Dust Diseases Update

If you missed our sold-out Dust Diseases conference in September 2024, then make sure you register for this webinar! Dust disease claims practice is a constantly evolving area of personal injury law, join us for a consideration of the health risks of tunnelling work and the recent increase of claims that have occurred, keep up to date on recent decisions in Australia, then explore the vexed question of capacity when the claimant is elderly and you have concerns about their capacity to provide instructions.

Monday, 17 March 2025
Description

Attend and earn 3.5 CPD units including: 
2. units in Substantive Law 
1.5 units in Professional Skills 
This program is applicable to practitioners from all States & Territories

1.30pm to 2.00pm Judicial Decision Making in Dust Diseases Claims

 

Presented by Her Honour Judge Wendy Strathdee, Dust Diseases Tribunal NSW

Professional Skills
2.00pm to 3.00pm Beneath the Surface: The Health Risks of Tunnelling Work

 

  • Overview of tunnel construction, common health hazards and work-related diseases in tunnel workers
  • Various tunnelling methods and how these methods impact on workplace exposure
  • Consideration of the workgroups most at risk
  • Typical control measures put in place to protect worker health and the gaps that can exist 

Presented by Kate Cole OAM, Certified Occupational Hygienist, Cole Health 

Professional Skills
3.00pm to 4.00pm Exploring Mental Capacity with Medical & Legal Insights Together with an Exploration of Options Open to the Lawyer Should the Claimant’s Not Have Capacity to Provide Instructions

 

  • Different roles: the Court, the medical practitioner and the solicitor in the assessment of capacity
  • Legal and medical tests for the assessment of:
    • Capacity to engage in legal proceedings
    • Capacity to contract
    • Capacity to appoint enduring attorneys and enduring guardians
  • Role of the solicitor: communication with the client and taking clear instructions
  • Warning signs for solicitors: what to do and when to engage a medical practitioner
  • Referrals and letters of instruction: How can solicitors best assist the medical practitioner and the Court
  • Role of the medical specialist
  • Disclosure of documents and consent: confidentiality issues
  • What steps the lawyer can take if the client’s capacity is compromised 

Presented by Dr Amanda White, Clinical Neuropsychologist and Forensic Psychologist, Neuropsychological & Forensic Services

4.00pm to 4.15pm Break
Chair:

Lian Chami, Partner, Bartier Perry; Preeminent Dust Diseases Lawyers (Defendant) – New South Wales, Doyles Guide 2024

4.15pm to 5.15pm Case Review and Updates on Liability and Assessment of Damages: Practical Guidance and Insights

 

  • Liability decisions including recent decisions relating to health risks of tunnelling
  • Cases on assessment of damages

Panel Includes:  
Annie Hoffman, Managing Partner, Turner Freeman; Leading Asbestos & Dust Diseases Compensation Lawyers (Plaintiff), Doyle’s Guide 2024 
Victoria Keays, Partner, Gordon Legal, Preeminent Asbestos & Dust Diseases Compensation Lawyers (Plaintiff) Doyle's Guide 2023  
Laine Ashforth-McDonald, Senior Associate, Slater & Gordon; Leading Dust Diseases Compensation Lawyers & Law Firms (Plaintiff) WA, Doyle’s Guide 2024 
Jonathan Walsh, Partner, Maurice Blackburn; Recommended Asbestos & Dust Diseases Compensation Lawyers (Plaintiff), Doyle’s Guide 2024 

Presenters


Lian Chami, Partner, Bartier Perry
Lian brings over 15 years of experience in law, specialising in dust diseases work and historical liability claims. With a background in alternative dispute resolution, Lian is dedicated to achieving the best outcomes for clients. Her current practice focuses on dust-related cases, where she has been providing exemplary legal services to various clients, including NSW government clients in transport, education, public works, and health under the Treasury Managed Fund (TMF) and Comcare work on behalf of the Commonwealth Government. Lian’s clients appreciate her efficiency and practical, cost-effective approach to resolving or contesting litigations.


