Litigation Skills for Government Lawyers
This seminar will delve into crucial aspects of litigation for government lawyers, with discussions providing you with an up-to-date perspective on Parliamentary Privilege and it’s implications for government lawyers, an updated view of the Model Litigant, issues with handling and protecting witnesses, and a consideration of Legal Professional Privilege. WEB2310Q01Z
Description
Attend and earn 4 CPD units including:
2 units in Practical Legal Ethics
2 units in Professional Skills
This program is applicable to practitioners from all States & Territories
Chair: Dr Steven Stern, Barrister and Trade Mark Attorney and Adjunct Professor, Victoria University, Svenson Barristers
Professional Skills
9:00am to 10.00am Parliamentary Privilege
Join Chris Erskine SC for an in-depth discussion on Parliamentary Privilege and its significance for government lawyers.
Presented by Chris Erskine SC, Barrister, Blackburn Chambers
Practical Legal Ethics
10.00am to 11.00am The Modern Lens of the Model Litigant
- The source of the obligation and the ‘duty of fairness’
- Examples of its application and lessons learnt
- Implications of the Robodebt Royal commission
- Practical insights and tips
Presented by Andrea Mapp, Managing Principal Solicitor, Victorian Government Solicitor Office, Inquiries Prosecutions and Administrative Law
11.00am to 11.15am Morning Tea
Professional Skills
11.15am to 12.15pm Handling and Protecting Witnesses
- Identifying witnesses with particular vulnerabilities
- What statutory protections are available for witnesses in disciplinary tribunal proceedings?
- What further support can be offered by the regulator or relevant agency?
Presented by Jeremy Smith, Senior Legal Advisor, Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency
Practical Legal Ethics
12.15pm to 1.15pm Legal Professional Privilege
- Defining Legal Professional Privilege
- Determining whether LLP is regulated by Common Law or Evidence Act
- Satisfying the dominant purpose test
- Extension of LPP to third parties
- Making a claim of LPP
- Loss of privilege
Presented by Simon Fuller, Barrister, Foley’s List
Presenters
Chris Erskine
Chris Erskine SC was admitted in 1982 and went to the bar in 1993, becoming a Senior Counsel in 2008. He practices in Canberra in all civil litigation, but especially litigation involving the government. He was one of the counsel for NSW in the largest civil litigation in the history of the ACT, the case arising from the 2003 bushfires, which ran from 2003 to 2014.
Andrea Mapp
Andrea Mapp is Managing Principal Solicitor at the Victorian Government Solicitor Office. At the VGSO, Andrea's practice encompasses advocacy, litigation and dispute resolution, regulatory prosecutions and statutory interpretation across a diverse range of legislation. Andrea advises on departmental and regulator responses to, and governance of, emerging or existing industry practices. Her experience ranges from providing specialised advocacy, drafting regulatory frameworks, procedure manuals, precedent documents for internal use by agencies, through to advice on the rules of evidence and prospects of success in inquiries, disciplinary proceedings, prosecutions and appeals. Prior to joining the VGSO, Andrea was a Senior Advocate at Consumer Affairs Victoria, where she advocated on behalf of the Director of Consumer Affairs Victoria in complex and serious matters. Andrea was also formerly barrister at the Victorian Bar with over 20 years' legal experience. Prior to joining the bar Andrea worked both in private practice and as in house counsel. Andrea is a qualified mediator with extensive experience in a varied range of commercial areas, with a particular focus on prosecutions, administrative law, building and construction, property and the Australian Consumer Law.
Simon Fuller
Simon practises in a broad range of matters in the areas of family, commercial, and administrative law. Having a diverse litigation practice provides him with a strong understanding of the law, court-room advocacy, issues of evidence, and strategy. It also allows him a unique understanding of the intersections of different areas of the law. He appears both led and unled in state and federal courts and tribunals at all levels in both original and appellate matters.
