Achievements

• Defended a personal injury claim by a school pupil against a private school for severe injuries (quadriplegia) received in a game of rugby union. This involved perusing and assessing preliminary material and advising on liability with recommendations for further conduct and evidence; organising the taking of further statements from witnesses and relevant school personnel in relation to practice and procedures of training of pupils for rugby union; organising for proofs of evidence to be taken from all relevant witnesses in conference with counsel; drafting detailed and comprehensive requests for further and better particulars of the plaintiff’s claim such that the plaintiff’s legal representatives realised that the plaintiff’s claim was hopeless and the claim was withdrawn, saving the potential cost of the claim at around $8 million plus.
• Advising an international insurer in respect of a claim by a plaintiff who sustained severe spinal injuries working as a drilling contractor on a mine site in Outer Mongolia. DibbsBarker was appointed to advise on policy response and where appropriate, to protect the insurer’s interests. After careful analysis of the prevailing facts, having commissioned detailed investigations both within Australia and in Mongolia, DibbsBarker advised that the policy could not respond to this claim and recommended indemnity be declined the insured ultimately accepted the correctness of this response.  We understand the matter was subsequently settled for more than AUS$2 million without any contribution from the insurer.
• Defended a personal injury claim against owners of a maxi yacht by a crewmember for loss of fingers in rigging involving the obtaining of expert evidence; arranging for all liability statements and witness interviews; dealing with difficult insured parties (senior counsel) who were likely to give evidence which would lead to a finding of negligence; advising the client on compromising liability issues; commencing the hearing of the matter before achieving a compromised settlement on very advantageous terms for the client.
• Acted for the public liability insurer of Sports Centres Australia, in relation to a claim by a plaintiff who sustained two injuries during the construction of a Sports Centre in Bruce, ACT. Our investigations, including enquiries with the Bureau of Meteorology, suggested that the injury could not have occurred as the plaintiff claimed and we recommended that the case be defended. That view was confirmed by Counsel and ultimately the claim settled without any contribution from our client towards the settlement sum nor cost.
• Acting on behalf of an insurer in a case regarding personal injury arising out of a fall at a Mackay soccer field.  A player kicked the ball out of the field and when a spectator went to retrieve it the spectator fell and sustained a spinal fracture. The spectator sued the soccer club on the grounds that the seating arrangement was unsafe and alleged breach of duty of care on behalf of the occupier. The matter was defended and a verdict for the defendant ultimately obtained.
• We act for Australia’s largest leisure craft (boat) insurer in respect of personal injury claims arising out of all kinds of water skiing and boating accidents.

• Acted for a major fire safety corporation in respect of the destruction by fire of a $5 million excavator defending proceedings in Federal Court brought by a conglomerate of Australian and multi-national insurers and coalmine operators. The case had features of both professional indemnity and product liability and involved multiple parties and cross-claims, allegations of negligence, breach of contract and breaches of the Trade Practices Act, extensive discovered documents and detailed expert evidence. The total claim, including material damage, business interruption and interest components, approximated $10 million and the matter was settled at mediation on very advantageous terms for a fraction of that figure prior to trial.
• We acted for the manufacturer of a concrete sealing product which was supplied to the plaintiff company.  The concrete floor was laid and the sealant applied and in the process the floor became ruptured with holes overnight and had to be replaced. The plaintiff company sued the manufacturer for damages in manufacturing and distributing a defective product. The manufacturer was able to prove by discovery and documentary evidence that the concrete sealant had not been laid in accordance with the manufacturers' instructions, and if it had have been so laid it would not have become ruptured with holes.  In proving this the manufacturer was able to achieve an excellent result by way of mediation.

Professional Indemnity

• Acted for a major Compulsory PI insurer on behalf of a firm of solicitors for alleged failure to advise a lender not to proceed with a loan transaction in the light of the solicitor’s inability to ascertain the legal consequences of land being a manufactured home estate. The claim involved multiple parties and after an initial finding of 72% liability on the part of the lender’s solicitor, with 25% liability to the valuer and 8% liability to the mortgagee’s solicitor, an appeal to the NSW Court of Appeal was successful in reducing overall liability of our client’s insured from 72% to 25%.  An indemnity costs order was obtained as a result of a calderbank offer.
• We currently act in construction and project management professional indemnity matters on behalf of a major global insurer in respect of both Australian and overseas losses. On example is a claim for US$244 million in respect of asserted breach of professional standards pertaining to the design and construction of oil and gas pipe lines and related infrastructure, including offshore platforms, located in the Arabian Sea.  The case involves complex issues of international law, contractual liability and undersea design engineering.  Our engagement covers a broad range of issues including joint venture liability, contractual indemnity (including liquidated damages) and force majeur liabilities.

• Acted for a gynaecologist responding to allegations of having poor surgical skills and performing unnecesary operative procedures. The pracitioner was suspended from practice following a Performance Assessment and a review of that Assessment by the NSW Medical Board. We appealed against the suspension to the Medical Tribunal. Shortly before the Tribunal hearing, the Board reconsidered its decision to suspend, revoked the suspension and imposed conditions on practice for the protection of the public.  We negotiated more favourable conditions and then successfully obtained an order that the Board pay the practitioner's costs of the appeal to the Tribunal.
• Acted for an obstetrician, responding to a claim for failing to diagnose growth retardation in the womb, said to have led to the development of cerebral palsy, intellectual impairment and visual problems. The defence required extensive consideration of obstetric and ultrasound ante-natal practice, and complex issues of causation, life expectancy and damages for a severely disabled child as well as nervous shock claims for parents the the child's siblings. The claim settled at mediation for about one-third of full value and subsequently the Supreme Court approved the settlement in relation to the interests of the child, who was under a legal disability.