Helen Mulcahy

Helen qualified in Brisbane, Australia in 1996 before working with a National Firm in Canberra. She is admitted to the Supreme Courts of Queensland and the Australian Capital Territory as well as the High Court of Australia and qualified as a Solicitor in England and Wales in 1999.

Helen practised initially with Davies Arnold Cooper where she dealt with substantial commercial disputes on behalf of a number of multi-national corporations. She moved to Reed Smith in 1999. She was made a partner of Reed Smith in 2005, specialising in financial services litigation.

Helen is an accredited High Court advocate and has appeared in place of counsel in a number of high profile matters including the trial of the Douglas v Hello action where she was sole counsel for the defendant said to have procured the offending photographs; alone amongst the defendant grouping, Helen's client was successful in defeating the claim. Helen has extensive experience in advising on corporate transactions, particularly in relation to financial compliance and enforcement issues (in public and private placements and distribution agreements) in local and overseas jurisdictions.

Helen has also acted on behalf of a venture capitalist in the trial of an action for recovery of sums advanced on a disputed promissory note; for the borrower company in a dispute over whether the forfeiture clause in the bank's security had been effectively triggered and for hedge funds based in the BVI. Helen has also acted on a number of letter of credit claims and trade finance disputes; mostly on behalf of domestic and international banks. She has conducted mediations on behalf of a number of her banking clients including Barclays.

Helen has experience in non-contentious corporate matters, particularly in the field of financial regulation and risk, and has advised on a wide variety of transactions.

She has also published a number of articles on cross border litigation, banking and international trade issues.

Helen has been a partner with City Law since leaving Reed Smith in February 2006.

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