[HS] Work Injury Claims: Back to Basics
Embrace this opportunity to obtain guidance on some of the key legal and practice issues facing personal injury lawyers with a work injury claims practice. If you are looking to skill up or just want to refresh and update your knowledge base, then this is for you. You will delve into the legislation, current issues and then uncover the practical how to of running a common law work injury case from start to finish with plaintiff and defendant perspectives. WEB248Q03
Description
Attend and earn 3 CPD units in Substantive Law
This program is based on QLD legislation
9.00am to 10.00am Workers Compensation Key Legislative Provisions Covering Pre-common Law Stages
- Injuries covered by Workers' Compensation and Rehabilitation Act 2003 including:
- Physical and psychiatric injuries at work
- Distinct categories of claim, i.e fatal injuries and dependency, and hearing loss
- Exclusions including:
- Reasonable management action in psychiatric injury claims
- Serious and wilful misconduct
- Claiming weekly payments, out of pocket expenses, lump sum payment and getting injuries accepted and treatment funded
- Review of key case law
- Worked examples of commonly arising scenarios
Presented by Helen Ashton, Director East Coast Injury Lawyers; Accredited Specialist in Personal Injury Law and Charlotte Evans, Special Counsel, East Coast Injury Lawyers
10.00am to 11.00am Understanding the Concept of “in the Course of Employment”
- Exploring the meaning of “injury” and “event’
- Exploring the test, ‘personal injury arising out of, or in the course of, employment’
- Period of time claims
- Journey claims
- Recess claims
- Can you claim for a pre-existing condition?
- Recent cases
- Contemporary challenges, including work from home
Presented by Yvette McLaughlin, Partner, Sparke Helmore Recommended Workers Compensation & WorkCover Lawyers (Defendant), Doyle's Guide 2023
11.00am to 11.15am Break
11.15am to 12.15pm Overview of Common Law Claims: Pre-court Process from Start to Finish
- Advising on the statutory lump sum
- Drafting the Notice of Claim
- Response to the Notice of Claim
- Investigating the Claim
- Disclosure
- IMEs
- Preparing for a compulsory conference
- Managing client expectations
- Managing employer expectations
- Conducting the compulsory conference
Presented by Kate Avery, Legal Practitioner Director, Kare Lawyers; Preeminent Work Injury Compensation Lawyers (Plaintiff), Doyle's Guide 2023 and Jason Lewis, Director, Hughes & Lewis; Recommended Workers Compensation & WorkCover Lawyers (Defendant), Doyle's Guide 2023
Presenters
Helen Ashton
Helen is a Queensland Law Society Accredited Specialist in Personal Injury Law. As an Accredited Specialist in Personal Injury Law, having been awarded the highest achiever award for the course in 2015, Helen has a high level of knowledge and technical expertise. Admitted as a Solicitor of the Supreme Court of Queensland in 2001, she also has extensive experience in running all types of personal injury claims. Helen specialises in work injury claims, workplace injury claims, motor vehicle accident, motorcycle accident injury claims, other road accident injury claims, medical negligence claims, construction accident claims, mining accident claims, public liability injury claims, death and fatal injury claims, psychiatric and psychological injury claims and total and permanent disability claims. As a mother of three young children, Helen understands the impact events can have on a family unit and works proactively to achieve the right result for her clients in the shortest possible timeframe. Helen has the ability and the experience to assist clients with a wide variety of claims, including any personal injury claims with a high level of complexity and those that have had catastrophic consequences.
Charlotte Evans
Charlotte has practised exclusively in personal injury compensation litigation for over 20 years. Charlotte specialises in sexual abuse claims, work injury claims, workplace injury claims, motor vehicle accident injury claims, motorcycle accident injury claims, other road accident injury claims, construction accident claims, mining accident claims, public liability injury claims, death and fatal injury claims, psychiatric and psychological injury claims and total and permanent disability claims. She is committed to fighting for the rights of plaintiffs and helping her clients through the legal maze, to achieve outcomes that put people back in control of their lives. She has had experience in taking a number of personal injury cases to Trial and winning hard fought cases for her clients and she does not shy away from a challenge. Charlotte has a friendly and approachable personality and strives to cut through the legal jargon to make the personal injury claim process understandable for her clients whilst ensuring that her clients are also kept well informed throughout their claim.
Yvette McLaughlin
Yvette McLaughlin is an accredited specialist in personal injury law, with more than 20 years’ experience in the insurance industry. She has practised predominately in defendant insurance and has extensive knowledge of workers' compensation, motor accident and personal injuries proceedings. Her experience spans all Queensland Courts, the Court of Appeal, the AAT and the QIRC and she has contributed to policy formulation and education initiatives for clients. She is regularly involved in committees discussing ongoing issues such as management of litigated matters and the use of technology in claims management and represents clients at public stakeholder meetings. Her experience in both formulating and complying with the strict service level standards expected by her clients, and her commitment to the continuous improvement of claims management processes, has allowed Yvette to develop and implement claims management systems to efficiently conduct personal injuries claims while at the same time adhering to clients' service level standards and the relevant legislative timeframes. Yvette regularly chairs and presents industry seminars and provides client training.
Kate Avery
Kate Avery is a principal of Kare Lawyers. She has worked exclusively in personal injuries litigation for 22 years and has been a Queensland Law Society Accredited Specialist in Personal Injuries since 2005. Kate is a former sessional academic in the QUT Legal Practice Course where she conducted the Personal Injuries Proceedings Act workshop. She currently sits on the QLS Advisory Committee for Personal Injuries Specialist Accreditation.
Jason Lewis
Jason Lewis is a director of Hughes & Lewis Legal Pty Ltd, a specialist personal injuries law firm which acts for injured people in compulsory third party and public liability claims, and also for employers who require assistance dealing with workers’ compensation matters. He has extensive prior legal experience having served 5-year Articles of Clerkship beginning in 1988 and being admitted as a solicitor in 1994. He then practised in a wide range of different areas such as property, banking and finance and commercial litigation until 1998, when I began specialising in personal injuries law. Since then, he has acted for both plaintiffs in workers’ compensation, compulsory third party, public liability, medical negligence and Total and Permanent Disability claims (while working in senior roles in two large personal injuries practices) and defendants in workers’ compensation and compulsory third party claims (both in private practice and in various in-house roles with two major Queensland insurers). The opportunity ultimately arose to work with one of Queensland’s leading workers’ compensation lawyers, Belinda Hughes, and realise a long-cherished dream to establish a truly progressive, dynamic and ultimately client-focused specialist personal injuries law firm. Hughes & Lewis Legal Pty Ltd was the result and Belinda and I look forward to providing cost-effective, client-focused solutions to the personal injuries insurance needs of Queenslanders, both plaintiffs and defendants, for many years to come.