Michael Donelly

Michael combines litigation advocacy with strategic litigation funding expertise. He regularly advises individuals, superannuation funds and sovereign wealth funds on Australian and international class actions and has worked extensively with major litigation funders including Harbour, International Litigation Funding Partners, and Omni Bridgeway.

His practice focuses on complex securities and tort class actions in the Federal Court of Australia and Supreme Court of Victoria, where he has consistently achieved strong outcomes for group members.

Major achievements & representative matters:

• Uber ($271.8 million, 2024) – Secured the fifth-largest class action settlement in Australian legal history representing over 8,700 participants in the Australian taxi and hire car industry

• Crown Resorts (China arrests) ($125 million, 2022) – Securities class action arising from Crown's alleged failure to disclose gambling activities that resulted in employee detentions in China

• Centro Properties ($200 million, 2012) – Achieved recovery for investors in one of Australia's largest property group collapses during the global financial crisis

• National Australia Bank ($115 million, 2012) – Secured significant settlement for shareholders affected by alleged disclosure failures related to CDOs

• Allco Finance Group ($40 million, 2018) – Recovery for investors following corporate collapse during the global financial crisis

• Bonsoy ($25 million, 2015) – Consumer class action achieving compensation for those affected by contaminated soy milk products

Michael also serves as a director of legalsuper, the industry superannuation fund for Australia's legal profession.

"Class actions in Australia are critical legal infrastructure in ensuring access to justice and ensuring the efficient use of Court resources," says Michael. "I work to ensure that meritorious claims proceed and that wrongdoing doesn't go unchallenged simply because the victims lack resources."

Memberships & accreditations

• Director, legalsuper
• Law Institute of Victoria member
• Australian Lawyers Alliance member
• Victorian Society of Labor Lawyers member
• Litigator of the Year Finalist, Lawyers Weekly, Australian Law Awards 2024