Area of law
Financial Lines
Our national Financial Lines team is highly respected by insurers, brokers, corporate clients, executives, and professionals. We act in matters involving financial loss, governance risk, alleged misconduct, and complex multi-party disputes.
With deep knowledge of corporate regulation, insurance law, professional standards, and emerging risk trends, we deliver strategic, commercially focused advice and defence solutions. From HBA you can expect well-informed, results-focused representation that protects insureds, supports insurers, and delivers confidence in complex and high-exposure matters.
Across all financial lines matters, we deliver:
- Commercially grounded advice tailored to corporate and insurer priorities
- Early, accurate risk assessment enabling proactive claims management
- Technical expertise in financial regulation, governance, and professional standards
- Robust litigation capability, including class actions and multi-party disputes
- Clear, insurer-aligned reporting and efficient file management
- Strategic pathways to resolution
Our team understands the sensitive and reputational implications of financial and governance-related claims and provides discrete, practical, and strategic support at every stage.
Our focus areas
Professional Indemnity (PI)
We defend a broad range of professionals and professional firms, including:
• Financial advisers, accountants, auditors, and brokers.
• Lawyers, barristers, migration agents.
• Architects, engineers, surveyors, and design professionals.
• Real estate agents, valuers, and strata managers.
Our PI capability includes negligence claims, alleged breaches of professional standards, misstatements, administrative errors, and emerging technology-based professional risk. Read more here.
Directors & Officers (D&O) Liability
We represent directors, officers, executives, and insured entities in claims arising from:
• Alleged mismanagement, breach of duty, or governance failures.
• ASIC, ACCC and other regulatory investigations.
• Shareholder disputes and class actions.
• Insolvency-related claims, including insolvent trading and phoenix activity.
• Continuous disclosure issues and market conduct allegations.
Our team provides proactive guidance through investigation, claim response, document management, witness preparation, and strategic resolution.
Management Liability
For small to medium enterprises and private companies, we advise on claims involving:
• Employment Practices Liability (EPL): unfair dismissal, bullying, harassment, discrimination.
• Statutory liability for breaches of WHS, environmental, or corporate regulations.
• Entity liability for financial loss claims.
• Crime and fidelity issues involving employee fraud, dishonesty, or third-party deception.
We provide coordinated defence strategies that address interrelated management, employment, and regulatory exposures.
Regulatory Investigations & Enforcement
We support insureds and boards facing scrutiny from:
• ASIC.
• ACCC.
• AUSTRAC.
• OAIC.
• State-based WHS and environmental regulators.
Our team advises on compulsory notices, interviews, risk assessment, document production, and defence strategies in administrative, civil, or criminal contexts.
Coverage & Advisory Services
We provide insurers with clear, technical advice on:
• Policy interpretation and policy construction.
• Coverage disputes and reservation of rights.
• Allocation, dual insurance, and priority issues.
• Claims-made and notification requirements.
• Regulatory and industry developments affecting underwriting and exposure.
We focus on commercial clarity, defensible reasoning, and alignment with evolving market conditions.
“At HBA, they go against the grain and do things a little differently. This is the defining ethos of HBA Legal. For years they have cultivated a craft of providing cradle-to-grave solutions for professional indemnity claims by encouraging a willingness to step down from the law firm ivory tower and work in lockstep with underwriting agents, claims handlers and insurers. They have consistently made good on their promise to achieve results for clients, while generating significant cost savings.”
Tom Allen
Chief Executive, Prime, CBC Partnership
