Public Liability - Our Experience    

Slater & Gordon’s public liability team has decades of combined experience helping people who become injured through no fault of their own. That experience provides you with direct access to individual and specialised advice in all aspects of your public liability claim and the best chance of a positive outcome.

We listen and understand the importance of all your concerns and are committed to open and direct communication. At all times, we will provide clear and accurate information about the risks and costs of litigation and provide you with a benefit / risk / cost analysis to help you to understand the relevant issues of your claim and enable you to make informed decisions about your matter.

Our lawyers and support staff undertake intensive and ongoing training to ensure that they are up-to-date with all legislative changes, challenges and case law. Slater & Gordon’s own Best Practice Standards and Guidelines for our lawyers and support staff mean that you can expect high quality and efficient legal services and attention, every time.

Members of our team include:

Barrie Woollacott is manager of the public liability practice group at Slater & Gordon's Melbourne office and has been the firm’s national Practice Group leader since 1999. He is recognised by the Law Institute of Victoria as an accredited specialist in personal injury law and is also a member of the Australian Lawyers Alliance.

In practice, Barrie has been involved in a wide range of cases with a specific emphasis in catastrophic injury claims in the Supreme Court and County Court jurisdictions. In the face of the recent assault on plaintiff rights by governments around Australia, he remains committed to ensuring that injured Australians continue to receive proper and appropriate compensation for their injuries.

Barrie commenced practice as a lawyer in 1987 and has worked almost exclusively in the area of personal injury law since that time. He joined Slater & Gordon as an associate in early 1996.

Ike Nwokolo, a senior lawyer at Slater & Gordon and has extensive public liability litigation experience and has achieved numerous successful outcomes in a wide range of cases in the County Court and Supreme Court of Victoria including landmark bullying cases, occupier’s liability cases and assault cases on licensed premises and involving the police. Since 1996 Ike has practiced exclusively in the area of personal injury law, particularly in public liability. Ike led the public liability practice at the firm's Dandenong office for three years before returning to the Melbourne practice in September 2004.

Prior to joining the public liability group, Ike worked with the Major Projects litigation team, exclusively on the Ok Tedi Environmental Damage Case involving Papua New Guinea Landowners. Ike joined Slater & Gordon as an articled clerk in March 1994.

Ike is a member of the Law Institute of Victoria and Australian Lawyers Alliance. He completed a Bachelor of Laws Degree at Melbourne University in 1994 and was admitted to practice as a Barrister and Solicitor in the Supreme Court of Victoria in May 1995.

Adam Hill has worked in the Public Liability Department for 7 years. He spent 4 years in the Footscray office and has spent the last 3 years in the Melbourne office. Adam has been involved in a wide range of legal cases including numerous public interest cases, common law personal injury claims, product liability claims, intentional tort claims and Victims of Crime Tribunal applications and as a result has gained significant experience in the area of public liability law.