Personal Injury

• Acting in a wide range of personal injury claims involving single injuries through to catastrophic injuries and class actions.
• Defending importers and manufacturers of products including firearms, health and medical equipment, recreational goods and consumables.
• Acting in class action and class action-type litigation involving claims arising from salmonella contamination in a luxury restaurant, and injury and death to canines due to contaminated pet food.
• Catastrophic injury claims, including a brain-injured camper struck by a tree limb whilst sleeping in his tent, a young lady who fell into a shaft, and a young man who sustained injuries resulting in a persistent vegetative state requiring 48-hour daily attendant care.
• Defending hotels, clubs and security providers in assault-related claims as well as recreational and leisure service providers.
• Acting for manufacturers, distributors and employers in asbestos, silicosis and other dust diseases litigation.
• Advising on liability exposure and defending claims under the Australian Consumer Law.

Workers Liability / Recoveries

• Specialising in industrial injuries and statutory recovery actions (s. 138 Accident Compensation Act and s.369 Workplace Injury Rehabilitation & Compensation Act) by the Victorian WorkCover Authority and related Serious Injury Application and common law actions. These cases have involved product liability claims, construction site injuries, Legionnaires disease, exposures to chemical fumes, gradual process injuries, psychological injuries and the more ‘common’ L4-L5 disc prolapse claims.
• Acting in many claims involving defective electrical equipment causing personal injury and property damage.
• Construction related injury claims, including claims against builders, crane operators, and various building subcontractors.
• Representing the defendants in seminal cases including Papadopoulos v MC Labour Hire Services Pty Ltd & Anor [2009] VSC 175 and Hudspeth v Scholastic Cleaning and Consultancy Services Pty Ltd & Anor [2014] VSCA 3

Property Damage

• Building and constructions claims. For example, Andrew has acted for a concreting company that constructed footings that did not comply with structural drawings. The building was subject to significant deferential movement but expert evidence tended to causes other than the footings.
• Class action and class action-type litigation including acting for a lines inspection company following extensive damage caused by bushfires following a fallen tree on a powerline, and acting for a construction company to a large number of luxury yachts impacted by dust contamination from a nearby worksite.
• Fire damage claims. Andrew has recently acted for a building company in respect of a claim made against it for substantial damage to a cinema that was alleged to have been caused by a halogen light.
• Water Act and other VCAT property damage claims.
• Defending claims against importers and manufacturers of a range of locally and internationally manufactured goods.
• Acting in many claims involving fire and other damage caused by air-conditioning equipment and other electrical devices including dishwashers, light fittings and washing machines that have resulted in house fires.
• Mould contamination claims.

Coverage

• Advising on a wide range of general liability and property damage issues.
• Advising reinsurers in respect of exposure to large scale litigations claims.
• Claims involving defective products and works and considering the scope of property damage and the application of exclusions.
• Advising on legacy liabilities related to historical causes of action, including public liability and employer exposures to asbestos and dust diseases litigation.