EXPERIENCE & EXPERTISE

John’s career spans both private practice and in-house litigation practice, with a track record of securing favourable outcomes for a wide range of clients, from government departments and major corporations to insurers, professionals, and small businesses.

John has achieved successful outcomes in professional liability litigation for clients including engineers, building draftspersons, shopping centre managers, a software designer, and real estate agents.

As in-house Litigation Counsel for a major national transport corporation, he defended catastrophic injury and significant property damage litigation on behalf of the corporation and advised executive leadership on liability, risk strategy, and statutory compliance.

Known for his strategic thinking and ability to navigate complex legal issues, John has earned a reputation as a trusted advisor and formidable advocate both in court and in negotiations.

ACCOMPLISHMENTS

John’s experience includes:

• Successfully defending a Civil Works Engineer against a claim by a residential property developer for damages exceeding $2M. The claim alleged insufficient compression of earthworks for a 14 lot residential development and inadequate supervision of a civil works contract
• Successfully resisting applications to join building draftsperson to VCAT proceedings to claim defective building design
• Successfully defending an architect who designed an apartment complex against a claim on behalf of a young child who sustained catastrophic injuries from falling through an open double-hung third floor window. The claim alleged defect window design and negligent administration of the building contract
• Successfully defending construction companies and subcontractors against claims for alleged defective work. This includes alleged defective cladding of a multiple story apartment building causing millions of dollars of damage from water ingress. Also, the alleged defective design and construction of an air conditioning system causing hundreds of thousands of dollars damage to hospital surgical equipment
• Successfully defending a national construction company against claims for personal injuries sustained by subcontractors’ employees at constructions sites
• Successfully defending a real estate agency against a personal injury claim and Victorian Workcover Authority recovery claim exceeding $3M in damages. The claims arose out of an incident where an employee of a tenant at a commercial premises managed by the agent sustained catastrophic injuries
• Successfully defending an insurance broker against a claim alleging a failure to secure professional liability insurance on suitable terms. The claim was successfully defended on the basis of the legal principle of unilateral mistake
• Successfully defending mobile plant manufacturers against claims for alleged safety defects causing catastrophic injuries
• Successfully defending national transport companies against personal injury and property damage claims including personal injury claims by passengers of a train that derailed. Also claims by owners of goods for loss of their goods as a result of a train derailment
• Successfully defending Victoria Police and VicRoads against personal injury claims.