Sally Heimanis

Sally has over 15 years’ experience in legal practice specialising in areas of commercial litigation, insolvency, property and mortgaged backed lending. 

Sally is an excellent legal strategist and prides herself on finding commercial resolutions to complex disputes. She regularly offers strategic pre-litigation advice on the prospects of success for claims related to bankruptcy, corporate insolvency, breach of contract, and recovery of preference payments. By developing and executing effective settlement strategies, Sally ensures favourable outcomes for clients while minimising litigation costs.

With exceptional skills in mediation and alternative dispute resolution, Sally successfully resolves numerous high-stakes disputes. Her innovative approach fosters commercial resolutions that protect client relationships and avoids protracted litigation.

Prior to her time at Bartier Perry, Sally held the role of General Counsel for a non-bank lender and was also a Partner of a national law firm where she specialised in bankruptcy, insolvency, property, contract law and commercial litigation.  

 

Qualifications/Memberships

• Bachelor of Laws (University of Technology Sydney)

• Graduate Diploma, Accounting and Finance (University of Technology Sydney)

• Graduate of Australian Institute of Company Directors

• Member of Law Society of NSW

• Member of the High Court of Australia

 

A word from Sally

I enjoy working closely with my clients to devise and execute a strategy for the commercial resolution of disputes, and if that is not possible, to achieve a successful result at trial.

 

Career highlights

• Successful resolution of a $40 million Director’s Duties claim: Acted for a defendant Trustee in Bankruptcy in a complex $40 million claim involving breach of director’s duties and uncommercial transactions. Through meticulous forensic analysis and strategic drafting of lay and expert evidence, successfully negotiated a favourable settlement on the eve of a two-week Federal Court hearing.

• Leadership in commercial litigation: Managing a diverse practice of approximately 40 active matters and supervising a team handling around 300 cases. Providing expert legal services in commercial litigation, appearing as an advocate in interlocutory applications and final hearings in various courts, including the Federal Court of Australia and the Supreme Court of New South Wales.

• General Counsel and Company Secretary of a non-bank lender:

  • Successfully overseeing legal services for three lending businesses. Ensuring compliance with Australian Credit Licence and Financial Services Licence obligations, and managing statutory compliance with the National Consumer Credit Protection Act, National Credit Code, and ASIC regulations.

  • Responsible for reviewing and ensuring the accuracy and compliance of loan documents with credit and lending policies.

  • Providing expert advice on deal structures and regulatory compliance issues, including Know Your Customer, Anti-Money Laundering, Counter-Terrorism Financing, Verification of Identity, and the enforceability of securities.

• Expertise in property and banking & finance law: Specialising in property transfers, caveats, mortgages, and conveyancing. Advising on and managing complex transactions involving corporate trustees in liquidation and recovering assets in family law proceedings. Drafting and negotiating a wide range of commercial contracts and deeds.

 

Specific areas of focus

• Bankruptcy and corporate insolvency

• Contract disputes 

• Drafting and enforcing loan agreements and mortgages

• Caveat disputes

• Recovery and sale and real property

• Banking and finance disputes