Dean has over 15 years experience in insolvency, reconstruction and commercial litigation areas. He has worked on numerous insolvency administrations including acting for receivers and managers, administrators, liquidators, providing advice for secured creditors and unsecured creditors, bankruptcy and Part X arrangements under the Bankruptcy Act and also large debt recovery matters. This experience, together with Dean's work in general litigation with clients such as the ACCC, Water Corporation, McGrathNicol, Deloittes, Jones Lang LaSalle, St George Bank Ltd, CBA and other large financiers, has provided Dean with extensive experience in large and small scale litigation.

Dean commenced work in the insolvency and reconstruction area of Morris Fletcher & Cross (now Minter Ellison) in Brisbane in 1989. Thereafter Dean worked in the litigation, insolvency and reconstruction practice of Phillips Fox from 1991 to 1993. In 1995 Dean commenced practice with Paul Edgar and established Hely Edgar, a firm specialising in insolvency, bankruptcy, litigation and general corporate law. In 1999, Dean returned to Phillips Fox as a consultant and was admitted as a partner in November 1999.

Dean is a member of the Insolvency and Reconstruction sub-committee of the Law Society of Western Australia, the Insolvency Practitioners Association of Australia and the Australian Institute of Credit Management.