Our Firm

David Baker

David Baker has been practising law for 25 years.

He is an accredited specialist in commercial litigation, specialising in Building law and Home Warranty Insurance Appeals. He sat on the Fair Trading Tribunal where he heard and determined major building cases.

In 1996 David was admitted as a Barrister to the NSW Bar where he specialised in Building and Insurance law. In 1993 and again in 1995 he was respectively, Corporation Solicitor and Legal Manager of the Building Services Corporation.

David has under taken numerous mediation and dispute resoultion courses. He believes that the best solution to disputes is agreement through conciliation rather then litigation.

In addition to Building and Insurance law, David has had extensive experience in the law of Torts, Personal Injury, Workers Compensation, Consumer Law, Industrial Law and Contracts. He has invaluable experience in all forms of litigation.

Ian McDonell

Ian was admitted to practise law in 1976. He has held an unrestricted Solicitor’s certificate since 1977 and has been a principal solicitor since that time.

Ian has undertaken a wide range of legal work including probate, conveyancing, subdivision work, acting for building societies in mortgage lending. He also has extensive litigation experience in commercial, equity and family law proceedings.

In 1997, he was appointed to the District Court as an Acting Judge. He sat in Sydney and Newcastle, hearing a wide range of commercial cases. His appointment was renewed in 1998 and 1999.

In 1999, he was appointed as Deputy Chairperson of the Fair Trading Tribunal, carrying out hearings of the complex and large building disputes as well as managing the judicial functioning of the Tribunal. In the frequent absence of the Chairperson, he was also the Acting Chairperson.

He was appointed as an Arbitrator for the District Court in 2003 and remains appointed until 2006. Following amalgamation with the Residential Tribunal, he was reappointed as a fulltime Member of the Consumer Trader Tenancy Tribunal until 2007.

He resigned his commission with the Tribunal in 2004 to return to private practice.

Bianca Limon

Bianca joined Baker McDonell in October 2007. Bianca has been involved in managing Building and Construction law disputes in the Consumer, Trader and Tenancy Tribunal and the District Court.

Bianca has also been involved in negotiations leading to out of court settlements with Home Owner Warranty insurers and building companies.

Bianca Limon graduated from University of Wollongong in 2007 with a Bachelor of Arts / Bachelor of Laws and Graduate Diploma in Legal Practice. Bianca was admitted as a Solicitor of the Supreme Court of New South Wales in February 2008.

Shannon Isemonger

Shannon practises in all areas of Building and Construction law, including residential and commercial building disputes, Home Owner Warranty (HOW) Insurance claims and Security for Payment Act Applications.

She focuses on litigation and dispute resolution, ranging from mediation to litigation in the Consumer Trader & Tenancy Tribunal, the District Court , the Supreme Court and the Court of Appeal.

Shannon was admitted as a solicitor in 2006 and has obtained the degrees of Bachelor of Laws and Bachelor of Arts from Macquarie University and a graduate diploma in Legal Practice at the College of Law. 

Prior to being admitted as a solicitor, Shannon was a full time paralegal at Baker McDonell and with David Baker as a sole practitioner and she has 6 years experience in managing large strata development building disputes in the Supreme Court.

Shannon’s experience in building and construction law provides her with considerable expertise in acting for home owners and owner’s corporations, insurers, builders and developers from the provision of advice to representation in various courts and tribunals.