Sara Dennis

Sara is the Assistant Victorian Government Solicitor in the Litigation & Dispute Resolution Branch (L&DR). In this role, she leads the L&DR Branch and provides strategic guidance to teams responsible for a range of litigation matters involving the State of Victoria. Sara ensures the provision of high quality legal services to our clients, provides leadership to members of the Branch and looks for new and improved ways of delivering outcomes to government.

Sara is an experienced litigator who worked in private practice for 20 years prior to joining the VGSO - including in an internationally recognised class actions and product safety team at a top tier national firm. She joined the VGSO as Lead Counsel in the L&DR Branch and was responsible for the teams providing advice to a range of Victorian government clients including Corrections Victoria, Victoria Police, the Attorney-General's office and the Department of Education & Training.

Her legal experience includes:

• the defence of a number of class actions (representative proceedings) relating to the use of allegedly defective products. Sara's roles in these matters included leading teams of lawyers undertaking discovery of documents, the preparation of evidence (including drafting the witness statements) and working with counsel to prepare for trial;
• the defence of a shareholder class action involving allegations of breaches of continuous disclosure obligations and misleading & deceptive conduct;
• litigation involving allegations of negligence and the breach of product safety provisions of the Trade Practices Act 1974 and Australian Consumer Law;
• coronial inquests;
• providing advice relating to product safety and product recalls and issues relating to Food Standards;
• defending WorkCover claims on behalf of the Victorian WorkCover Authority;
• representing the Victorian Department of Housing in public liability claims; and
• representing the Victorian Managed Insurance Agency in the defence of medical negligence cases brought against Victorian public hospitals.

Sara also has experience in Legal Project Management (LPM) and completed a LPM certification workshop in 2018. She assisted a team involved in Royal Commission into Misconduct in the Banking, Superannuation and Financial Services Industry.

Sara participated in the Committee for Melbourne's Future Focus Group program in 2014-2015 which is program for emerging civil leaders in Melbourne and is designed to help people to better understand, connect with and contribute to Melbourne while building leadership capabilities.

Phone: 03 8684 0419
Mobile: 0408 902 128
Email: sara.dennis@vgso.vic.gov.au
LinkedIn: Sara Dennis