Find Lawyers in Australia for Medical Negligence
Practice Area Overview
The health sector industry in Australia faces many pressures as industry reforms and funding restrictions combine with rising levels of patient demand and expectations to place increased stress on health service providers. While advances in the health field have brought significant patient benefits, they have also introduced new challenges. As a result, the field of medical negligence law in Australia is an evolving one as it continues to grow and adapt in a constantly-changing environment.
All health services and health professionals owe a duty to exercise reasonable care and skill in the provision of treatment and advice to their patients. A patient, their relatives, or their dependents who have suffered injury or loss as a result of a failure to adhere to this standard by health services or health professionals may seek compensation.
A significant part of the work of a medical negligence lawyer centres around civil claims for compensation. Lawyers acting for either plaintiffs or defendants are involved in a variety of litigated and un-litigated claims. In the pre-litigation stage, the lawyer will provide advice on the likelihood of success or potential liability exposure and the financial and non-financial consequences of pursuing or defending the claim.
Once litigation is commenced, the lawyer's focus is on bringing the matter to a speedy resolution, with minimum financial and emotional expense to the client. The lawyer needs to have experience in the particular jurisdiction in which the case is being run, however, because each State and Territory in Australia has introduced its own tort reforms and has different pre-trial processes, statutory limitation periods, and court rules.
Obtaining expert evidence about the standard of care and the ramifications of a breach of that standard of care is crucial for a medical negligence claim. The lawyer needs to have a good knowledge of appropriate experts to call on and of the clinical area in which the claim arose in order to properly brief the expert and advise the client on prospects.
Increasingly, patients and their families take action in addition to a claim for compensation. A specialist medical negligence lawyer is able to assist with complaints made to a State-based Health Complaints Commission, to a professional registration board or its managing entity known as the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (AHPRA), and before the Coroner where a patient has died.
Regulatory bodies require notification of adverse patient outcomes and reassurance that a review is conducted, often in the form of a root cause analysis, in order to prevent recurrence of a similar event. Your legal practitioner will ensure legislative compliance in this regard.
As the challenges facing the health sector grow, the provision of advisory services has come to the fore. Lawyers work alongside executives of a health care facility and medical teams to develop risk management and patient safety strategies, both pre-emptively and in response to incidents.
In this regard, a medical negligence lawyer in Australia provides a comprehensive range of claims management and advisory services to assist health sector clients manage claims and complaints, to assist with risk management, and to adapt to the complex clinical and regulatory environments in which they operate.
A founder of Meridian Lawyers and Managing Principal, Paul’s reputation as a leading insurance and health lawyer has been realised through his involvement in a number of high profile cases – in particular the generic substitution litigation in the early 1990s, the 1995 Fairfax litigation, a number of high profile sports litigation matters. He has acted as the principal legal adviser to Guild Insurance Limited since the 1980s, dealing with professional indemnity claims, defamation,...
Paul has practised as an insurance lawyer for more than 30 years. For the past 20 years he has built a specialised practice in health law, working closely with medical defence insurers defending complex health liability claims, including catastrophic injury claims. He has acted in various health liability matters involving the liability of general practitioners and medical specialists in such matters as delayed diagnosis of cancer, misdiagnosis, adverse outcomes in surgery, anaesthetic advers...
With more than 25 years’ experience as an insurance and health lawyer, Nevena brings a common sense confidence to her work. Her liability claims experience is enhanced from her having worked as a senior solicitor at NZI/CGU Insurance Ltd for five years. Throughout her career, Nevena has advised GIO General Ltd, Vero Insurance, NZI/CGU Insurance Ltd, QBE Europe and other major insurers such as Mercantile Mutual Insurance (Australia) Ltd (now QBE Insurance Group Ltd). Her experience with ...
Chandrika is an experienced insurance litigator, having worked both in-house for insurance companies and in private practice in Australia and in the UK since 2005. Her experience spans the areas of health and medical negligence, and includes work on large and complex matters including catastrophic injuries, maternal and infant birth trauma, and health regulatory matters. Chandrika represents clients in coronial investigations and inquests, in disciplinary investigations and proceedings, and i...
