Program Overview

• Personal Injury Conference - Friday 26 Mar
  • 8:50 AM Webinar Launch
    The webinar will launch ten minutes before the session begins. Log in early to test your settings and familiarise yourself with webinar features.
  • 9:00 AM Opening & Welcome
  • 9:10 AM The View from the Bench

    Setting the scene for the day, our judicial presenter will provide an overview of key personal injury developments from a judicial perspective. Learn more about the issues the courts have been facing and the challenges on the horizon for practitioners in this area to inform and guide your practice in 2021.

    Compliance Area: Substantive Law/Practice Management & Business Skills

    Presenter: Her Honour Judge Tsalamandris, County Court of Victoria
    

  • 9:50 AM Morning Tea Break
  • 10:00 AM TAC & WorkCover Claims: The crossover

    What happens when a work accident occurs and it involves the driving of a motor vehicle?

    Reflecting on the decision in Belgrave Heights Christian School v Diane Moore [2020] VSCA 240 which considered this question in some detail, this practical session will throw light on the issue of crossover claims between the TAC and WorkCover and the ramifications for practitioners in these areas.

    This practical session will review the implications of the Belgrave Heights decision and other relevant cases, risk areas and practical steps to be aware of and how best to safeguard your client’s interests when running these types of matters.

    Compliance Area: Substantive Law

    Presenters:

    • Andrea Bannon, Barrister, Victorian Bar
    • Emily Anderson, Barrister, Victorian Bar
      

    
    

  • 11:00 AM Wellbeing Break
  • 11:10 AM Rules & Regulations: Civil procedure update

    Tailored for practitioners working across all areas of personal injury law, this session will provide practical guidance on how to best utilise the Civil Procedure Act 2010 (Vic) to further your client’s claim and to ensure your compliance with the obligations imposed on legal practitioners in litigation.

    Topics include:

    • Serving court documents – important considerations to be aware of when serving documents via email or when serving documents interstate
    • Objecting to materials in subpoena – how to, when to and recent developments
    • Recent amendments to procedural rules for civil proceedings in Victorian courts

    
    

    Compliance Area: Professional Skills

    Presenter: Patrick Kelly, Barrister, Victorian Bar
    

  • 12:10 PM Lunch & Virtual Networking
  • 1:00 PM Brave New World: Medical negligence beyond the pandemic

    Reflecting on the realities of how medical practice, and as a consequence medical negligence, has developed over the past year. This insightful session will explore what practitioners in this area can expect as we emerge into a post-COVID world.

    Highlighting key lessons to be learned and risk areas to be aware of, this session will consider a range of topics including:

    • The impact of telehealth
    • Recent trends and case law updates

    
    

    Compliance Area: Substantive Law

    Presenter: Tom Ballantyne, Principal Lawyer & Head of Medical Negligence, Maurice Blackburn Lawyers
    

  • 2:00 PM Wellbeing Break
  • 2:05 PM Getting Paid: Maximising costs for personal injury practitioners

    Understanding the landscape of legal costing in your personal injury matters can help you identify risk areas in a matter and open up unexplored chargeable work. Don’t miss this key session in which our specialist presenter will provide key tips and strategies to ensure you have the skills you need to maximise cost recovery in your matters.

    Topics include:

    • Recent changes to costs under the Legal Profession Uniform law
    • Costs disclosures and agreements – how to ensure you and your practice remain compliant
    • Section 134AB(31) costs recovery applications
    • Costs issues when your client has had previous solicitors acting
    • Best practices for maximising recovery on an assessment of costs
    • Recent decisions and trends

    
    

    Compliance Area: Practice Management & Business Skills

    Presenter: Michael King, Associate, Maurice Blackburn

  • 3:05 PM Afternoon Tea Break
  • 3:15 PM Obviously!: Statutory obvious risk defences & hazardous recreational activities

    From cricket to horse racing and other equestrian sports, many hazardous recreational and sporting activities involve obvious risk and are governed by complex laws and limitations.

    This session will offer insights into the statutory obvious risk defences in the Wrongs Act 1958 (Vic), similar legislative provisions in New South Wales and Queensland, and will explore the impact of the Australian Consumer Law on claims where these defences are pleaded.

    With recent interstate case law developments indicating an increased willingness by superior courts to accept obvious and inherent risk defences, this session will also review relevant Victorian and interstate cases and offer tips that you can immediately implement in your day-to-day practice.

    Compliance Area: Substantive Law

    Presenter: Richard Johnson, Principal, McCabe Curwood

  • 4:10 PM Wellbeing Break
  • 4:15 PM Ethics in Practice

    The LIV’s Special Counsel Ethics will facilitate a highly interactive workshop discussion with attendees addressing a selection of challenging ethical issues which can arise in daily legal practice in the context of personal injury and medico-legal work.

    Topics for discussion will include a solicitor’s duty to the court and administration of justice, confidentiality, privilege, conflict of interest, and inadvertent disclosure.

    Compliance Area: Ethics & Professional Responsibility

    Presenter: Michael Dolan, Special Counsel, Ethics and Professional Practice, Law Institute of Victoria

  • 5:15 PM Conference Close