Advertise on podcast: Law Talking

Join Anthony Thomas and Julie Wright for their annual round up of lessons learned the hard way.

Robert Sundercombe is a highly experienced adjudicator who has decided claims under the security of payment legislation across Australia since 2003. He will share his insights into what he finds persuasive in adjudication applications and responses and what to avoid. Opportunities to hear first-hand from adjudicators are rare – this is not to be missed.

2026 will mark the 50th anniversary of the High Court’s decision in Caltex Oil (Aust) Ltd Ltd v Dredge Willemstad (1976) 136 CLR 529.  Since that time the Court has been searching for a unifying criteria to determine when a duty of care will be owed to avoid pure economic loss.  In this session, Richard Cheney SC and Ian Roberts SC examine the path from Caltex Oil to the High Court’s decision in Mallonland Pty Ltd v Advanta Seeds Pty Ltd [2024] HCA 25 to understand how far we have come, and where we are heading.

With so many CPDs earnest, but singular, join us for a different style of CPD – a dynamic panel discussion between Declan Byrne, Ashley Cameron, and Faheem Anwar, hosted by Frank Hicks SC, adopting the classic ‘hypotheticals’ style. The panel will consider various issues having regard hypothetical facts, including initial instructions and the prospect of injunctions, on site disputes (Can you film the builder in the course of works?), termination, case preparation and experts (conclaves and the riddle of Schrodinger’s Cat – is you case alive or dead?), attendance at Court, hearing and judgment.

Tim and Jacinta provide a refresher, review some recent cases and consider the extension of nervous shock claims in the areas of historical abuse claims and childcare centres.

This talk will look at restorative justice in the coronial setting, with a focus on potential stakeholder engagement including parties with a sufficient interest.

Hernan Pintos-Lopez (Greenway Chambers) and Rodrigo Pintos-Lopez (List A Barristers) will discuss recent developments in class actions, with a particular focus on: How the class actions landscape is changing; Recent High Court authority in relation to class closure; and Whether the new statutory tort for serious invasions of privacy might lead to new class actions, particularly in relation to cybercrime and mass data breaches.

Louise and Thomas will discuss some recent developments in the insurance law space.  The session will focus on key cases from the last 12 months and what they may signal for the future.

In this substantive law CPD, Matthew Minucci, Matt Harker and Sophie Dewis will discuss the most current and exciting development(s) in industrial relations from the last twelve months. Come along to find out what they were.

The High Court has said: “The field of debate, causation, is one of the most difficult in the law, and one about which abstract discussion is seldom valuable for courts and those who practise in them.” Many legal practitioners focus so closely on whether a defendant’s conduct was wrong they overlook whether the misconduct was causative of loss. Greenway’s Dinesh Ratnam and Andrew Girgis will get you thinking “so what” by taking you through some of the common mistakes and look at the role of the hypothetical counterfactual in pleading and presenting cases for misleading or deceptive conduct and the extent to which it differs from causation in other contexts.

This seminar addresses aspects of the coronial jurisdiction.  It outlines various facets of the jurisdiction including the purpose of coronial proceedings, the distinction between manner of death and cause of death, the privilege against self-incrimination, apologies and family statements, and witness preparation.

Colin Magee and Justin Pen will summarise recent developments regarding the prosecution of “reckless conduct” offences under s 31 of the Work Health and Safety Act 2011 (NSW), including by reference to cognate legislation in cognate jurisdictions – namely, whether recklessness requires proof that a defendant foresaw the possibility, rather than a probability, of a risk to health and safety. They will also review the proposed changes to s 31, and the proposed insertion of a new s30A “industrial manslaughter” offence, expressed in the Model Work Health and Safety Legislation Amendment (Offences and Penalties) 2023 (Cth). We hope you can join us.

Recent decisions interpreting the statutory duty of care imposed by section 37 of the Design and Building Practitioner’s Act 2020 have made it clear that almost any person involved in the construction industry is subject to the new statutory duty of care and may be sued for defective work if they breach that duty. While this appears like a boon for plaintiffs in building and construction actions, there are strict rules that can make pleading and evidencing such a claim a difficult exercise, and care must be taken lest the cost of pleading and prosecuting this cause of action outweigh any potential benefits. Garth Campbell and Lucas Shipway will discuss the recent decisions in this area, the impacts on pleading for both plaintiffs and defendants, and also where the law in this area may be headed. We hope you can join us.

In our first segment, Frank Hicks SC and Richard Cheney SC discuss the High Court decision of Stubbings v Jams 2 concerning unconscionable conduct, the Full Federal Court decision in Minister for the Environment v Sharma about the common law duty of care on the Minister in the context of climate change, and Palmer v Premiair Aviation Maintenance a case in which Clive Palmer was ordered to pay costs on an indemnity basis.  In our second segment, Frank is joined by Ingmar Taylor SC and Lucy Saunders to discuss the recent High Court decisions concerning the question of independent contractor v employee – CFMMEU v Personnel Contracting and ZG Operations v Jamsek.    Medium neutral citations of the cases discussed are:    Stubbings v Jams 2 Pty Ltd [2022] HCA 6 Minister for the Environment v Sharma [2022] FCAFC 35 Palmer v Premiair Aviation Maintenance [2022] FCA 185 CFMMEU v Personnel Contracting [2022] HCA 1 ZG Operations Australia Pty Ltd v Jamsek [2022] HCA 2

In this episode of Law Talking, Ian Roberts and Frank Hicks look at recent High Court and NSW Court of Appeal decisions on varied topics such as Clive Palmer, academic freedom, casual workers, vaccination orders, and repudiation and causation in damages claims. Leah Reid joins Frank to discuss vaccination issues in the context of family law and the many questions that can arise involving children and parenting. Lastly, we revisit a seminar that was delivered earlier this year on how to plead a claim for breach of the statutory duty under s.37 of the Design Building Practitioners Act 2020, following the decision in Strata Plan 87060 v Loulach Developments.