Daniel is highly regarded for his insurance litigation expertise, specifically in relation to medical negligence, health law, public liability and professional indemnity claims. Daniel and his health team are one of the most specialised in Queensland, regularly defending major catastrophic medical liability claims for healthcare practitioners and medical facilities such as obstetric claims, neurosurgical incidents, and alleged misdiagnosis of various conditions such as cancer. He defends the ...
Kellie draws on more than 20 years of experience devoted exclusively to insurance and health law. Throughout her career Kellie has acted for the Victorian insurer of public hospitals, many private hospitals (both directly and through insurers such as MarketForm), pathology companies and medical and allied health practitioners (through insurers such as MIPS, Avant and Guild Insurance). Over many years Kellie has acted for large public liability insurers (such as Wesfarmers General Insurance Li...
Joanne has a wealth of experience in medico-legal matters having acted for a range of medical practitioners and other health care professionals in civil claims, inquests and disciplinary investigations by both statutory bodies and Local Health Districts. Joanne has assisted practitioners in responding to Medicare/PSR investigations and proceedings arising from alleged fraud and billing inconsistencies. Joanne also advises on accreditation and VMO appointment issues. Prior to commencing her le...
In 2000, Kate became an Accredited Specialist in Personal Injury Law certified by the Law Society of NSW. She currently specialises in large and complex personal injury claims with considerable experience handling medical negligence claims against health care providers including public hospitals, private hospitals and medical practitioners. Kate has a particular interest in birth injury claims & has acted for a number of children suffering cerebral palsy as a result of adverse birth event...
Bree Knoester is the founder of Brave Legal and one of Australia’s leading personal injury lawyers. Bree has practiced for over 18 years as both a barrister and solicitor; and has represented clients in some of Victoria’s largest compensation settlements. Bree prides herself on being an empathetic yet tenacious lawyer, possessing a deep understanding of the law and a fearless approach to representing her clients’ interests. Most importantly, Bree understands that being injur...
With over 25 years of experience and a long list of accomplishments, Marianne is recognised as a leading lawyer in the area of health and insurance law. Marianne was instrumental in setting up Meridian Lawyers in 2004 having previously been a health law partner at Ebsworth & Ebsworth (now HWL Ebsworth). Her clients have included the predecessors of Avant (United and MDU), Marketform, Catholic Church Insurances Ltd, GIO General Ltd, AMP, QBE 386, Medical Indemnity Protection Society Limite...
Zara has practised insurance law and litigation in NSW for over 20 years. Before joining Holman Webb as Special Counsel in 2010 Zara was Special Counsel at Henry Davis York. Zara is experienced in a broad range of insurance practice areas including medical negligence, coronial inquiries, administrative review and disciplinary proceedings, injury liability, property and commercial claims, marine insurance and defamation. Her current focus is in professional indemnity, medical negligence and di...
Andrew is a Principal at Meridian Lawyers and assists health professionals and organisations when responding to professional indemnity claims, disciplinary proceedings, Medicare investigations, fraud and overservicing claims. Andrew also appears as an advocate at coronial inquests. Alongside his health practice, Andrew conducts insurance audits for London underwriters, scrutinising claims reserves and advising on litigation trends in medical negligence portfolios. He also works in the not for...
Mark Walsh was admitted as a barrister of the Supreme Court of New South Wales in 1994, and took silk in 2015. His areas of practice include general litigation, commercial disputes, contract, tort, medical negligence, professional negligence, insurance law and coronial proceedings. Mark has a particular interest in factual disputes,evidence, causation, statutory interpretation, the operation of WCA s151Z in common law proceedings, collateral source recoveries and suggesting practical solution...
Steven specialises in professional indemnity matters with an expertise in health law and brokers negligence. He regularly assists clients in both litigious cases, and regulatory complaints before the professional councils. In 2020, he was recognised as a top health lawyer when he was awarded Lawyers Weekly’s 30 under 30 Health and Medical Award. Steven has also been appointed to the Human Research Ethics Committee of Concord Repatriation General Hospital (which approved clinical trials ...
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