Jeremy Smith
Jeremy Smith is a Senior Legal Advisor at the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency, working in the Professional Misconduct Unit of its National Legal Practice. Jeremy manages professional misconduct referrals to the responsible tribunals (predominantly in the Victorian and Civil Administrative Tribunal); and any associated advice work and appellate work (whether merits review, judicial review, or appeals on an error of law). Jeremy has extensive experience advising on and managing matters that relate to allegations of sexual misconduct. Jeremy began his career in the law as an Associate to a Judge at the County Court of Victoria. Immediately prior to working at Ahpra, Jeremy was a Senior Associate at a mid-tier firm, acting in and advising on a wide variety of matters, including: professional disciplinary investigations and proceedings; Department of Health (State and Federal) investigations and prosecutions; Criminal investigations and prosecution of health practitioners (predominantly sexual offences); Occupational health and safety investigations and prosecutions; Coronial inquests; Anti-discrimination / equal opportunity proceedings; Civil proceedings (predominantly professional negligence, occupier liability, and workplace negligence / breach of statutory duty), appellate work, and otherwise advising insurers on indemnity.
Dr Steven Stern
Dr Steven Stern is an Adjunct Professor in the College of Law & Justice at Victoria University. Dr Stern practises as a Barrister-at-Law. Traditionally, Australian legal practitioners admitted to legal practice in the State of Victoria were admitted as Barristers and Solicitors. A relatively smaller proportion of these Australian legal practitioners have undertaken to practise exclusively as Barristers and not as Solicitors. Dr Stern has given such an undertaking. Dr Stern welcomes briefs from solicitors to appear, advise and draw up documents in all court and tribunal matters. Dr Stern is a Registered Tax Agent and so also welcomes briefs on tax matters from accounting firms which employ solicitors. Dr Stern is a registered trade mark attorney and so also welcomes briefs on patent and trade mark matters from firms of patent and trade mark attorneys who employ solicitors. Dr Stern does not accept instructions directly from persons who are not solicitors or from bodies which do not employ solicitors (other than in such exceptional and rare circumstances as where, for example, he might perform a small amount of essential and urgent “barrister’s work” for a client on the basis that the client is in the process of finalising the engagement of an instructing solicitor or he is functioning as a “duty barrister” making a “one-off” appearance or giving a “one-off” advice as part of such arrangements as those provided under the Victorian Bar Duty Barrister Scheme). Dr Stern is instructed by the solicitors who have briefed him. Dr Stern does not communicate directly with clients where any such communication would bypass his instructing solicitors. Dr Stern enters into costs agreements with solicitors in respect of work that he is briefed to undertake. The contractual arrangements in respect of such work are between Dr Stern and his instructing solicitors. Dr Stern’s Doctor of Philosophy degree (PhD) at the University of Melbourne on the influence of financial law on monetary economics received the highest possible grading by the external examiners. Dr Stern’s Master of Laws degree (LLM) at The University of Melbourne included a major thesis on the protection of computer software which was published in an abridged form as a major article in (1986) 60 Australian Law Journal 333. Dr Stern has a basic knowledge of classical and modern literary (but not spoken or colloquial) Arabic and of Hebrew. He has lectured on Islamic law in seminars at the International Islamic University in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia as a visitor from Victoria University. Dr Stern is the List Secretary of List S Svenson Barristers and the Library Committee Secretary of the Victorian Bar Council’s Library Committee. Dr Stern is also a member of the Committee of the Tax Bar Association at the Victorian Bar; a member of the Law Institute of Victoria’s Administrative Review & Constitutional Law Committee; a member of the Trade Marks Committee of The Institute of Patent and Trade Mark Attorneys of Australia; and a member of the General Council of the Economic Society of Australia – Victorian Division. Dr Stern is a Chartered Tax Adviser; a Fellow of The Institute of Patent and Trade Mark Attorneys of Australia; holds an Indictable Crime Certificate from the Victorian Bar; is a Senior Fellow of the Economic Society of Australia; is a member of the Australian Academy of Forensic Science; regularly is invited to make presentations to Continuing Professional Development seminars; and continues to publish the results of his research on the law and how its changing substantive provisions are influenced by commercial, economic, political and scientific developments in a series of refereed publications recognised by the Australian Research Council.