Steven Foale

Steven has considerable expertise in class actions, and particularly securities class actions, having had the conduct of the Allco Finance Group class action (which resulted in a settlement of $40 million) and joint conduct of the QBE class action (which resulted in a settlement of $132.5 million, being the third largest settlement for a securities class action in Australia). Steven is also currently conducting Maurice Blackburn’s securities class actions against Woolworths Group Ltd and Brambles Ltd, among other matters

Before starting with Maurice Blackburn in April 2006, Steven practiced for eight years in Adelaide and Sydney, initially with a major Adelaide law firm and then with a boutique insolvency law firm. Steven was then employed as a litigation manager by a large litigation funder for three years, selecting and managing large cases including insolvency cases. In each of those roles, Steven gained significant expertise in large insolvency litigation, and has acted for many insolvency practitioners in relation to examinations under sections 596A and 596B of the Corporations Act, preference actions, insolvent trading actions, and breach of duty claims against directors and auditors.

Steven successfully acted in a number of notable matters including an insolvent trading claim by the liquidators of Centaur Mining & Exploration Ltd against the company's directors, seeking compensation of around $20 million; and an insolvent trading and breach of director's duty claim against former directors of Nomad Telecommunications Ltd seeking compensation of around $20 million.

“When the opportunity came up to work in class actions I thought it was time to broaden my experience in another area of law. In addition, the idea of representing numerous people to achieve a positive outcome, in some of Australia’s largest and most high profile cases, sounded rewarding.”

 “The most rewarding thing about my work is the ability to obtain justice for those people who have been the victims of corporate wrongdoing. Class actions give the means of creating a level playing field for people who couldn’t normally afford to access the justice system and take on the big corporations and government departments,” says Steven.

Steven is highly regarded in his field and is the author of four chapters in the ‘Bankruptcy’ volume of The Laws of Australia.

Memberships & accreditations

• Law Society of Queensland member