Public Liability Lawyers

The following claims are covered by public liability:

• Slips, Trips, Stumbles and Falls in retail outlets and supermarkets
• Playground accidents
• Sporting activity accidents
• Dog Bites
• Accidents on Public Property
• Boat accidents
• Residential Accidents
• Aviation accidents
• Schoolyard accidents
• Bike accidents

As long as your injury was caused by someone else’s negligence, yes. Examples include slipping on a substance on the floor of a shopping centre and injuries caused by defects in footpaths caused by recent roadworks. In fact any kind of injury caused not just by falls but by the negligence of others will attract compensation. Boating accidents, playground injuries, dog attacks and even negligent medical treatment all fall within this category. Each case requires a careful review by an expert lawyer to assess whether a claim can be made. VB lawyers will do this for you up front at no cost without any commitment required from you. If we think you can bring a claim we will make a proposal to you for you to consider.

If you are living in a rental property and the cause of your fall was a defect that the landlord is responsible for, yes. We have successfully brought many such claims in the past.

In the vast majority of cases there will be insurance to cover your claim. If in the rare instance there is no insurance to cover your claim we will consider the situation and advise you if it is worthwhile to continue the claim or not. If we advise you not to continue the claim any further there will be no cost to you whatsoever.

Not initially, and in all likelihood, not at all. The claim is subject to a mandatory “pre-court” process that is designed to try and resolve claims before court proceedings are necessary. This process is commenced by delivering a claim form to the negligent or responsible party, followed by the provision of medical evidence in support of the claim and, once your injuries are stable enough, an assessment of damages and offer to settle. We will handle this entire process. Once that is completed the parties and their legal representatives are required to attend a settlement conference to see if an agreement can be reached. Only if that conference is unsuccessful in resolving the matter can a court claim be commenced. The commencement of a claim in court does not mean that the matter will proceed to a hearing infront of a judge. There may be many more opportunities to negotiate a settlement before that occurs. We will guide you through the court process and ensure your matter is resolved at the earliest opportunity.

Yes, time limits apply. If we are retained to act for you we will ensure that all time limits are complied with by preparing and lodging any and all claim forms and making sure court proceedings are commenced and on time, but here is a brief summary of the relevant time limits: There is a 9-month time limit from the date of the accident to submit the “pre-court” Claim Form with the negligent or “at fault” party or 1 month from the date you engage a lawyer to act for you in the claim, whichever is the earlier. If you retain us, we will prepare and lodge the claim for you at no obligation. In the event that you make a full recovery from your injuries within a few months of the accident and the claim is not economically viable to proceed with legal representation, we will not charge you anything for the professional time we have spent meeting with you, preparing and lodging the claim.

We provide this service to our clients to immediately remove any concerns or stress about seeking legal advice early and with respect to legal costs. We strongly recommend that you get early legal advice regarding your rights and ensure that any and all claim forms are prepared accurately and lodged promptly and to provide a legal buffer between you and the insurer. The benefit of engaging an expert personal injury lawyer to look after you and your claim is that it immediately becomes the responsibility of your lawyer to take care of the time limits and to make sure the documents are lodged or filed on time. There is a three-year time limit from the date of injury to commence court proceedings if you have suffered personal injuries from an accident. If court proceedings are not commenced within three years of the date of the accident/injury, your right to commence or pursue a compensation claim or claim for damages will be lost forever. Commencing court proceedings is only ever necessary if we have been able to resolve or settle your claim at the initial settlement conference which is called the compulsory conference. Many cases but not all claims settle at the compulsory conference. We are even able to resolve some cases before the compulsory conference.

Assuming we can establish the other party owed you a duty of care and was negligent, and when all of your injuries have settled down and stabilised, we can seek and recover for you monetary compensation for the following:

(a) Pain and Suffering;

(b) Loss of Wages or Income;

(c) Future Loss of Wages or Income;

(d) Past and Future Loss of Superannuation Benefits;

(e) Out of Pocket Expenses;

(f) Past and Future Medical Treatment Costs;

(g) In some cases, Past and Future domestic Care and Assistance;

(h) In some cases, a healthy contribution towards your legal costs.

Yes. Only a minority of the claims we make involve claims for people who have been forever prevented from working by accident-related injuries. Most claims we make involve are for people who are still working, but with some problems. Valuable compensation is recoverable in that situation, on the basis that the capacity for work might not be the same as it once was. In any case, the best thing to do is to notify the claim as soon as possible. If it turns out you are completely symptom-free and the claim does not proceed, you will owe nothing to us or anyone else.

We strongly recommend that you seek legal advice and as soon as possible because the moment you have been injured in an accident, you have a potential claim. Your potential claim and the value of the claim will be determined by the law and legislation. Accordingly, you should get proper legal advice and we are happy to provide it to you and at no obligation. An expert in personal injury law will be able to promptly advise you of your rights, the claim process, what needs to be done and when and answer any and all questions you might have about your rights, how to run and win the case, advise on whether the case can be won and, if so, how long it might take to complete and the likely full value of the claim. In our experience people who are self represented achieve significantly inferior “in hand” outcomes even taking the payment of legal costs into account.

We are confident that you will be very pleasantly surprised and relieved about our fee structure and fee policy as compared with the larger firms. In fact, we guarantee it.

Based on our collective experience in running and resolving this type of claim it usually takes 6 to 18 months for your claim to resolve from the date of the accident. We will explain the likely legal fees upfront and from day one. We provide industry leading transparency regarding our fee structure and fee policy. No matter what happens or at what stage your case settles, the professional costs will not under any circumstances exceed 30% of the value of the claim.

__Example __

If your case settles for $100,000.00 clear of any and all statutory refunds and legal disbursements/expenses, we will not charge more than $30,000.00 for professional costs.

Even if we had incurred say $50,000.00 worth of professional costs to achieve the settlement and to win the case, your bill for our professional costs will not exceed $30,000.00. Using the same example, if we incurred only $15,000.00 worth of professional costs to achieve the settlement, you would of course be charged $15,000.00, not $30,000.00.

We are confident you will find our fees and charges to be extremely reasonable.

Yes. We act for our clients on a speculative or ‘No Win, No Fee’ basis once we have investigated and considered each case and after we have determined that the case is viable and should proceed.