You wanted a timely and practical workers compensation and motor accident conference analysing the latest issues and we’ve delivered. Hear from the Personal Injury Commission and the Independent Review Officer about recent developments as well as pick up practical guidance on technical legal issues to take away and enhance your workers compensation and motor accidents practice. 243N39

Presenters

Craig Tanner, Barrister
Craig Tanner commenced practice at the NSW Bar in 2012. In July of that year he was awarded the Chris Gee QC Memorial Prize for Advocacy and Evidence, for achievement in the Bar Practice Course and in the Bar Examinations. He was an Arbitrator at the Workers Compensation Commission from the time of its inception 2002 until mid 2013, and conducted arbitrations and sat as a member of Medical Appeal Panels. Between 2002 and 2008 he practised as a solicitor in the Employment and Industrial Law section of Maurice Blackburn. From 1987 to 2001, he was a labour lawyer in South Africa, acting for trade unions and employees, and appearing for them in courts and tribunals. He also acted as an arbitrator and mediator appointed by the parties, and sat as a Commissioner in the statutory industrial commission that was established in 1996. He graduated from the University of Natal with a BA, LLB and LLM (awarded cum laude).


Jasmina Mackovic, Practice Leader, LHD Lawyers
Jasmina has a law and economics degree from Sydney University and has over 20 years of experience working in Personal Injury Law. She is also an accredited Specialist in Personal Injury Law. Jasmina has been involved in a number of complex cases throughout her career however one of the most notable is the case for a widow of a gig economy worker who died while making a delivery. In this matter, the parties were able to reach an agreement that the deceased was an employee of Hungry Panda, making this case first of its kind where gig economy worker was recognised as a worker. Jasmina has recently joined LHD Lawyers as a Practice Leader following almost 20 years of experience in personal injury, having previously worked for one of the largest personal injury firms in Australia. Throughout her career she has focused on workers compensation and work injury damages claims.


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.


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 and 2023). 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).


Marie Johns, Division Head, Motor Accidents, Personal Injury Commission NSW
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.


Mr. John Harris, Principal Member, Personal Injury Commission NSW
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.


Con Ktenas, Lawyer and Notary
Con has over 36 years of experience in litigation in every jurisdiction. He is an Accredited Specialist in Personal Injury. He is a former long serving member of the Law Society Injury Compensation Committee, a current member of the Accredited Specialist Advisory Committee and the President of the Law Society’s Commercial Arbitration panel. Con is a Local Court Arbitrator and a former District Court Arbitrator. He is a former President of the City of Sydney Law Society. He has practised in all areas of personal injury litigation including workers compensation, work injury damages, total permanent disability (TPD), occupiers liability, professional negligence, medical/dental negligence, asbestos litigation ,institutional sexual abuse; and toxic torts litigation such ionising radiation and the herbicide “Roundup”.


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