This conference offers a comprehensive look at the evolving landscape of personal injury law in Western Australia. Delve into recent High Court and WA Court of Appeal decisions shaping liability and compensation, strategies for detecting and managing exaggerated claims, and consider the interaction of Workers Compensation and Work Health and Safety legislation. Hear expert insights on accident analysis and the role of forensic evidence, building resilience and wellbeing in legal practice, and navigating ethical challenges when representing clients with psychiatric injuries. The conference blends substantive law updates with practical guidance to equip lawyers for the complex claims and challenges ahead.
Thursday, 5 March 2026
9.00am to 10.00am Analysis of Recent High Court, District Court and WA Court of Appeal Decisions
Assessing the impact of these significant cases on the legal landscape both locally and on a national level
Presented by Neil Morrissey, Barrister, Central Law Chambers
10.00am to 11.00am Compensation Exaggeration: Detecting and Managing Inflated Claims
- Explore the growing challenge of exaggerated personal injury claims and the legal, ethical and practical implications for practitioners
- Gain insights into balancing client advocacy with professional obligations
- Learn how courts are addressing credibility and fraud in the personal injury space
Presented by Brian Nugawela, Barrister, Michael Kirby Chambers
11.00am to 11.15am Morning Tea
4.00pm to 4.15pm Afternoon Tea
Ethics & Professional Responsibility
4.15pm to 5.15pm Ethics in Personal Injury Practice: Representing Someone with Psychiatric Injuries
Presented by Julia Wedlock, Barrister, Albert Wolff Chambers
Description
Attend and earn 7 CPD Units including:
4 units in Substantive Law
1 unit in Ethics & Professional Responsibility
1 unit in Professional Skills
1 unit in Practice management & Business Skills
This program is based on WA legislation
Session 2: Ethics, Practice Management and Professional Skills in Personal Injuries Law
Chair: Dr Rob Guthrie, Retired Assessor Criminal Injuries Compensation and Adjunct Professor at School of Business Law, Curtin University
Professional Skills
2.00pm to 3.00pm Accident Analysis and the Role of Expert Evidence
- Accident phenomenology and accident investigation
- Accident contributory factors and their combination in accident causation
- The complex interaction of people, hazards and the environment
- Accident case studies
- The role of expert evidence in accident analysis
Presented by Dr Milos Nedved, M.Sc.Eng., PhD, Safety Expert Witness WA; Adjunct Associate Professor in Accident Forensics, CQUniversity Australia; Assistant Director of the World Safety Organisation National Office for Australia
Session 1: Personal Injury Claims
Chair: Bettina Mangan SC, Francis Burt Chambers
11.15am to 12.15pm Psychosocial Hazards and Employer Liability: Navigating the WA Workplace Safety and Personal Injury Landscape
- Employer duties under the Work Health and Safety Act 2020 (WA) regarding psychosocial hazards
- Interaction with Workers’ Compensation and Injury Management Act 1981 (WA): compensable psychological injuries and mental harm claims
- Emerging case law on bullying, harassment, and workplace stress claims in WA
- Challenges in proving causation and establishing breach in psychological injury claims
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Lessons from WA tribunals and courts on risk assessment, mitigation, and compliance
Presented by Simon Millman, Acting Registrar, Supreme Court of Western Australia
Practice Management & Business Skills
3.00pm to 4.00pm Building a Resilient Practice: Managing Burnout and Staff Wellbeing
Personal injury work is high stakes, emotionally loaded, and unrelenting. It is no surprise that burnout, compassion fatigue, and staff turnover are becoming business risks in their own right. In this session, Prina Shah will explore how to build a genuinely resilient legal practice: one that protects both your people and your performance.
Drawing on real workplace examples, Prina will unpack:
- how the nature of personal injury work can quietly erode wellbeing over time
- the importance of detachment: without guilt
- practical ways to enable self care (in a non woo woo way) for yourself and your people
- practical strategies leaders can use to understand the current state of their teams, prevent overload, support staff, and create a culture where everyone thrives
You will leave with simple, actionable tools you can use immediately to strengthen resilience, improve staff engagement, and sustain high-quality client outcomes.
Presented by Prina Shah, Global Workplace Transformation Consultant
12.15pm to 1.15pm Workers Compensation Update
- How the Workers Compensation and Injury Management Act 2023 has changed the workers compensation scheme
- Recent changes to taxation law affecting workers compensation settlement and possible ways to settle cases so that they may not trigger the obligation to pay tax on income compensati
- Recent WorkCover WA appeals to the District Court and the Supreme Court of Western Australia
- Claims where there is a dispute between employers regarding the obligation to pay compensation benefits
Presented by Christian Foyle, Director, Foyle Legal
Presenters
Christian Foyle, Director, Foyle LegalChristian Foyle is the Director of Foyle Legal and has practises in plaintiff personal injury litigation. He has worked in personal injury in Western Australia for over 18 years. He is recognised in Doyle’s Guide in the Western Australian personal injury, workers’ compensation and public liability categories and has been listed by ThreeBestRated as a leading Perth compensation lawyer for multiple years. Christian appears regularly in the District Court of Western Australia and WorkCover WA in complex workers’ compensation disputes and catastrophic injury matters. His practice includes liability disputes, contributory negligence and quantum issues, with particular focus on future economic loss, loss of earning capacity and future care claims. He is known for his strategic and evidence-based approach to the assessment of damages and preparation of matters for trial. Christian has authored a book chapter on Western Australian motor vehicle accident claims and produces WA-focused personal injury education content for practitioners. He is a member of the Law Society of Western Australia and the Australian Lawyers Alliance.
