Injuries-Law-Today-13-August-09.pdf [Adobe Acrobat PDF - 644.4 KB]

Injuries Law Today - August 2009

Terry O'Brien

The personal injuries department together with all at Holding Redlich mourn the passing of Workcover Partner Terry O'Brien. In the days since his death, we were inundated with condolences from politicians, union officials, past colleagues, clients and friends.

It is evident from the responses that Terry was greatly respected and loved. In the personal injuries department in particular, Terry's distinct brand of humour will inspire the funny stories to keep on coming from those who knew him best. Below is a copy of the notice placed by the partners of Holding Redlich in various publications and on the firm website.

Terry O'Brien   1942 - 2009

Terry O'Brien, a much loved and respected partner of Holding Redlich for 33 years, died on Wednesday (July 29th 2009) at the Avenue Hospital, Windsor after a prolonged illness.

Terry was a man of honesty, commitment, compassion and unfailing integrity.

His death will leave a void in our lives and all those who had the privilege and honour of knowing and working with him.

Our thoughts and sympathy are with Terry's family and loved ones.

Promotions within the Personal Injuries department

We are pleased to announce that Penny Flint was promoted to Partner and Liat Blacher was promoted to Senior Associate, effective 1 July 2009. Penny will continue to assist clients injured at work, both in ensuring that they receive the medical and associated help needed, as well as taking action to obtain lump sum compensation. Liat will continue to work to obtain compensation for those seriously injured in work accidents, or through medical negligence.

$867,000 for Injured Worker

A client represented by Partner Andrea Tsalamandris' clients was awarded $867,000 in compensation for injuries she sustained at work as a medical receptionist. The case, somewhat unusually, proceeded before a Judge alone rather than a judge and jury. Our injured client suffered a hip injury whilst squatting down to file medical records in overloaded drawers. The action was brought because of the negligent work conditions and the serious injury that she suffered. The claim was vigorously defended by Workcover's lawyers. The award of compensation from the Judge included $344,000 for pain and suffering, $170,000 for past loss of earnings and $363,000 for future loss of earnings.

Although the compensation will not erase the suffering our client has endured, she was very satisfied with the outcome. We have however recently been served with a notice of appeal claiming that the Judge's award was manifestly excessive and will report further as the matter progresses.

Asbestos Explore Causes Psychiatric Injury

Our Senior Associate, Lisa Maynard resolved a damages claim for a man suffering a severe psychiatric condition from his fear of developing an asbestos related disease after he was unreasonably exposed to asbestos dust at work. Over a number of weeks he and his co-workers raised concerns about a white powdery substance present at the worksite. They queried whether the powder could be asbestos and they were assured that it was not. Their concerns were not taken seriously. Eventually, experts were called in who confirmed the power was the lethal blue asbestos. The site was immediately shut down. Although he has not developed an asbestos related disease, such as mesothelioma, the client genuinely feared that he would. He suffered a severe psychiatric reaction to those events. He was unable to continue working and requires ongoing counselling and medication. He received compensation for his injuries. The terms of the settlement were confidential.

Loss of Earnings Claims

Lisa Maynard recently presented a seminar at the request of the Australian Lawyers Alliance, an association of primarily Plaintiff lawyers. The subject of the seminar was the 40% loss of earning capacity test in serious injury cases. In workcover applications for a serious injury certificate, a worker must establish a permanent drop in their capacity to earn income of at least 40%. This is a very difficult test to meet and often one of the main issues in this type of litigation. Copies of the paper are available at our website: www.advicelinelawyers.com.au/news/

Balancing Work and Home

Our major litigation Partner Andrea Tsalamandris was recently in the news for her ability to balance her work and home life. She appeared in the Australian newspaper discussing the understanding attitude of the courts to her parenting responsibilities. This was in response to a Senator having to hand over her child to a staffer when a Senate vote was called unexpectedly. The article highlighted that the legal professional has at least moved ahead in understanding that mothers are an important part of the modern workforce. Hopefully the Parliament will soon catch up.