Presenters

Dr Gideon Boas, Barrister, Foley’s List
Dr Gideon Boas is a leading barrister in the field of litigation concerning institutional child abuse. He was counsel for the plaintiff in Bird v DP (recently decided by the High Court) and in the matter of DZY v Trustees of the Christian Brothers (High Court hearing on 13 February 2024). He has appeared in numerous institutional liability matters since 2016 and has been involved in cases establishing the law in areas including vicarious liability, mental harm (nervous shock), setting aside previous deeds/settlements, permanent stays of proceedings, parameters of discovery and subpoena, confidential communications, and more. He has acted in abuse law cases in most States and territories and in the High Court of Australia.

Michael Magazanik, Partner, Rightside Legal
Michael Magazanik is a Partner with Rightside Legal. He formerly spent 11 years with Slater & Gordon in Perth and Melbourne, before he and Grace Wilson founded Rightside in 2016. Much of Michael’s time is spent representing sexual abuse survivors. Seven of Michael’s clients have taken their abuse claims to (successful) verdict over the past six years. These include two claims in WA (Lawrence and ZYX) and five in the Victorian Supreme Court (Hand, Perez, PCB, O’Connor and Kneale). Rightside Legal also obtained the first court decisions overturning sexual abuse settlement deeds in Western Australia and Victoria. Michael has acted in hundreds of successful asbestos claims, including trial wins in both Western Australia and Victoria. He also wrote a book, Silent Shock, about the global thalidomide tragedy. The book followed his legal work over three years for Australian thalidomide survivors which resulted in a $100 million settlement with the drug distributor. Michael previously worked at The Age, The Australian and for ABC Television.