Workers Compensation and Motor Accident Claims Update
The morning session covers a workers compensation case update, an IRO update, death benefits claims, assessing and aggregating impairment, and a panel discussion with the experts on the PIC and COVID-19. In the afternoon, receive up to date information about what is happening in the Motor Accident Division of the PIC, motor accident practice, challenging a medical assessment certificate and the most recent judicial decisions reviewing motor accident determinations. 223N33
Description
Attend and earn 7 CPD units, including:
6.5 units in Substantive Law
0.5 unit in Professional Skills
This program is based on NSW legislation
Session 1
Workers Compensation Practice in 2022
Chair: Naomi Tancred, Partner, Hicksons Lawyers, Recommended Workers Compensation Lawyers (Defendant) Doyle's Guide 2021
9.00am to 9.45am IRO Update
- An update on Independent legal advice and assistance service (ILARS) including tips for approved lawyers
- IRO’s solutions service including information about our Early Solutions approach
- IRO inquiries and systemic issue resolutions
Presented by Simon Cohen, Independent Review Officer, Independent Review Office
9.45am to 10.25am Workers Compensation Death Benefits Claims
- Sections 25 and 26 of the Workers Compensation Act 1987
- SIRA Standards of Practice
- Procedure in the Commission
- Interesting dependency scenarios
Presented by Mick Franco, Partner, Bartier Perry; Pre-eminent Workers Compensation Lawyer (Defendant), Doyle’s Guide 2020
10.25am to 10.40am Morning Tea
MEDICAL AND LEGAL PERSPECTIVES
10.40am to 11.15pm When Matters Can and Can’t Be Aggregated
Presented by John Harris, Principal Member, Personal Injury Commission
Professional Skills
11.15pm to 12.00pm Assessing and Aggregating Impairment
Presented by Dr Mark Burns, Consultant Occupational Physician
12.00pm to 12.35pm Workers Compensation Case Update
A 12-month overview of significant decisions of the Supreme Court and Court of Appeal relating to issues arising under the NSW workers compensation legislation.
Presented by Craig Tanner, Barrister
12.30pm to 1.15pm PANEL ANALYSIS: Workers Compensation, the New Personal Injury Commission and COVID-19
Facilitated by Naomi Tancred, Partner, Hicksons Lawyers, Recommended Workers Compensation Lawyers (Defendant) Doyle's Guide 2021
Panel includes:
Glenn Capel, Division Head, Personal Injury Commission
Jeffrey Gabriel, Director Solutions, Independent Review Office
Mick Franco, Partner, Bartier Perry
Craig Tanner, Barrister
Session 2
Motor Accident Practice in 2022
Chair: Paul Macken, Partner, Leigh Virtue & Associates
2.00pm to 2.20pm INSIGHTS FROM THE PIC: Motor Accident Claims in the Personal Injury Commission: Retrospective and Prospective
- Rules and procedural directions: What are the changes?
- Timeliness in motor accident claims from filing to finalisation
- Medical assessments: update and initiatives
- In-person assessment hearings
Presented by Marie Johns, Division Head, Motor Accidents, Personal Injury Commission
2.20pm to 3.10pm Where to From Here?
Geraldine Daley will discuss some of the current key premises that a lawyer should consider when commencing and running a motor accident claim, including;
- Not all persons involved in motor accidents suffer motor accident related physical or psychological injury
- There is no obligation on you as a legal practitioner who pracitises in this jurisdiction, to accept instructions in every potential motor accident claim that knocks on your door
- An early and accurate assessment on your part of a potential motor accident claim, may avoid you incurring legal costs and disbursements you are unable to recover, down the road
- What is the pathology? Consider the medicine closely. Is the MVA related injury, either physical or psychological, likely to fall outside the definition of a ‘minor injury’?
- Even if the NEL threshold is not likely to be met, a ‘non-minor injury’ may ultimately give rise to a valuable common law claim restricted to past economic loss and future loss of earning capacity but if you are satisfied that a client has suffered injury as a result of a motor accident, prosecute the claim with integrity, speed and conviction
- Don’t accept instructions in a motor accident claim unless you are satisfied that your client has suffered injury as a result of a motor accident
Presented by Geraldine Daley AM, Director, Colin Daley Quinn; Recommended Motor Vehicle Accident Compensation Lawyers (Plaintiff), Doyles Guide 2020
3.10pm to 3.25pm Afternoon Tea
3.25pm to 4.15pm Challenging Medical Assessment Certificates in Motor Accident Claims
- Common errors in certificates as reflected in case law
- The difference between reviews and further medical assessments
- When is it worth lodging a review/further medical assessment or Supreme Court summons?
