Expert Tips for Drafting Impactful Affidavits and Witness Statements

Thursday, 20 March 2025
Professional Skills
Written Evidence: Essential Skills for Drafting Affidavits and Witness Statements

 

  • Admissibility: key evidence rules and practical tips to ensure admissibility, including form requirements 
  • Evidence of conversations: best practices for drafting oral evidence; insights on judicial views from recent cases such as Wild v Meduri and Punchbowl Casual Dining Pty Ltd v Rashay's Cafes & Restaurants Pty Ltd; strategies for managing admissibility and credibility 
  • Professional obligations: overview of ethical obligations when preparing written evidence 

Presented by Doug Johnson, Barrister, Francis Burt Chambers 

Description

Attend and earn 1 CPD hour in Professional Skills
This program is applicable to practitioners from all States & Territories 

Chair

Professor Stephen Owen-Conway KC, Barrister, Sir Lawrence Jackson Chambers

Presenters


Douglas Johnson, Barrister, Francis Burt Chambers
Doug is a barrister at Francis Burt Chambers. He maintains a broad commercial litigation and arbitration practice, with particular expertise in the areas of construction and engineering, insurance, and professional liability disputes. He is often instructed on highly technical cases involving complex factual and expert evidence. Clients value Doug’s accessibility and collaborative approach, both as sole counsel and when led as part of a team of barristers. Doug recently received the Tom Yuncken Australian Construction Lawyer award for 2023, where his referees emphasised his work ethic, creative thinking, and technical knowledge. Before being called to the bar, Doug worked in the dispute resolution teams at Jones Day and King & Wood Mallesons. He also practiced insurance litigation at Moray & Agnew.


Professor Stephen Owen-Conway KC, Barrister, Sir Lawrence Jackson Chambers
Stephen Owen-Conway KC appears in the Federal Court of Australia and State Courts throughout Australia, practising in the field of commercial and administrative law. Stephen was admitted as a member of the Honourable Society of the Inner Temple in early 1971, having been awarded an entrance scholarship. He was subsequently awarded two further scholarships by the Inner Temple. Stephen graduated from the university of Sheffield in 1972. He was first called to the English Bar in mid 1973. Stephen joined the Queensland Bar in 1975; the Victorian Bar in 1976 and the Western Australian Bar in 1977. He was appointed a Queen's Counsel in the states of Queensland and Western Australia in 1992. Stephen has held a number of legal academic positions throughout his career including: visiting lecturer at Nottingham University, senior teaching fellow at the University of Western Australia and lecturer-in -law at the universities of Plymouth, Queensland and Western Australia. Stephen is currently adjunct professor of law at Murdoch University. Stephen's List Clerks are Svenson Barristers who are located in Melbourne.

Thursday, 20 March 2025
Professional Skills
Written Evidence: Essential Skills for Drafting Affidavits and Witness Statements

 

  • Admissibility: key evidence rules and practical tips to ensure admissibility, including form requirements 
  • Evidence of conversations: best practices for drafting oral evidence; insights on judicial views from recent cases such as Wild v Meduri and Punchbowl Casual Dining Pty Ltd v Rashay's Cafes & Restaurants Pty Ltd; strategies for managing admissibility and credibility 
  • Professional obligations: overview of ethical obligations when preparing written evidence 

Presented by Doug Johnson, Barrister, Francis Burt Chambers 

Description

Attend and earn 1 CPD hour in Professional Skills
This program is applicable to practitioners from all States & Territories 

Chair

Professor Stephen Owen-Conway KC, Barrister, Sir Lawrence Jackson Chambers

Presenters


Douglas Johnson, Barrister, Francis Burt Chambers
Doug is a barrister at Francis Burt Chambers. He maintains a broad commercial litigation and arbitration practice, with particular expertise in the areas of construction and engineering, insurance, and professional liability disputes. He is often instructed on highly technical cases involving complex factual and expert evidence. Clients value Doug’s accessibility and collaborative approach, both as sole counsel and when led as part of a team of barristers. Doug recently received the Tom Yuncken Australian Construction Lawyer award for 2023, where his referees emphasised his work ethic, creative thinking, and technical knowledge. Before being called to the bar, Doug worked in the dispute resolution teams at Jones Day and King & Wood Mallesons. He also practiced insurance litigation at Moray & Agnew.


Professor Stephen Owen-Conway KC, Barrister, Sir Lawrence Jackson Chambers
Stephen Owen-Conway KC appears in the Federal Court of Australia and State Courts throughout Australia, practising in the field of commercial and administrative law. Stephen was admitted as a member of the Honourable Society of the Inner Temple in early 1971, having been awarded an entrance scholarship. He was subsequently awarded two further scholarships by the Inner Temple. Stephen graduated from the university of Sheffield in 1972. He was first called to the English Bar in mid 1973. Stephen joined the Queensland Bar in 1975; the Victorian Bar in 1976 and the Western Australian Bar in 1977. He was appointed a Queen's Counsel in the states of Queensland and Western Australia in 1992. Stephen has held a number of legal academic positions throughout his career including: visiting lecturer at Nottingham University, senior teaching fellow at the University of Western Australia and lecturer-in -law at the universities of Plymouth, Queensland and Western Australia. Stephen is currently adjunct professor of law at Murdoch University. Stephen's List Clerks are Svenson Barristers who are located in Melbourne.

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Expert Tips for Drafting Impactful Affidavits and Witness Statements

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DELIVERY MODE BELOW

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Single Session
CPD Points 1
$160.00
On Demand 20250719 20250320

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