Michael Polorotoff

Michael is a partner in our Professional Indemnity Team.

Michael is an experienced and accomplished insurance law practitioner. He specialises in defending professionals across a broad range of industry sectors and advising local and international insurers and reinsurers on complex coverage issues, especially in the D&O area. Michael is well regarded for his tenacious, yet considered and strategic, approach in advancing his client’s interests.

Experience & expertise

Admitted as a solicitor in 2007, Michael commenced his legal career working in private practice at Moray & Agnew. After a successful period working in a litigation practice at a commercial law firm, Michael returned home to Moray & Agnew in 2013. He became a Partner in 2018 and his career has continued to prosper since that time.

Prior to his time in private practice, Michael worked for a large multinational insurance broking firm where he gained experience in a number of departments including claims, legal and compliance.

Michael’s expertise spans professional indemnity, directors & officers (D&O), prospectus/IPO liability, financial institutions and class actions.

He has defended a wide variety of professionals, including financial advisers and licensees, investment managers, superannuation trustees, accountants, auditors, real estate agents, mortgage brokers, and construction professionals. The latter has included architects, construction managers and surveyors / certifiers in combustible cladding claims. He has also acted for financial service providers in defence of third party complaints lodged with the Australian Financial Complaints Authority (AFCA).

Michael has a busy practice advising carriers on technical indemnity issues and disputes. He has carved out a niche in the D&O/capital raising areas and in particular, Side C claims and prospectus liability claims. This has included advising insurance carriers on coverage issues on shareholder class action litigation against ASX publicly listed companies.

Work highlights

Michael has represented insured and insurer clients in numerous multi-million and multi-party cases. These have included:

• Successfully defending an investment manager at trial in respect of a conspiracy claim valued at in excess of $140 million (appeal against his client dismissed by consent)
• Representing an investment manager joined to class action proceedings brought by aggrieved investors who suffered losses in complex CDO investments due to the Global Financial Crisis
• Successfully defending D&O underwriters in a litigated coverage dispute arising out of the demise of a well-known investment banking conglomerate
• Acting for a mortgage broker in his successful defence of a negligence action arising out of a fraudulent loan application in a claim that ultimately went to the High Court
• Advising financial lines insurers on high profile corporate collapses and high stakes litigation including Dick Smith, Spotless, Treasury Wines, Murray Goulburn, Getswift, Virgin, Westpac, AMP, CIMIC, Illuka, Babcock & Brown and Great Southern.

Michael is a Committee Member of the New South Wales chapter of the Australian Insurance Law Associaton. He is also a member of its organising committee for the Twilight Seminar Series that aims to promote the development, education and debate of insurance law issues for the benefits of the insurance industry.