Tom Ballantyne is Principal Lawyer and Head of Maurice Blackburn’s Victorian Medical Law practice. Tom shares his insights in Expert Witnesses communicating with Lawyers and the Courts. We discuss what he looks for in a medical negligence case, the legal framework behind communications, his opinion on “draft” reports, some serious consequences from a communication error and so much more.

Dr Jennifer Downes-Brydon , General Practitioner explains what role might a GP play in Medicolegal reports, her involvement in Wrongs Act cases, in what circumstances you may call upon GP skills in consideration of medical negligence cases and how might a GP method of assessment provide a more holistic approach in some complex medicolegal cases. Dr Downes-Brydon then finally shares some tips if a law firm was thinking of involving her in a case. 

Henry Carus, Founder and Principal of Henry Carus and associates injury lawyers takes us through a very different perspective on law Emotional Intelligence not just law

You will notice Henry has quite distinct accent, he shares why the move from New York City to Australia, why he chose to open a plaintiff personal injury firm, his secret to a successful practice and finally he shares resources that you can take away to help increase your personal emotional intelligence. Happy Listening. 

Adam Attard, Senior Lawyer at Ryan Legal in Mildura shares his insights into Preparation for the County Court Circuits.

Firstly he takes us through why he made a career decision to move from the eastern suburbs of Melbourne to Mildura to pursue his legal passion, how he preps his medical reports for the circuits, the first experience running a case and the prep he had to do. Then, finally some advice for young lawyers to get some more hands on experience when they finish university.

The perfect start to a new year - a new practice! Luke Taylor, now Partner at HWL Ebsworth Lawyers shares his experience with starting up a Workers Compensation Practice in Hobart and what it really takes to succeed. Luke will give you insights into how this new challenge came across in his career, how workers compensation works in Tasmania, his plan of action, what he has learnt and then of course, some insights into briefing his medical experts

Leah O’Keefe is an Associate in the Dust diseases & Asbestos team at Maurice Blackburn Lawyers, Leah shares some insights on Silica and auto immune cases, the recent change in Victoria’s Worksafe List for silica related diseases, the experts she engages, advice for these medical experts and finally some challenges when working on these matters.

Don Maffia is the Practice Manager at Arnold Thomas & Becker Lawyers. Don talks Generalist vs Specialist expert medico legal reports, he shares his insights into what that actually means, how to find the most appropriate expert for a case, what his plan of action is when a doctor is not familiar with medico legal work and what happens when the matter goes to court.

Gennaro Fittipaldi, Principal of Fittipaldi Injury Lawyers shares his insights into the “Victorian workers compensation scheme, WorkSafe Victoria". He helps us to understand the purpose of the scheme, entitlements, when he would go to a medico legal for an opinion, how he selects his experts, his insights into working with a defendant firm and then starting his own firm representing plaintiffs.

Dr Zarrar Chowdary shares his insights into Addiction and Rehabilitation, what cases he has worked on and what the rehabilitation side of his expertise involves. Dr Chowdary has a particular interest in substance misuse.