Simone Kipen

Profile

Simone practices in general commercial litigation, with a particular interest in corporations, contract and trusts, equity and probate law. She appears led and unled in both Victorian state courts and Federal courts.

A summary of Simone’s recent experience includes:

General commercial law

• Appeared for ASIC in Corporations Act and SIS Act civil penalty proceedings against AustralianSuper (led by Tim Begbie KC and Tom Clarke). ASIC obtained penalties of $27 million for AustralianSuper’s failure to merge members’ duplicate accounts and for charging duplicate fees and insurance premiums to members: ASIC v AustralianSuper Pty Ltd [2025] FCA 102.
• Appeared for a plaintiff in a successful oppression proceeding in the Supreme Court of Victoria arising from the unauthorised transfer of funds, diversion of business opportunities and exclusion from the business (unled). A defendant was ordered to purchase the plaintiff’s shares: ACN 622 631 663 Pty Ltd (formerly C L Built Pty Ltd) & Ors (Supreme Court of Victoria, Barret AsJ, 19 December 2024).
• Appeared for a law firm in an application to the Supreme Court of Victoria for an extension of time for an assessment of costs (unled). The extension was granted: Marshalls Dent and Wilmoth v Tandos [2024] VSC 44.
• Appeared for a registered proprietor to successfully recover possession of land and rents and profits (unled): Sohtra v Peddi [2023] VSC 262.
• Regular appearances and advice work in contested debt recovery proceedings, contract disputes, and winding up proceedings.

Trusts, equity and probate

• Appeared for an executor in a successful application to remove her co-executor on the basis that he had obstructed the administration of the estate in pursuit of his own interests by refusing to allow the sale of estate property (unled): Re Johnson; Blackham v Blackham [2024] VSC 497.
• Acted for an adult daughter in a successful Part IV claim in the County Court of Victoria (unled): Stamoutsos v Stamoutsos [2024] VCC 847.
• Regular court appearances, mediation appearances and advice work in Part IV claims, contested probate proceedings and complex trust disputes.

Before coming to the Bar, Simone was the Associate to the Honourable Justice Sifris of the Victorian Court of Appeal. She also assisted the Honourable Justice McMillan in the Trial Division of the Supreme Court of Victoria.

Prior to her time at the Supreme Court, Simone was a solicitor in the litigation practice group at Arnold Bloch Leibler. 

Simone holds a Master of Laws from the University of Melbourne, a Bachelor of Laws with First Class Honours and a Bachelor of Arts with a double major in History and Theology from Monash University. She completed an undergraduate Law Honours thesis titled ‘Anti-Siphoning in the Internet Age’.

Simone read with Simon Pitt KC and her senior mentor is Stewart Maiden KC.