Ironbridge Legal, an award-winning specialist litigation and insolvency and team, with offices in both Sydney and Melbourne, has recently bolstered its senior legal team with the hire of Special Counsel, Laura Coleclough.

Laura is an experienced commercial dispute resolution solicitor with a breadth of international experience across a range of commercial disputes in litigation, arbitration and mediation.

The arrival of Laura coincided with the firm seeing a significant uptick in fraud-related work, especially in relation to scams. Laura’s expertise in seeking out those with deep pockets to compensate the victims of fraud, will be much needed in circumstances where, according to an ACCC report, Australians lost over $3bn in 2022 to scams.

Laura is a leading practitioner in the field of authorised push payment frauds (APP fraud), having recently represented a consumer body in a landmark case, labelled a “Top 2023 Appeal”, before the UK’s highest court (the UK Supreme Court) in Philipp v Barclays Bank UK PLC [2023] UKSC 25. Laura has also been instrumental in advising in a multi-billion-dollar bankruptcy and its enforcement in Australia, and brings with her years of experience of bringing claims for and against banks.

When asked about her move to Ironbridge Legal, she had this to say:

“I am excited about joining the outstanding team at Ironbridge Legal and helping Trevor to grow the Melbourne office. In light of the huge rise in APP fraud scams, not just in Australia but globally, I am keen to use my experience in this new developing area to provide guidance to victims, regulators and/or consumer bodies in order to fight fraudsters. Unfortunately, fraudsters are becoming more and more sophisticated, and victims will want to draw on the expertise of a firm like Ironbridge Legal with its impressive technology, nimble lawyers and deep well of asset recovery expertise.”

Laura also bolsters the firm’s brain trust, herself being as thought-leader in the field of AI regulation, emerging technologies, and digital assets – which expertise in is becoming increasingly essential in fraud, asset recovery and insolvency matters.

Firm Founder and Partner, Trevor Withane, said:

“The fact that Ironbridge Legal was able to compete to attract Laura, who has leading global experience, is a moment of pride in our four-year history. In the short time Laura has been with us, our clients have benefited from her experience of practising in England – bringing to the table novel, creative and outside-the-box strategies.

I am also thrilled to have added another women to our team, proving the point that women can have career in private practice at the senior levels.

While Laura’s focus will be on building the firm’s Melbourne client base, and working alongside me to demonstrate the firm’s top-tier quality in this important east coast market, she will work with our international and Sydney based clients to ensure that they get the benefit of her exceptional experience.”