Get up to speed on the latest news from the Independent Review Officer, followed by updates on emerging vicarious liability issues applicable to labour hire and host employer, psychological injury claims and nature and condition claims. Obtain updates on significant developments in the Personal Injury Commission from Marie Johns, Division Head Motor Accidents Division, a discussion of the new threshold injury test, and Jnana Gumbert’s biannual update on judicial review of motor accident decisions.

Presenters

John Harris, Principal Member, Personal Injury Commission of New South Wales
John Harris is a Principal Member of the Personal Injury Commission. Prior to this appointment, he was appointed a sessional arbitrator in 2013 and subsequently a full-time arbitrator of the Workers Compensation Commission. The Principal Member was admitted as a Barrister in 1988 and practiced extensively in personal injury law prior to his appointment with the Workers Compensation Commission.


Will Murphy, Partner, Bartier Perry
Will is a partner at Bartier Perry. He practices in industrial accident law: workers compensation, common law claims and Work Health and Safety. In his personal injury practice Will acts exclusively for insurers and self-insurers. Will was one of the first accredited specialists in personal injury law in NSW.


Matthew Jones, Barrister, Jack Shand Chambers
Since being called to the Bar, Matthew has appeared in a wide variety of jurisdictions from Local Court to Supreme Court in both Common law and equity divisions. Matthew also appears in NCAT and the AAT. Matthew is a bold advocate with a pragmatic and reasonable sense for commercial resolutions to matters. A sample of recent and significant judgments and decisions are as follows: The Estate of Robyn Alice May Linworth [2021] NSWSC 334 Matthes v The Nominal Defendant [2021] NSWSC 188 Norrington v QBE Insurance (Australia) Ltd [2021] NSWSC 548


Simon Cohen, Independent Review Officer, Independent Review Office
Simon commenced as the Independent Review Officer for NSW workers compensation in February 2020. Previous to his appointment Simon was Deputy Secretary Regulation at the Department of Justice and Community Safety in Victoria. Simon has previously held appointments as the National Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman and Victoria's Public Transport Ombudsman. Simon is a graduate in law from the University of Queensland.


Amanda Bond, Partner, Gillis Delaney Lawyers
Amanda Bond is a partner of Gillis Delaney Lawyers who specialises in insurance claims. Amanda is an Accredited Specialist in Personal Injury Law and has over 20 years of experience in acting for government entities, insurers, self-insurers and corporations. In the last four years Amanda has been recognised by the Doyles Guide as a leading liability lawyer, pre-eminent and leading worker’s compensation lawyer and recommended lawyer in CTP demonstrating her breadth of experience.


Con Ktenas, Lawyer and Notary
Con Ktenas is an Accredited Specialist in Personal Injuries Compensation working in private practice as a litigation solicitor, Local Court Arbitrator and Notary. He is a member of the Law Society Accredited Specialist Advisory Committee, was a long-time member of the Law Society Accident Compensation Committee, and a Former President of the City of Sydney Law Society. He has practiced in every jurisdiction from the Full High Court to the Local Court in every type of personal injuries and other litigation from 1987 until the present. He has also been a part time legal academic at UNSW and UTS and has presented scores of papers and chaired many CPD seminars.


Marie Johns, Division Head Motor Accidents Division, Personal Injury Commission
On 26 August 2020 Ms Johns was appointed as the Division Head of the Motor Accident Division of the Personal Injury Commission (PIC), which commenced on 1 March 2021. Ms Johns was previously appointed as the Principal Claims Assessor under the two CTP schemes in NSW (Motor Accidents Compensation Act 1999 and the Motor Accident Injuries Act 2017) in August 2018. Ms Johns’ career spans more than two decades across regulatory and service delivery, within government and the community. She has held various positions including at CARS and DRS, the Workers Compensation Commission, ILARS – WIRO, as an immigration lawyer with Brett Slater Solicitors, and DLA Piper (formerly Phillips Fox) and with Mid Hunter Community Housing Association. She is a current committee member of the NSW Chapter of Council of Australasian Tribunals (COAT). Admitted as a solicitor in February 2005, she holds a Degree in Law from Macquarie University and a Bachelor of Science (major in psychology) from the University of Newcastle.


Tim Concannon, Partner, Carroll O’Dea
Tim joined Carroll & O'Dea Lawyers in 1994 and became a partner in 2001. Tim has been an Accredited Specialist in Personal Injury Law since 2000 and was an Assessor with the Claims Assessment and Resolution Service (CARS) from 2004 to February 20221. Tim was appointed Deputy Chair of the Injury Compensation Committee of the Law Society in 2020 and has been Chair of this Committee in 2021 and 2022. He has played a leading role in drafting submissions to government agencies relevant to various areas of personal injury law and appeared on behalf of the Law Society at a number of government inquiries into the functioning of the workers compensation and motor accident schemes.


Peter Hunt, Partner, McCabes
Peter is a Principal in the Statutory Insurance Group at McCabes, specialising in CTP. In 2019, 2020, 2021 and 2022, Peter’s team was recognised by Doyle’s Guide as a First Tier Defendant CTP Team. In the same years, Peter was recognised by Doyle’s Guide as either a Leading or a Pre-Eminent Defendant CTP Lawyer. Peter has been the driving force behind a number of value-add initiatives, including the intuitive app, MC Max, and the Proper Lookout Podcast series. In addition to his core role, Peter is an NMAS accredited Mediator (with a focus on workplace disputes and common law disputes), the former author of the CCH Motor Accident Practitioners’ Handbook (2001 to 2016), a former CARS Claims Assessor (2004 to 2009), a member of the Law Society of NSW Specialist Accreditation Advisory Committee (since 2011), a member of the Law Society of NSW Injury & Compensation Committee (2022 and 2023), a former Voluntary Director of Marrickville Legal Centre (from May 2018 to May 2022), a former Voluntary Director of Road Sense Australia (from December 2020 to May 2022), a former Voluntary Director of IDEAS (from May 2018 to November 2020) and a Graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors (March 2017).


Jnana Gumbert, Barrister, Jack Shand Chambers
Jnana Gumbert has an extensive practice in the areas of common law, insurance law, and administrative law (particularly in judicial review of administrative decisions within the NSW CTP scheme). She has over 20 years’ experience conducting personal injury litigation in the areas of motor accidents, medical negligence and civil liability. Jnana was awarded a Master of Laws (LLM) from the University of Sydney in 2009, focussing on the areas of tort law, healthcare law and administrative law. Jnana has been recognised by her clients and her peers as a preeminent Junior Counsel in New South Wales Insurance & Personal Injury Law (Doyle’s Guide 2020, 2021, 2022). Prior to being called to the Bar in 2012, Jnana was a litigation solicitor for over 6 years and a Director of Stacks/Goudkamp Lawyers, and was also a Law Society Accredited Specialist in Personal Injury Law and Assessor for Specialist Accreditation assessments. Jnana held the office of President of the NSW Branch of the Australian Lawyers Alliance from 2009 to 2015. She is a member of the Common Law Committee of the NSW Bar Association. She is a regular presenter at legal seminars and conferences, and has written many articles for publication in legal journals. She has also co-authored the Motor Accidents chapter of the Goudkamp and Morrison Personal Injury Law Manual NSW (Thomson Reuters) and The Law Handbook (Thomson Reuters).