Presenters

Shaun McCarthy, Barrister, State Chambers
Shaun McCarthy was called to the Bar in 1999 and currently practices out of State Chambers. He has practiced in insurance law/personal injury law from 1999 to present, equally representing the interests of defendants and plaintiffs. Shaun has conducted hundreds of personal injury trials and over a dozen appeals as sole or lead counsel. He has been briefed in hundreds of historical abuse cases and has run notable cases to completion including SR v Trustees of the De La Salle Brothers 2023 NSWSC 66, Peters v Trustees of the Marist Brothers2022 NSWSC 475 and EXV v Uniting Church (Australia) Property Trust [2024] NSWSC 490 (2 May 2024). He has delivered seminars in this field on a range of topics including vicarious liability and permanent stays. In this field Shaun has acted for many hundreds of plaintiffs, together with Anglican Dioceses, the State of NSW, Catholic entities based in Rome, public and private schools, child care centres, private children’s institutions, local councils and direct defendants and/or cross defendants. Shaun has a special interest in defending fraud claims in historical abuse claims.


Dr Sharon Reutens, Psychiatrist
Dr Reutens MBBS FRANZCP has over 15 years of experience undertaking a range of Medicolegal assessments. Dr Reutens is trained in WorkCover and Motor Accident Authority evaluations and is an appointed Medical Assessor and Review Panel Assessor with the Personal Injury Commission. With subspecialty training in Psychogeriatrics and Neuropsychiatry, she is often asked to assess issues relating to Capacity such as Testamentary Capacity, Guardianship, and Power of Attorney She has a background of extensive clinical Criminal Justice system and has extensive experience writing reports relating to Fitness, Mental Illness Defences and Sentencing.


Michelle Martin, Principal Lawyer, North Star Law
Michelle studied law at the University of Sydney and was admitted as a solicitor in 2000. Throughout her career, she has practised exclusively in the area of personal injury claims and compensation law. For many years she worked in a large plaintiff law practice before gaining experience in claims from the other perspective as In-House counsel in a large insurance company. Michelle co-founded North Star Law in 2017. Within the industry, she is highly regarded and she is well known for her personable and approachable style.


Marini Mann, Principal, Gilchrist Connell
Marini is an experienced litigator with almost 20 years of experience defending claims across multiple lines of insurance and advising on multiparty litigation and dispute resolution. Marini has a particular focus in the defence of public liability matters involving sensitive claims and sexual abuse, psychiatric injuries, catastrophic injuries, education law claims and coronial inquests and investigations. Marini’s practice also includes acting in the defence of professional indemnity claims and she provides coverage advice on a range of issues, and has been involved in major claims involving fraud, non-disclosure, notification issues and subrogation. Marini has worked on several high profile and significant claims including high quantum litigation and complex interlocutory applications that have proceeded to judicial determination establishing legal precedent in Victoria. Marini was the winner of the Partner of the Year 2023 at the Women in Law Awards and Insurance Partner of the Year 2024 at the Partner of the Year Awards.