Presented by Tim Concannon, Partner, Carroll and O’Dea Lawyers; Pre-eminent Work Injury Compensation and Motor Vehicle Accident Compensation Lawyer (Plaintiff), and Recommended Public Liability Compensation Lawyer (Plaintiff), Doyle’s Guide 2020
4.30pm to 5.05pm Judicial Review in Motor Accident Cases: Recent Cases and Takeaways
- General principles of judicial review
- Recent cases involving decisions made under the Motor Accidents Injuries Act 2017: claims assessments, exemptions and medical assessments
- Recent cases involving decisions made under the Motor Accidents Compensation Act 1999: claims assessments, exemptions and medical assessments
- Some recent cases involving decisions made under the Workers Compensation legislation
Presented by Jnana Gumbert, Barrister, Jack Shand Chambers; Pre-eminent Insurance & Personal Injury Junior Counsel, Doyle’s Guide 2020
5.05pm to 5.15pm Final Q&A and Closing Comments by the Chair
Presenters
Simon Cohen
Simon Cohen is the Workers Compensation Independent Review Officer. Prior to moving to NSW to take up this role in 2020, Simon Cohen was the Deputy Secretary, Regulation and Director, Consumer Affairs at the then Victorian Department of Justice and Regulation and the Chair of the ANZSOG National Regulators Community of Practice committee. He was the national Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman from 2010 to 2015. Simon has worked in senior dispute resolution and regulation roles for more than a decade and has 20 plus years' experience in complaints investigation and dispute resolution.
Mick Franco
Will is a partner at Bartier Perry. He practices in industrial accident law: workers compensation, common law claims and Work Health and Safety. In his personal injury practice Will acts exclusively for insurers and self-insurers. Will was one of the first accredited specialists in personal injury law in NSW.
Dr Mark Burns
Dr Mark Burns specialises in Occupational Medicine. In 1996 he obtained a Fellowship with the American Academy of Disability Evaluating Physicians (FAADEP), which is now IAIME. His work history: 1984 - Medical Officer with MMI; 1986 - Occupational Physician with the Joint Coal Board; 1988 - Occupational Physician with Metal Manufactures (MM) and from 1993 Corporate O.H & S Manager for MM; 1994 - Private practice as a Consultant Occupational Physician; 1994 to 2012 he consulted with the MM Group and from 2011 to 2018 with MARS Australia; 1995 to 1999 - VMO at Sydney Hospital in the Occupational Health Unit.
Craig Tanner
Craig Tanner commenced practice at the NSW Bar in 2012. s. He was an Arbitrator at the Workers Compensation Commission from the time of its inception 2002 until mid-2013, and conducted arbitrations and sat as a member of Medical Appeal Panels. Between 2002 and 2008 he practised as a solicitor in the Employment and Industrial Law section of Maurice Blackburn. From 1987 to 2001, he was a labour lawyer in South Africa, acting for trade unions and employees, and appearing for them in courts and tribunals. He also acted as an arbitrator and mediator appointed by the parties, and sat as a Commissioner in the statutory industrial commission.
Glenn Capel
Glenn Capel was a partner of Hicksons for 12 years, and in a career that spans over 40 years, he has acted for numerous private insurers, scheme agents and employers. He was appointed as an Arbitrator in the Workers Compensation Commission in 2010 and as a Senior Arbitrator in 2017. He became a Senior Member of the Personal Injury Commission on 1 March 2021, and he was appointed Division Head on 4 March 2022. Glenn has experience in liability, dispute resolution, workers compensation litigation and employment issues. He regularly appeared as a solicitor in the Workers Compensation Commission and its predecessors, the District and Supreme Courts, and the Court of Appeal. He has sat on Medical Appeal Panels in the Commission and has national accreditation as a Mediator under the NMAS Accreditation system.