Dr Rob Guthrie, Retired Assessor Criminal Injuries Compensation and Adjunct Professor at School of Business Law, Curtin University
Rob Guthrie was admitted to practice in 1982 and worked in private practice for about 10 years and continued to practice whilst an academic at Curtin University for 20 years. He practiced, researched and lectured in employment issues and in particular workers compensation matters. He was appointed an Assessor of Criminal Injuries Compensation in 2010 and retired from that position in 2023. Rob is currently on the Board of Circle Green CLC. He is also a trades assistant in his son's carpentry and landscape business, a job for which he has no qualifications.
Neil Morrissey, Barrister, Central Law Chambers
Neil is an experienced barrister conducting trials and appeals in a wide range of matters. His practice focuses on insurance, personal injury, professional negligence and workers’ compensation cases. He regularly appears on behalf of plaintiffs and defendants in the District and Supreme Courts. Before being called to the Bar, Neil was a solicitor at Bradford & Co. In 2013 Neil completed a Master of Laws at the University of Western Australia with his primary research area being negligence liability. In 2024 Neil completed the Advanced International Advocacy Course at Keble College, Oxford University. Since 2025 Neil has been a faculty member of the Australian Bar Association’s Advocacy Training Council. Neil is a LexisNexis Author co-authoring Practical Guidance for the Western Australian Supreme and District Courts. Neil is a member of the RSPCA’s Pro Bono Legal Panel and is a participant in the Court of Appeal’s Pro Bono Counsel Scheme. Neil has been listed as a leading barrister in Western Australia in the Doyle’s Guide in the areas of Personal Injury and Insurance (2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024 and 2025). Neil is a member of the WA Bar Association’s Council. Outside of his legal work Neil is a CASA rated aerial mustering pilot and has spent time mustering in the East Kimberley region and in the Northern Territory.
Brian Nugawela, Barrister, Michael Kirby Chambers
Brian is an experienced barrister with a broad practice encompassing tort law (including professional negligence), workers’ compensation and Comcare matters, general civil and commercial litigation, insurance disputes (including income protection and TPD claims), and appeals, including select criminal appeals. He is a member of Michael Kirby Chambers and has appeared at all levels of the judicial hierarchy, from tribunal hearings to appeals before the High Court of Australia. Brian frequently shares his expertise as a presenter at Legalwise Seminars and other professional events.
Simon Millman, Acting Registrar, Supreme Court of Western Australia
Simon Millman practises in industrial, employment and personal injury law. Simon graduated with a degree in political science with honours and a degree in law from the University of Western Australia. Simon spent over a decade as a solicitor at a national firm. His areas of practice primarily included all types of industrial and employment litigation, statutory and common law workers compensation claims, and dust diseases claims for victims of asbestos exposure. Simon was elected to the Parliament of Western Australia in 2017, and is returning to legal practice after two terms as a member of Parliament. He is particularly proud of his work in helping to bring about legislation to harmonise WA's work health and safety laws, expand compensation for victims of asbestos diseases, and allowing victims of child sex abuse to pursue claims for civil remedies.
Dr Milos Nedved, M.Sc.Eng., PhD, Adjunct Associate Professor in Accident Forensics, Safety Expert Witness WA
Safety engineer with with over 50 years’ experience in accident investigation and accident analysis. He is an Assistant Director of World Safety Organization National Office for Australia, and a principal consultant in Accident Forensics Consulting Engineers in Perth. Currently he is also adjunct A/Professor in Accident Forensics at CQUniversity Australia. On numerous occasions he had worked as a United Nations Expert in occupational safety and health, having attained the highest professional level within the U.N. System, that of Chief Technical Advisor. He has been running training courses on accident investigation in the U.K., USA, Germany, Philippines, Thailand, Indonesia, Hong Kong, Japan, China, Singapore, and Malaysia. Since 1981, in WA, he has been extensively involved as an expert witness in accident investigation, in particular in legal work related to personal injury accident investigation and compensation claims. As an Expert Witness he has assisted a number of WA legal firms with over 600 cases-occupational, traffic and public liability personal injury accidents, some of which involved Court attendance.
