No longer does a discussion of informed consent revolve around key High Court decisions like Rogers v Whittaker. In 2023 the experts consider informed consent in the context of gender transformation, voluntary assisted dying and substitute decision. Join this illustrious panel to explore the nuances and delve into the practical and ethical considerations you need to grasp when a medical negligence claim involving consent lands on your desk in 2023. 

Presenters

Ms. Mary Anne Hartley KC, Barrister, Devers List
Ms Hartley joined the Victorian Bar in 1997 following a 14 year career, mostly at partner level, in a national law firm where she practiced in shipping, insurance and health law. Mary Anne took silk in 2009 following which her practice has focused on common law jury trials. In addition to her practice at the Common Law Bar, Mary Anne has been a company director for 30 or so years. She is currently a director of RSPCA (Victoria). Earlier roles include an Essential Services Commissioner for Victoria (our economic regulator), President of an appeal panel into the price of water in the ACT, a director of Melbourne Water and the Port of Melbourne. She is a reviewer for the Medical Journal of Australia. In 2001, Mary Anne was awarded a Centenary medal for services to governance and the law.


Ms. Louise Jackson, Senior Associate, Slater & Gordon
Louise is responsible for personal injury cases involving medical negligence claims against Local Health Districts and individual medical professionals in New South Wales. Her professional experience at Slater and Gordon includes acting in relation to a wide range of claims involving all types of physical and psychiatric (nervous shock) injuries, catastrophic injuries affecting all age groups and acting for claimants in a large government redress scheme. Louise’s work experience and history more generally involves litigating commercial, equity and common law cases for both plaintiffs and defendants (and their insurers). She understands the entire dispute resolution and court process from both sides. Louise has significant experience in advocacy and with instructing counsel in all Federal and State courts (including appeal courts), at tribunals, in coronial inquests and in out-of-court negotiation and dispute resolution.


Patsi Michalson, Mediator, Michalson Mediation
Patsi is experienced and culturally diverse mediator, lawyer and conflict resolution expert. Her focus is mainly on health law, including medical negligence disputes, insurance claims, disputes arising in the aged care space and the contest of Wills. Patsi practised law in South Africa for 20 years as a Barrister, becoming Senior Counsel in 2008. Her practice in personal injury, insurance, commercial and health law litigation and my work in family law provided valuable insights into how litigation and mediation operate side-by-side in offering different solutions to conflict. Since moving to Australia, she has re-trained as a solicitor and accredited as a mediator to fulfil Australian professional requirements. She also completed the Australian Institute of Company Directors examinations in 2019. Whilst doing so, she has also had the privilege of working with clinicians, patients and families in the public health space for nearly a decade. This work has provided an intersection with law firms, medical insurers, the HCCC, AHPRA and the Coroner's Court. She has also consulted and trained on a broad spectrum of issues in the health space, involving diverse difficult conversations, including Open Disclosure training for clinicians.


Ms. Paula Shelton, Special Counsel, Longton Legal
Paula is an accredited personal injury specialist with more than 29 years’ litigation experience. She has worked across a breadth of areas including medical negligence, product liability, public liability, class actions and social justice litigation. Over the course of her career, Paula has been involved in notable cases such as the inquests of Luke Batty, Kelly Thompson (family violence murders), Sarah Cafferkey (murdered by a parolee) and Maria Liordos (child who died in state care), breast implant class actions, child sexual abuse cases and claims for many catastrophically injured plaintiffs, including many cases involving lifelong care. Paula is currently a Special Counsel at Longton Compensation Lawyers and is appointed to the Victorian Government's Voluntary Assisted Dying Review Board.


Ms. Rosemary Listing, Special Counsel Catherine Henry Lawyers
Rosemary is a senior lawyer in the firm’s highly regarded health law team. Whilst primarily involved in the conduct of medical negligence litigation, Rosy also provides specialised advice on consumer law remedies including in claims arising from faulty medical devices. Rosy has helped hundreds of women whose lives have been impacted through negative cosmetic surgery and is conducting a major role in the large scale cosmetic surgery litigation being handled by the firm. Prior to her time in private practice, Rosy worked as a research assistant to Norman Palmer QC and Justice Sackar of the Supreme Court of NSW.


Ms. Anne Preisz, Clinical Ethicist at Sydney Children's Hospitals
Anne Preisz is the Sydney Children’s Hospital Network Clinical Ethicist and manages the Clinical Ethics Support Service. Anne has extensive clinical experience as a Physiotherapist, specialising in neuromuscular and neonatal care and holds a postgraduate Masters’ degree in Bioethics from the University of Sydney. She interned at the RCH Children’s Bioethics Centre and is an ADC accredited Mediator and an Honorary Associate at Sydney Health Ethics, University of Sydney and a Senior Lecturer at the University of Notre Dame, School of Medicine Bioethics Department. She has published on a number of paediatric ethics topics including cognitive bias in decision making, evaluation of paediatric quality of life measures and environmental ethics and paediatrics.


