In Memoriam: Geraldine Daley AM.

Article 01 June 2022

The Directors and staff of Colin Daley Quinn would like to take this opportunity to acknowledge the sudden passing of Geraldine Daley AM in April.

As a long-standing Director of Colin Daley Quinn, Geraldine was highly regarded throughout the legal profession as an “icon” within the practice of personal injury law, and a solicitor who was ‘generous, supportive, and kind to those she worked with, and for’. 

An illustrious career

After becoming a member of the Law Society in 1977, Geraldine went on to serve as a Law Society Councillor between 2001 and 2010, was an Accredited Specialist in Personal Injury Law, a Chair of the Ethics Committee, a Chair of the Specialist Accreditation Board, worked at the Motor Accidents Authority from 2004 to 2007 and was the Principal Claims Assessor for the first year, was a longstanding member of the Injury Compensation Committee, the Licensing Committee and a host of other Committees over the years. 

Joanne Van Der Plaat, the President of the Law Society of NSW, recognised Geraldine’s contribution to the profession and the high regard in which she was held by honouring her in a special communication to Members.

According to Tim Daley (Geraldine’s brother and fellow Director), Geraldine had always shown a deep commitment to seeking just outcomes for her clients.   “She very much adhered to the ideology of the practice of law as “a profession”.  Self-interest did not register in her concept of legal practice. “

A commitment to the community

After practicing in Kogarah for her entire career, Geraldine was a passionate and active supporter of the local community, contributing her time, effort and knowledge to a number of causes and organisations within the St George and Sutherland Shires.

She was a member of the Board of Diabetes NSW and an Alternate Director on the Board of the St George and Sutherland Medical Research Foundation.  She was also a member of the Lions Club of Kogarah for more than thirty years and a mentor to many local business people and professionals.

For her service to the Law and to the community, Geraldine was awarded an “AM”, Member of the General Order of Australia on 26 January 2017 of which she was justly proud.

A friend, colleague and family member

Above all else, upon hearing of her sudden passing, family members, friends, colleagues and co-workers remembered Geraldine’s generosity of time, her honesty, her integrity and her care. 

“It is hard to comprehend how someone of her caliber has gone.  To me she was so positive and enthusiastic.  So non-judgmental of others and outgoing at a time when women were supposed to be restrained.  She was a leader and a mentor.  So capable and strong.  The world has lost someone very special."     Source: A colleague of Geraldine’s.

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