Brian White & Associates was first established by its principal in 1983 in Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea. The firm provides specialist services as P&I Club Correspondents and Marine Consultants through its offices in Cairns, Darwin and Port Moresby. In addition, legal services are available through the Cairns office. We specialise in providing dedicated assistance to ship owners and operators and to their liability insurers throughout the South-West Pacific region, Northern Australia and East Timor. Our services are also available to transport intermediaries and their insurers.

Brian White

Brian is a former shipmaster with command experience in vessels trading worldwide. He also has experience as a harbour and coastal pilot and as a marine surveyor. He has been involved in port and maritime administration in both Australia and Papua New Guinea. He also assisted in the preparation of new shipping legislation following the independence of Papua New Guinea. He is a London-trained marine lawyer who has been in private practice in PNG since 1979 and has been a P&I Club Correspondent and Marine Consultant since then. Brian is admitted to practice law in most Australian States and Territories as well as in Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands. In addition, Brian is a Notary Public and Consul General for Denmark, and a qualified Arbitrator and Mediator.

Mark Norman

Mark looks after the Darwin office. He is a Marine Consultant who spent some 14 years as Commercial Manager and then International Manager of a major shipping company based in Darwin. Since 2002, he has been providing Marine Consultancy services in north-west Australia and East Timor including the provision of specialist services to the oil, gas and mining industries and freight forwarding, freight agency and chartering services. Prior to moving to Darwin in 1985, Mark worked for the Commonwealth Development Corporation of London in Plantation Management in Malaysia and the Solomon Islands. He was an Executive Officer with the Northern Territory Government’s Department of Primary Production. He is a graduate of Reading University and he also holds an MBA Degree.

Royale Thompson

Royale is a Consultant to the firm and is a qualified Lawyer who practises in both Papua New Guinea and Queensland. She specialises in civil litigation work and the provision of litigation advice to both local and foreign companies and to insurance organisations conducting business in Papua New Guinea. Royale regularly appears as Counsel in both the National and Supreme Courts of Papua New Guinea.

Shirley Duma

Shirley has provided administrative assistance to the firm since 1986 and looks after the administration of our PNG operations.

Adrienne Cahalan

Adrienne has been a Consultant to our Cairns office since 1999 and is a specialist Marine Lawyer with extensive experience in claims handling with a leading Sydney law firm. Adrienne is currently on leave of absence whilst pursuing her other passion as a professional yachtsman. Her recent sailing successes include navigating the “Nicorette” to line honours in the 2001 Sydney-Hobart Yacht Race, completing the EDS Atlantic Challenge onboard the winning yacht “Kingfisher”, and navigating “Cheyenne” in its successful round-the-world challenge in 2004. Adrienne combines her two parallel careers with ease and brings a wealth of practical maritime experience to our firm.