Ms. Julie Brooke-Cowden, General Manager, Professional Conduct Claims, Avant Mutual
After completing undergraduate degrees in Science and Law at Macquarie University, Julie commenced practice in defendant insurance litigation. She has been an Accredited Specialist in Defendant Personal Injury Litigation since 2000, completing a Master of Laws at the University of Sydney in 2005. Julie has worked as an in-house lawyer since 2005, initially for MDA National Insurance, and more recently, for Avant Mutual. In 2016, Julie was recognised in Doyles Guide as one of Australia’s leading in-house insurance lawyers. At Avant, Julie leads the Professional Conduct team, who manage notifications and claims involving disciplinary, coronial, employment, Medicare, and other non-civil matters. She also has oversight of the National Claims Acceptance team. Julie is also an Adjunct Associate Professor in the School of Medicine at the University of Notre Dame Australia. She was a member of the Concord Repatriation General Hospital’s Human Research Ethics Committee from 2004 until 2022.


Ms. Sarah Vallance, Special Counsel, Shine Lawyers
Sarah Vallance is special counsel in Shine Lawyer’s Queensland medical law team. She has worked in personal injuries litigation since her admission in 2006 and achieved specialist accreditation in personal injury law in 2013. Since 2010, Sarah has worked exclusively in medical law litigation, representing hundreds of patients who have suffered catastrophic injuries and/or death due to poor medical treatment. In 2018, Sarah completed a Master of Laws majoring in Health Law at the Queensland University of Technology, with a focus on end-of-life issues, including advance health directives, proprietary interests in human tissue and voluntary assisted dying. Sarah is a member of the Queensland Law Society, Australian Lawyers Alliance, and the Medico-Legal Society of Queensland. She is a member of the ALA’s Medical Law special interest group and through her involvement with the ALA, has prepared several submissions with respect to voluntary assisted dying and safe access zones and appeared at several parliamentary inquiries.


Ms. Lisa Fairley, Senior Associate, Barry Nilsson
Lisa is a Senior Associate in our Insurance and Health team and is based in our Brisbane office. Lisa specialises in medico-legal litigation, coronial inquests, statutory complaints and practitioner disciplinary matters, capacity and guardianship matters. Lisa has a particular interest in legal and ethical issues which arise from emergency medicine and health matters involving questions of consent and capacity such as those which invoke the Supreme Court’s parens patriae jurisdiction. Having previously been seconded to a major tertiary hospital as Principal Lawyer, Lisa has acquired unique insight into the legal issues faced by the health care system. Additionally, Lisa heads up the health team’s pro-bono partnership with Queensland Advocacy Incorporated and understands the importance of such work as part of her practice which has enabled her to build a practice in guardianship matters. Prior to joining BN, Lisa worked for the UK Government Legal Department, in the Ministry of Defence litigation team leading a range of disputes, including personal injury, medical negligence and high-profile coronial inquests.


Dr. Ian Freckelton AO KC, Foley’s List
Ian Freckelton AO KC is a senior barrister and mediator in full-time practice throughout Australia. He was called to the Bar in 1988 and took silk in 2007. He is currently listed in Best Lawyers for Public Law and Doyle’s Guide for Administrative Law. He has recently also been listed by Doyle’s Guide for Criminal Law. He has appeared in many high profile cases throughout Australia and has an appellate, trial and advisory practice. Ian has been also a judge of the Supreme Court in Nauru and a member of nine administrative tribunals. He is a member of the Coronial Council of Victoria and was a long-time examiner for specialisation in criminal law for the Law Institute of Victoria. He is an elected Fellow of the Australian Academy of Law, the Australian Academy of Health and Medical Sciences, and the Australian Academy of Social Sciences, as well as the Australasian College of Legal Medicine. Ian is a Professor of Law and a Professorial Fellow in Psychiatry at the University of Melbourne and an Honorary Professor of Forensic Medicine at Monash University, Ian is the Editor of the Journal of Law and Medicine and the Founding Editor of Psychiatry, Psychology and Law. He is the author of approximately 50 books on evidence law, criminal law, coronial law, health law, research misconduct, and administrative law and is very widely internationally published - he is the author of over 750 articles and chapters of books. Recent books by Ian include Expert Evidence: Law, Practice Procedure and Advocacy (7th edn, Thomson Reuters, 2024); COVID-19: Law and Regulation (with Bennett and Wolf, OUP, 2023); and Public Health Law in Australia (with Bennett, Federation Press, 2023). He is also the editor of the 7 volume subscription service on Expert Evidence (Thomson Reuters). He is currently completing the second edition of his book on Coronial Law, Medicine and Practice (with Ranson) which is expected ted to be published by Thomson Reuters in 2024. In 2021 Ian was appointed an Officer (AO) of the Order of Australia for “distinguished service to the law, and to the legal profession, across fields including health, medicine and technology.”