Personal Injury Conference
Issues covered include: WorkCover, TAC, claims process, redress claims, general damages, damages awards, aggravated damages, my health record, ethics, psychological, psychometric testing, client costs, solicitor costs
Description
Encapsulating some of the most topical issues facing personal injury practitioners at the moment, the morning roundup starting with an Opening Address from Her Honour Judge Tsalamandris from the County Court of Victoria will keep you up to date with your practice. Then stay for the afternoon’s CPD compulsory session, created for the personal injury lawyer in mind so that you’ll become CPD compliant while gaining valuable skills and information to bolster your practice.
Attend and earn 7 CPD units including:
3 units in Substantive Law
1 unit in Ethics & Professional Responsibility
1 unit in Practice Management & Business Skills
2 units in Professional Skills
This conference was recorded in VIC on 14 March 2019
Session 1
Personal Injury Roundup
Chair: Tim Tobin SC, Lennon’s List; Leading Insurance Barrister, Doyle’s Guide 2017
9.00am to 9.05am Opening Comments by the Chair
9.05am to 9.30am: INSIGHTS FROM THE BENCH: Opening Address
Presented by Her Honour Judge Andrea Tsalamandris, County Court of Victoria
9.30am to 10.10am: Serious Injuries Case Update
Overview and analysis of recent cases and developments in WorkCover and TAC serious injury claims.
Presented by Campbell Hangay, Barrister, Foley’s List
10.10am to 10.50am: Redress Claims: Essential Information for Practitioners
- Overview of legislation and key scheme features
- Claims process
- Assessment criteria
- Scheme experience so far
- Risks for practitioners
Presented by Dimi Ioannou, Principal Lawyer and Practice Group Leader, Maurice Blackburn; Accredited Specialist in Personal Injury Law
10.50am to 11.05am Morning Tea
11.05am to 11.45am: Assessment of General Damages Update: The Cases, the Awards and the Implications for Your Matters
- Review of recent damages awards
- Court of Appeal decisions and the latest High Court cases
- Analysis of the facts in each case, how they translated to the damages awarded, and how it can all be applied to your matters
Presented by David Purcell SC, Barrister, Lennon’s List
11.45am to 12.25pm: Whether you can Exceed the Cap on Damages by Claiming Aggravated Damages in PI Claims
- Workplace Injury Rehabilitation and Compensation Act, TAC Act and Wrongs Act statutory provisions and seminal cases
- Recent cases
- What lessons can we learn from other jurisdictions?
Presented by Jing Zhu, Barrister, Lennon’s List
12.25pm to 1.05pm: My Health Record: Regulatory Requirements and Latest Developments
The move from an opt into an opt out system coincided with a spike in interest, discussion and controversy surrounding the My Health Record and its ability to protect a range of patient rights including privacy and confidentiality. Explore:
- The background to and history of key legislation
- Key features of the legislative suite underpinning the My Health Record
- Recent controversies and reforms
- How the laws manage issues relating to privacy, confidentiality, access and security
- How the laws might pose forensic, evidentiary and liability challenges
Presented by Bob Milstein, Principal, Milstein & Associates
1.05pm to 1.15pm Final Q&A and Closing Comments by the Chair
Session 2
CPD Compulsory Units for Personal Injury Lawyers
Chair: Richard Johnson, Partner, Wotton + Kearney
Ethics & Professional Responsibility
2.00pm to 3.00pm: Ethical Time Bombs for Personal Injury Practitioners: Forewarned is Forearmed
Ticking ethical time bombs can arise at any time in a personal injury matter. Whether they come from a client’s questionable demands to dealing with difficult opposing counsel to issues that tread the line between effective strategy and an ethical grey area, you must be prepared to defuse the situation before it blows up in your face. Gain practical strategies to do just that with insights, war stories and real world advice. Ethical areas covered in a highly interactive session will include duty to the court, integrity of evidence, confidentiality, conflict of interest, solicitor as material witness, and social media.
Presented by Michael Dolan, Director, ethics4lawyers
Professional Skills
3.00pm to 4.00pm: THE MEDICAL PERSPECTIVE: Assessing Behavioural Changes Following Head Injuries and how They Might Impact the Return to Work
- Psychological complications
- Psychometric testing informs treatment and management of brain injury
Presented by Dr John McMahon, Neuropsychologist, MedicoLegal Specialists
4.00pm to 4.15pm Afternoon Tea
Practice Management & Business Skills
4.15pm to 5.15pm: How to Ensure Maximum Recovery of Solicitor and Own Client Costs
Look at the following issues relevant to solicitor and own client costs reviews in the Costs Court.
- What is involved in disclosing ‘total legal costs’, including a consideration of the relevance of the ‘Re Blythe warning’
- Whether failure to disclose total legal costs renders a costs agreement void or voidable, including a consideration of the anti-voiding rule
- What other consequences flow from a failure to give disclosure
- What is the scope and impact of the legal practitioner’s obligations to ensure legal costs are fair and reasonable and satisfy themselves that the client has understood and given consent
Presented by Anna Sango, Principal, Kirk Barclay; Accredited Specialist in Costs Law and Mark Bellamy, Principal, Bellamy Legal Cost Lawyers; Accredited Specialist in Costs Law