptcy.
Edwina has presented at the Corporate Insolvency Bootcamp Series in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane on Liquidators Remuneration, the NSW Property Law Gala on Property and Administrations, and private firms and for insolvency groups on the interaction between the PPSA and insolvency legislation.
Q. How did you choose a career in insolvency/restructuring?
At the beginning of my career I was fortunate enough to spend a year working with a South Australian Supreme Court Judge. During that time I participated in the hearing of a large scale dispute involving multiple liquidated companies and their associated directors. I found the unique nature of insolvency claims fascinating and challenging, and decided I wanted to explore the area further after my year at the Court. This led me to working at a firm specialising in insolvency, and I continued in the space from there.
Q. How did you get to where you are today?
Hard work, a determination to keep going when things weren’t always going my way, and most of all maintaining a belief in myself and my abilities. When I left the world of law firms for the unknown of the Bar, I did it in a city where at the time I had essentially no contacts. I really had to trust that my work ethic, networking and communication skills would hold me in sufficient stead to establish a practice. I was also not afraid to lean on fantastic mentors in my specialty areas at both the Victorian Bar and later the New South Wales Bar which helped immensely.
Q. What advice would you provide to your younger self?
Everything will be ok in the end. I have had more than a few sleepless nights worrying about a certain matter or day in Court. It has always worked out one way or another, and hard days usually end up providing invaluable experience for the next brief.
Also, the best briefs in insolvency are those where you work with people you feel you know both professionally and personally. Investing time and effort into your network reaps many benefits -not just in obtaining work but from the relationships you cultivate. Insolvency is as much about networking as it is about your skills, and knowing your work circle well makes the work that much more enjoyable.
Q. What has been your most memorable moment during your career?
Receiving the letter I had passed the Bar Exam. It felt like my hard work not just studying, but also in the prior six years as a solicitor, had come to fruition. I also felt a sense of a door opening for me to new opportunities I never had before, particularly in specialty areas (such as insolvency) which I had already worked in as a solicitor but now in a different capacity – as an advocate.
Q. What is one thing you know now that you wish you had known earlier in your career?
Don’t be afraid to say yes to work in different areas or matters you have never dealt with before – the only way you get the experience is by doing it! Say yes to everything, you don’t know where it will lead.
Q. What is an interesting fact about you?
I am originally a country girl from a remote part of South Australia, and spent my early years riding motorbikes and chasing up sheep. As a result I have a variety of skills of absolutely no use in my present day life!
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Edwina has 10 years’ experience in insolvency and restructuring. She has been a barrister at the New South Wales Bar and the Victorian Bar for over five years. Prior to that she was a solicitor for working at firms in South Australia, Victoria and New South Wales.
Edwina has specialised in insolvency since the beginning of her career and during her time at the Victorian Bar she served on the executive committee of the Women in Insolvency and Restructuring Victoria (the Victorian WINA counterpart).
Edwina is regularly briefed to appear in the New South Wales, Federal and Victorian superior courts. That work includes liquidations and complex winding up proceedings, appearing for liquidators conducting public examinations, shareholder and director disputes, mortgage and debt recovery, and banking and finance related proceedings. She also advises and prepares in a wide range of matters including investigations and examinations by liquidators and trustees in bankruptcy.
Edwina has presented at the Corporate Insolvency Bootcamp Series in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane on Liquidators Remuneration, the NSW Property Law Gala on Property and Administrations, and private firms and for insolvency groups on the interaction between the PPSA and insolvency legislation.
Q. How did you choose a career in insolvency/restructuring?
At the beginning of my career I was fortunate enough to spend a year working with a South Australian Supreme Court Judge. During that time I participated in the hearing of a large scale dispute involving multiple liquidated companies and their associated directors. I found the unique nature of insolvency claims fascinating and challenging, and decided I wanted to explore the area further after my year at the Court. This led me to working at a firm specialising in insolvency, and I continued in the space from there.
Q. How did you get to where you are today?
Hard work, a determination to keep going when things weren’t always going my way, and most of all maintaining a belief in myself and my abilities. When I left the world of law firms for the unknown of the Bar, I did it in a city where at the time I had essentially no contacts. I really had to trust that my work ethic, networking and communication skills would hold me in sufficient stead to establish a practice. I was also not afraid to lean on fantastic mentors in my specialty areas at both the Victorian Bar and later the New South Wales Bar which helped immensely.
Q. What advice would you provide to your younger self?
Everything will be ok in the end. I have had more than a few sleepless nights worrying about a certain matter or day in Court. It has always worked out one way or another, and hard days usually end up providing invaluable experience for the next brief.
Also, the best briefs in insolvency are those where you work with people you feel you know both professionally and personally. Investing time and effort into your network reaps many benefits -not just in obtaining work but from the relationships you cultivate. Insolvency is as much about networking as it is about your skills, and knowing your work circle well makes the work that much more enjoyable.
Q. What has been your most memorable moment during your career?
Receiving the letter I had passed the Bar Exam. It felt like my hard work not just studying, but also in the prior six years as a solicitor, had come to fruition. I also felt a sense of a door opening for me to new opportunities I never had before, particularly in specialty areas (such as insolvency) which I had already worked in as a solicitor but now in a different capacity – as an advocate.
Q. What is one thing you know now that you wish you had known earlier in your career?
Don’t be afraid to say yes to work in different areas or matters you have never dealt with before – the only way you get the experience is by doing it! Say yes to everything, you don’t know where it will lead.
Q. What is an interesting fact about you?
I am originally a country girl from a remote part of South Australia, and spent my early years riding motorbikes and chasing up sheep. As a result I have a variety of skills of absolutely no use in my present day life!