Paul Macken
Paul Macken BA LLB is a partner of the firm of Leigh Virtue & Associates. He is an accredited specialist in personal injury law (since 1993) and has over 30 years' experience acting for workers and employers in work injury disputes. He has particular experience in representing a large number of self-insured employers in all types of work injury claims and in related industrial disputes. He is an honorary legal advisor to the NSW Self Insurers Association, the Chairman of the Medic-Legal Liaison Committee, a member of the Injury Compensation Committee and the personal injury specialist accreditation board of the Law Society of NSW.
Marie Johns
Marie Johns is the inaugural Head of the Motor Accidents Division of the Personal Injury Commission. Ms Johns has a strong legal background across motor accidents, workers’ compensation and the private sector. She has been with SIRA since late 2013 as an internal Claims Assessor, and most recently acting in the PCA role. She has held positions in the Worker Compensation Commission as a Senior Legal Officer (Legal and Medical Team) and Research Associate to the Deputy President, and as a Principal Lawyer for the Independent Legal Assistance and Review Service (ILARS) at the Workers Compensation Independent Review Office (WIRO).
Geraldine Daley AM
Geraldine Daley is a practicing solicitor admitted to both the Supreme Court of New South Wales and the High Court of Australia. She holds a Master in Laws, and is an Accredited Specialist in Personal Injury Law. Geraldine is a Director of Colin Daley Quinn Solicitors. Geraldine recently retired from her role as a Claims Assessor and Merit Reviewer with the Dispute Resolution Service where she utilised her extensive experience as a Claims Assessor to manage disputes brought to the Claims Assessment and Resolution Service of the State Insurance Regulatory Authority.
Tim Concannon
Tim Concannon joined Carroll & O’Dea Lawyers in 1994 and became a partner in 2001. Tim has been a Law Society Accredited Specialist in Personal Injury Law since 2000 and he was an Assessor with the Claims Assessment and Resolution Service (CARS) from 2004 until February 2021. Tim has also been a member of the Law Society’s Injury Compensation Committee since 2008. He is currently Chair of this Committee having been appointed to the role in 2021. He has played a leading role in drafting submissions to the government agencies relevant to various areas of personal injury law and appeared on behalf of the Law Society at a number of government inquiries into the functioning of the workers compensation and motor accident schemes. Tim is listed in the 2021 Doyle’s Guide as a preeminent practitioner in the areas of work injury compensation and motor vehicle accident compensation law.
Jnana Gumbert
Jnana Gumbert has an extensive practice in the areas of common law, administrative law and insurance law. Prior to being called to the Bar in 2012, Jnana was a litigation solicitor for over 6 years and a Director of Stacks/Goudkamp Lawyers. She has over 19 years’ experience conducting personal injury litigation in the areas of motor accidents, civil liability and medical negligence. Since coming to the Bar, she has also worked extensively in the area of administrative law, particularly judicial review of administrative decisions within the NSW CTP scheme. She is co-author the Motor Accidents chapter of the Personal Injury Law Manual (Goudkamp & Morrison), and the Thomson Reuters Law Handbook.
John Harris
John Harris is a Principal Member of the Personal Injury Commission. Prior to this appointment, he was appointed a sessional arbitrator in 2013 and subsequently a full-time arbitrator of the Workers Compensation Commission. The Principal Member was admitted as a Barrister in 1988 and practiced extensively in personal injury law prior to his appointment with the Workers Compensation Commission.
Jeffrey Gabriel
Jeffrey Gabriel is the Director of Solutions at IRO, a role he has held since March 2017. Prior to his role in Director Solutions Jeffrey was employed by WIRO in the ILARS team, joining WIRO after a career in private practice, where he represented both claimants and insurers across a range of personal injury jurisdictions. Jeffrey is also an Accredited Specialist in Personal Injury Law.
Venue
Cliftons - Spring Street
Level 3, 10 Spring Street
Sydney 2000
NSW
Australia
Parking Information
Parking not included in you registration. Here are some options below.
Secure Park 20 Bond Street - click here for rates
Wilson Park 1 O'Connell Street - click here for rates
Wilson Park 31 Bond Street - click here for rates
Directions
Nearby Public Transport:
Train Stations - Wynyard 400m OR Martin Place 500m
Bus Interchange - Clarence Street 450m
Ferry - Circular Quay 1.2km