Kelly is a senior lawyer of over 26 years experience and is accredited by the NSW Law Society as a Specialist in Personal Injury Law. She has substantial experience in acting for both plaintiffs and insurers/self insurers.

The first half of Kelly’s career was spent working as a solicitor and partner of a defendant personal injury legal firm whose sole practice involved acting for insurers and self insurers in all aspects of personal injury litigation. Kelly managed the Sydney office of this firm which included supervising, mentoring and training of solicitors and other staff whose practice areas included all aspects of personal injury litigation such as workers compensation, work injury damages, recoveries, motor accident law, public liability law and dust disease litigation. Kelly was also the liaison partner for a number of high profile government and private employers and provided advice and representation in all areas of defendant personal injury litigation.

While Kelly obtained valuable insight into the workings of a defendant practice and their insurer clients, she recognised that plaintiffs were often not treated fairly in the compensation system. Armed with this inside information and a unique perspective, Kelly decided she needed to cross over to handle plaintiff work. Kelly then started working exclusively for plaintiffs and spent approximately 16 years as the supervising partner and team leader of a leading plaintiff personal injury law firm. She was responsible for overseeing a large portfolio of plaintiff clients in the areas of workers compensation, work injury damages, motor accident, public liability, dust disease law, TPD & superannuation policy based claims. Kelly’s experience is diverse and also extended to the mentoring and training of other plaintiff compensation lawyers and staff within the practice as well as personally handling the more complex personal injury matters within that practice. 

Kelly has found her time working with plaintiffs rewarding and is passionate about achieving justice and adopting a plain english approach to advising clients. Kelly is supportive and compassionate with clients and brings a unique perspective to her work, having worked for both defendants and plaintiffs. Kelly currently heads the Sydney office of Whitelaw Mcdonald and also travels regularly to visit clients in Whitelaw Mcdonald’s interstate and NSW north coast branch offices.

Kelly believes that most problems in life and law can be solved with good wine, a sense of humour and a hearty dose of expletives!

Professional Qualifications

  • Admitted – High Court of Australia
  • Admitted – Supreme Court of New South Wales
  • Personal Injury Specialist Accreditation, The Law Society of NSW

Memberships & Associations

  • Law Society of New South Wales