Profile
“I will continue to empower and encourage my staff to perform at their best as I have done for the last decade. I will continue to advocate for my clients, embracing new technology and being open to business and industry changes”
Ken Dixon,
Dixon Insurance Services
As the leader of Sparke Helmore Lawyers’ maritime and transport practice, Michelle Taylor is internationally recognised with 28 years of experience providing strategic advice across all areas of maritime and transport law. She advises a wide spectrum of domestic and international government agencies, the corporate sector and insurers on complex, high-profile shipping and transport matters, including maritime casualties, admiralty litigation, sea carriage disputes, marine liability claims and chain of responsibility laws. She has also negotiated with stakeholders to develop solutions in respect of major shipping casualties arising from ship-sourced pollution.
In 2023, Taylor was appointed to the Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA) Board. This follows her appointment as president of the Maritime Law Association of Australia and New Zealand (MLAANZ) and to the Sparke Helmore Board in 2022. She is on the committee of the AMSA Shipping Consultative Forum as well as the executive committee of the Australian Maritime and Transport Arbitration Commission (AMTAC). She is a founding member of the Port of Brisbane Seafarers’ Welfare Committee.
Taylor actively challenges traditional stereotypes within the maritime and transport industry sectors and works to attract and retain more female lawyers and younger professionals in this space. She is a founding member of the Women’s International Shipping & Trading Association in Queensland and recently mentored a lawyer in her team to become a senior associate and achieve recognition in Legal 500 Asia-Pacific as a Recommended Lawyer very early in her career.
Taylor is recognised in Legal 500, Chambers, Doyle’s Guide and Best Lawyers.
Level 23, 240 Queen Street, Brisbane, Qld 4000
+61 7 3016 5016
Michelle.Taylor@sparke.com.au
linkedin.com/in/michelle-taylor-44a29497
sparke.com.au
Michelle Taylor
Partner, Maritime and Transport
Sparke Helmore Lawyers
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Milestones
“To be able to give back to the community is rewarding and fulfilling. I am honoured to be in a position where I can raise funds for those less fortunate and in need”
Ken Dixon,
Dixon Insurance Services
1993–1995
1996–2011
2011–2018
2020–2022
Present
Articled Clerk/Lawyer at MacDonnells Law
1993–
1995
1996–2011: Senior Associate (Ashurst, DLA Piper, McCullough Robertson and Clayton Utz)
2008: Master of Laws in Maritime Law (Dean’s Honour Roll)
1996–
2011
Special Counsel at Norton Rose Fulbright
2011–
2018
2020: Executive Member of the AMTAC
2021: President of the MLAANZ
2022: Appointed to the Sparke Helmore Management Board
2020–
2022
Partner, Maritime and Transport at Sparke Helmore Lawyers since 2018
Appointed to the AMSA Board
Listed as a Leading Individual in Transport: Shipping in Legal 500 Asia-Pacific, Chambers Asia-Pacific Band 2 for Shipping Law, Doyle’s Guide Leading Admiralty, Shipping and Maritime Lawyer and Best Lawyers in Commercial Law, Insurance Law, Shipping and Maritime Law, Trade Law and Transportation Law, including 2023 Shipping and Maritime Lawyer of the Year
Present
Assistant Vice President and Senior Broker at MJ Hall & Company since 2018
Present
Milestones
Aug 2022
Milestones
Sept 2021
Feb 2022
Apr 2022
Jul 2022
Aug
2022
Suncorp Bank introduces Solar Home Bonus offer for customers who are choosing renewable energy for their homes
Sept 2021
Month-on-month market share growth commences
Feb 2022
Suncorp Bank wins the Canstar award for most outstanding value in investment loans
Apr 2022
Suncorp Bank wins Money Magazine’s Bank of the Year and Business Bank of the Year awards for the fifth year in a row
Jul 2022
Suncorp Bank’s turnaround times are the lowest they have ever been. The lender becomes Australia’s first certified carbon neutral bank for both its operation and transaction services
Aug 2022
Milestones
How does he distinguish himself among fellow brokers?
“I believe all brokers are working very hard in a difficult market,” he says. “However, I have demonstrated continued growth, advocacy and performance on my client’s behalf, which is now recognised [for 10 consecutive years] in the Elite Broker awards.”
In 1990, Dixon got started with FAI, working in claims and as a team leader. From the late 1990s up until 2003, he worked at FAI and Suncorp in underwriting and as an area manager at VACC, CGU (South East Queensland). From 2003 to 2012, he got into broking and eventually started Dixon Insurance in 2013. Since then, he’s accumulated numerous acccolades, including Elite Broker, Diversity and Equity, and Fast Broker awards.
During the pandemic, Dixon challenged insurers over the Quarantine Act application to insurance wordings. His argument was that the Quarantine Act does not apply as an exclusion, as the Biosecurity Act was invoked by the Morrison Government, and this was not a subsequent amendment to the Quarantine Act. The test case in the Appeals court was won for Dixon’s client with a unanimous five-judge verdict.
He remains focused on transport, manufacturing, motor trade, engineering and large farm clients.
What are his plans for the future?
On a business level, “more of the same. I will continue to empower and encourage my staff to perform at their best as I have done for the last decade. I will continue to advocate for my clients, embracing new technology and being open to business and industry changes.”
On a personal level, Dixon invests significant time, effort and funds, along with his GT3, to support many charities through his passion for motorsport. From participating in and sponsoring the Thunderbolt Run (which provides tens of thousands of dollars in support for Beyond Blue and Prostate Cancer), to organising and running the Track Knights for Amira charity night where 28 Exotic Supercars raised funds through passenger laps in wet conditions, Dixon states “this is our time to give back to the community and those in need. My friendships and association with those seeking to do the same, allows us to contribute to those less fortunate and raise funds and awareness”.
He adds: “To be able to give back to the community is rewarding and fulfilling. I am honoured to be in a position where I can raise funds for those less fortunate and in need.”