Sharon Cook
Managing Partner
Telephone: + 61 2 9947 6513
sharon_cook@hdy.com.au

Sharon Cook

"It's my role to align the firm's activities with the culture and values that define us. I want to connect with our stakeholders - that is, actively engage with staff, clients, the community and the broader marketplace."
Sharon Cook, November 2008.

On 1 July 2008, Sharon Cook became Managing Partner of Henry Davis York.

As Managing Partner, she is responsible for the leadership, strategic direction and overall management at HDY; a unique firm with a distinctive, collegiate and relationship-driven culture. 

Prior to becoming Managing Partner, Sharon practised in the fields of insurance and building and construction law. She has particular expertise in professional indemnity insurance law, directors and officers liability, corporate governance and building and construction litigation.

Sharon was listed as a Leading Individual in Insurance by the Asia Pacific Legal 500 2007/2008. She was named as one of the World's Leading Insurance and Reinsurance lawyers in the Legal Media Group Guide, one of only seven Australian lawyers featured in that publication. In March 2008, she was named by the AFR as one of Australia's "Best Lawyers".

Sharon has a longstanding personal interest and passion for the philosophy of corporate social responsibility (CSR); companies taking account of, and responsibility for, their impacts on society and the environment. She has advised clients on it and presented seminars on it, giving strong support at Board level at HDY to the firm's CSR initiatives.

Sharon has also been a champion for women and family-friendly, flexible work practices over her 20 years in the workforce.  She was one of the first part-time partners appointed by a major Australian law firm and regularly speaks to female professionals, exploring the issue of women in the workplace and work-life balance in today's business environment.

She has been a member of HDY's Board of Management since November 2004. From 2001 to 2004 Sharon was the leader of HDY's Insurance Law Group.

Sharon was appointed Chair of the Board of SCEGGS Darlinghurst in 2004 and has been a member of that Board since November 1998.