Bettina Mangan SC, Francis Burt Chambers
Bettina’s practice is acting as counsel on first instance and appeal hearings and mediations as well as legal opinion writing on, insurance, contract, general and professional negligence including historic child sexual abuse causes of action, professional disciplinary matters, discrimination matters, occupational health and safety prosecutions and coronial inquiries. Bettina advises on assessment of damages for personal injury and property damage. Bettina accepts briefs as a mediator. Bettina regularly presents papers for continuing legal education. She is on the council of the WA Bar Association and is a member of the Legal Practice Board Professional Affairs Committee.
Prina Shah, Global Workplace Transformation Consultant
Prina Shah is a global coach, consultant, trainer, and speaker who helps leaders and teams make work meaningful and sustainable. With more than two decades of experience across many industries and environments, she partners with organisations to shift culture, reduce burnout, and improve performance without burning people out in the process. Prina is the author of Make Work Meaningful: How To Create a Culture That Leaves a Legacy and host of the Ways to Change the Workplace podcast. Known for her practical, straight-talking style, she works with CEOs, partners, and senior leaders to build cultures where people, wellbeing, and results all matter.
Julia Wedlock, Barrister, Albert Wolff Chambers
Julia graduated from the University of Western Australia in 2007 with a Bachelor of Arts, and in 2012 with a Bachelor of Laws. Julia was admitted as a solicitor in the Supreme Court of Western Australia in 2013 and in the High Court of Australia in 2017. Prior to coming to the Bar in 2025, Julia practiced in family law and personal injury. More recently, Julia specialised in representing survivors of childhood sexual abuse. In her practice as a solicitor, Julia was involved in the leading institutional abuse cases in Western Australia, following the removal of the limitation period for survivors in 2018. Julia is a passionate and engaged member of the Perth legal community. Julia is a member of the Australian Lawyers Alliance (WA State Branch Committee) and is the Membership Officer for Women Lawyers of Western Australia. Julia is also a member of the Law Society of Western Australia and sits on two Law Society Committees: the Workers’ Compensation and Personal Injuries Committee and the Mental Health and Wellbeing Committee.
This seminar is part of a series
Ethics, Professional Skills & Practice Management for Personal Injuries Lawyers ( 5 March 2026)
Thursday, 5 March 2026
Join leading personal injury practitioners for a focused core units program designed to strengthen evidence skills, ethical judgement and practice resilience. Examine accident causation through real case studies and expert evidence, including contributory factors and the complex interaction between people, hazards and environment, so you can test assumptions and build stronger claims and defences. Gain practical strategies to manage burnout and support staff wellbeing in high-pressure PI practices, with tools to prevent overload, strengthen resilience and sustain performance. Conclude with a timely ethics session on representing clients with psychiatric injuries, including the professional responsibilities and risks that arise when vulnerability, evidence and client instructions intersect.
Ethics & Professional Responsibility
4.15pm to 5.15pm Ethics in Personal Injury Practice: Representing Someone with Psychiatric Injuries
Presented by Julia Wedlock, Barrister, Albert Wolff Chambers
Description
Attend and earn 3 CPD units including:
1 unit in Ethics & Professional Responsibility
1 unit in Professional Skills
1 unit in Practice management & Business Skills
This program is applicable to practitioners from all States & Territories
Chair:
Dr Rob Guthrie, Retired Assessor Criminal Injuries Compensation and Adjunct Professor at School of Business Law, Curtin University
Practice Management & Business Skills
3.00pm to 4.00pm Building a Resilient Practice: Managing Burnout and Staff Wellbeing
Personal injury work is high stakes, emotionally loaded, and unrelenting. It is no surprise that burnout, compassion fatigue, and staff turnover are becoming business risks in their own right. In this session, Prina Shah will explore how to build a genuinely resilient legal practice: one that protects both your people and your performance.
Drawing on real workplace examples, Prina will unpack:
- how the nature of personal injury work can quietly erode wellbeing over time
- the importance of detachment: without guilt
- practical ways to enable self care (in a non woo woo way) for yourself and your people
- practical strategies leaders can use to understand the current state of their teams, prevent overload, support staff, and create a culture where everyone thrives
You will leave with simple, actionable tools you can use immediately to strengthen resilience, improve staff engagement, and sustain high-quality client outcomes.
Presented by Prina Shah, Global Workplace Transformation Consultant
4.00pm to 4.15pm Afternoon Tea
Professional Skills
2.00pm to 3.00pm Accident Analysis and the Role of Expert Evidence
- Accident phenomenology and accident investigation
- Accident contributory factors and their combination in accident causation
- The complex interaction of people, hazards and the environment
- Accident case studies
- The role of expert evidence in accident analysis
Presented by Dr Milos Nedved, M.Sc.Eng., PhD, Safety Expert Witness WA; Adjunct Associate Professor in Accident Forensics, CQUniversity Australia; Assistant Director of the World Safety Organisation National Office for Australia
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