Dr Amanda White, Clinical Neuropsychologist and Forensic Psychologist, Neuropsychological & Forensic Services
Dr White is an endorsed Forensic Psychologist and Clinical Neuropsychologist with extensive training and experience in the preparation of forensic psychological and neuropsychological reports. She is skilled in the comprehensive assessment of cognitive, behavioural and psychological impairments associated with complex histories, multiple comorbidities and a range of conditions, including acquired brain injury, neurodegenerative disorders, psychological and psychiatric illness, neurological conditions, intellectual disability, substance use disorders and forensic matters including risk assessment. She has extensive experience conducting assessments and reports surrounding decision making and capacity evaluations. She has appeared as an expert witness in the NSW courts and various tribunals.


Victoria Keays, Partner, Gordon Legal
Victoria is an accredited specialist in personal injury law with a particular interest in asbestos litigation. Victoria has over 10 years’ experience in representing those suffering from all forms of asbestos diseases; including mesothelioma, lung cancer, asbestosis and asbestos related pleural disease. Victoria is also passionate about achieving compensation for those afflicted by other occupational diseases, such as silicosis and occupational lung cancer. Victoria has represented clients in a number of jurisdictions around Australia and has been recognised by Doyle’s Guide as a leading lawyer in the area of Dust Diseases.


Her Honour Judge Wendy Strathdee, Dust Diseases Tribunal NSW
Her Honour Judge Strathdee was called to the Bar in 1992 conducting common law trials in the District and Supreme Courts of NSW and Queensland but predominantly in the Dust Diseases Tribunal of NSW. In 2005 her Honour was appointed as a Mediator and Contributions Assessor for the DDT. Her Honour has also been involved in training and mentoring of legal practitioners and law students in alternative dispute resolution. In 2018 her Honour was appointed to the bench as a member of the Dust Diseases Tribunal and the District Court of NSW.


Kate Cole OAM, Certified Occupational Hygienist, Cole Health
Kate Cole OAM is a multiple award-winning scientist, engineer and Certified Occupational Hygienist who has dedicated her career to the prevention of work-related disease. Her work on preventing silicosis has been informed by the completion of a Winston Churchill Fellowship and her extensive work on major construction and tunnelling projects in Australia and abroad. Kate is the past President of the Australian Institute of Occupational Hygienists, the former co-chair of the National Silicosis Prevention Strategy Expert Steering Committee, and a member of the NSW Dust Diseases Board. In recognition of her outstanding contributions to workplace health and safety, Kate was awarded the Medal (OAM) of the Order of Australia and was included in the Covid-19 Honour Roll in the 2022 Australia Day Honours. Kate now works as an independent consultant while completing her PhD at the University of Sydney where she is researching respirable crystalline silica exposures to tunnel construction workers.


Annie Hoffman, Managing Partner, Turner Freeman


Laine Ashforth-McDonald, Senior Associate, Slater & Gordon


Jonathan Walsh, Partner, Maurice Blackburn
Jonathan Walsh is a Principal and the Queensland practice group leader for asbestos law and dust diseases, based in Maurice Blackburn’s Brisbane office. Jonathan is also a Law Society of NSW Accredited Specialist in Personal Injury (Dust Diseases). This additional qualification stands him head and shoulders above most other lawyers who specialise in asbestos law. Graduating from Macquarie University with a Bachelor of Media and Bachelor of Laws, Jonathan joined Maurice Blackburn in 2003 and was admitted to practice in 2005. From 2007 to 2011, Jonathan worked at a major Australian commercial law firm and then a major Australian financial institution as in-house counsel, before returning to Maurice Blackburn in mid-2011. He is an Accredited Specialist in Personal Injury (Dust Diseases) and member of the Queensland Law Society, Australian Lawyers Alliance, State Council, Palliative Care Queensland, Lung Foundation of Australia, Thoracic Society of Australia and New Zealand, Clinical Oncology Society of Australia and the American Association for Justice.

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Dust Diseases Update

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DELIVERY MODE BELOW

Single Session
Monday, 17 March 2025
1.30pm to 5.15pm Australia/Sydney
CPD Points 3.5
$460.00
$322.00
Online 20241203 20250317

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