Recent Publications

• A guide to offers to settle and costs in personal injuries proceedings

  Date: 17 May 2013

  A recent DibbsBarker article published in Proctor explains in some depth the written/mandatory final offer regimes for various personal injuries matters at the pre-proceedings stage and their interplay with the Uniform Civil Procedure Rules 1999 (Qld).
• Important new Australian trade mark law comes into force on 15 April 2013

  Date: 12 Apr 2013

  Trade mark owners should note that significant changes which dramatically affect the way in which trade mark opposition proceedings will be run in Australia, come into force on 15 April 2013.
• High Court ruling confirms wide reach of proportionate liability

  Date: 05 Apr 2013

  In the recent decision of Hunt & Hunt Lawyers v Mitchell Morgan Nominees Pty Ltd [2013] HCA 10, the High Court confirmed that proportionate liability will apply to the advantage of defendants in a wide range of circumstances.
• The Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse

  Date: 04 Apr 2013

  The Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse opened this week. The Commission's chairman, provided information on how future private and public hearings would be conducted.
• The new Australian Privacy Principles: Amendments to the Privacy Act 1988

  Date: 12 Feb 2013

  This article provides a summary of recent amendments to the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) which implements new privacy principles and credit reporting rules.
• Soaring to new heights: the Industrial Court considers the definition of "injury" under the WCRA

  Date: 25 Jan 2013

  QCOMP and John Kennerley and Qantas Airways Limited (C/2012/16) Section 32(1) & 32(2) Workers Compensation and Rehabilitation Act 2003 (QLd); arising out of or in the course of employment; significant contributing factor.
• Unfair terms in insurance contracts: A Christmas present from Treasury

  Date: 20 Dec 2012

  Commonwealth Treasury has given insurers an unwelcome Christmas present: a prohibition on unfair terms in general insurance contracts issued to consumers.
• Getting your story straight - the legal danger of the ever-evolving version of events

  Date: 13 Dec 2012

  The New South Wales Supreme Court recently found in favour of the defendants where a plaintiff gave varying accounts of the circumstances surrounding his injury and exposed the cause of his injury to be his own inadvertance.
• Employers score a goal: breach of duty of care not enough to establish liability against employers

  Date: 07 Nov 2012

  The Queensland Supreme Court has reminded plaintiffs that breach of duty alone is not enough to establish liability against employers.
• If you can't take the direct route, try a detour: the Court of Appeal resuscitates a workers' compensation recovery claim

  Date: 12 Oct 2012

  In a recent decision, the Queensland Court of Appeal has validated the assignment of a cause of action for personal injuries to enable an insurer to recover statutory workers' compensation payments.
• Cartel conduct back in the spotlight

  Date: 10 Oct 2012

  The detrimental impact that cartel conduct allegations can have on a business makes it imperative that businesses give this issue attention as a real priority.
• Doomed Defence? Delphin v Martin

  Date: 21 Sep 2012

  To defend a health care negligence claim successfully, usually a number of factors need to work in favour of the defendant. A narrow factual matrix, confined allegations of breach of duty, uncertainties on cause of injury, good clinical records, convincing witnesses and cogent and supportive expert evidence can be among those necessary factors.
• To serve or not to serve: privilege and expert reports re-examined

  Date: 20 Sep 2012

  The Supreme Court has recently considered the status of legal privilege and its potential waiver in circumstances where there has been service of an expert's report that referred to the unserved report of another expert.