A child witness to fatal car crash receives compensation for psychiatric injury

Miss Al Ali was 12 when, walking on a footpath with her cousin, a vehicle suddenly mounted onto the footpath and struck her cousin causing fatal injuries.  Miss Al Ali later developed Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (“PTSD”), a psychiatric injury, with dissociative symptoms, from bearing witness to the horrific incident. She was awarded compensation for psychiatric […]

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Crime doesn’t pay! – What happens if you are complicit in a joint illegal enterprise?

  The recent Supreme Court decision of Capitan v Wosomo & Anor [2017] QSC 86 highlights important principals relating to assessing liability in relation to dangerous recreational activities involving criminal undertakings. Facts The plaintiff and the defendant were both involved in a car crash that permanently debilitated the defendant whom was a front seat passenger […]

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Dealing with fraudulent tax returns when determining loss of earning capacity: AAI Limited & Anor v Marinkovic [2017] QCA 54

In the matter of AAI Limited & Anor v Marinkovic the appeal court decided that even where a claimant’s previous tax returns were fraudulent or dishonest, this does not prevent the court from determining the claimant’s loss of earning capacity using other evidence at hand, for the purposes of awarding appropriate compensation. Facts Mr Marinkovic […]

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MOTOR VEHICLE ACCIDENT LAWYERS – Apportionment of liability

Smith v Randall[1] considers how the Court apportions liability in light of two drivers who were found guilty of contributory negligence. The Court explained that apportionment of liability between the two parties involves a ‘comparison of both culpability, that is the degree of departure from the standard of care required of the driver, and of the […]

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