Vince Green    

National Practice Group Leader, Brisbane

Military Compensation & Comcare

Vince’s easygoing yet hard working nature is one of the key elements behind his appointment as the National Practice Group Leader for one of the largest and most successful Comcare and military compensation practice in Australia. Vince’s drive and passion, which derives from his own military experience, is truly unmatched and Vince is one of the few who has been on both sides.

Vince’s basic strengths as a lawyer include making the complex simple by identifying essentials, persistence and not giving up. He is also known for calling a ‘spade a spade’, speaking his mind and cutting through red tape and bureaucracy surrounding a client’s matter and getting to the heart of the issue to get the job done.

Vince Green was attracted to this area of the law because, after having done one or two claims, he found there was in fact a large number of service and ex-service personnel who had been given a raw deal by the compensation system. Vince then thought, “At that stage of my practice, it was time to put back into the legal and military profession” so he dropped off other areas of legal work and concentrated solely on military compensation and has not looked back since.

Service personnel put their lives and limbs on the line every day; they deserve to receive independent and meaningful advice with respect to those injuries from somebody who does not work for (or is paid by) the Department of Veteran Affairs or Department of Defence. Any other injured person within the non-service community would expect and seek independent legal advice and so should service men and women and ex-military personnel, despite quite overt pressure at times exerted by the Departments of Defence and Veteran Affairs, when members are injured and are most vulnerable, not to seek legal advice.

One may well ask why DVA and Defence would discourage an injured ADF member from seeking independent legal advice concerning their rights. Is there something they don’t want them to know?

Military History

Vince is a former regular Army National Service Infantry Officer having graduated from Scheyville Officer Training Unit. He served as a Platoon Commander with 8RAR and later transferred to the Reserves then known as the CMF. He continued in Infantry as an Instructor in Infantry Tactics and then transferred in 1976 to the Legal Corps where he served for many years as a legal officer appearing as Defending Officer in Court Martials and assisting with Boards of Enquiry.

Relevant Expertise

• Military Compensation
• Comcare

Legal Career History

• Slater & Gordon since 2007
• 1997 established D’Arcys Solicitors for clients in military compensation.
• 1992 to 1997 consultant solicitor in areas including medical negligence and various commercial areas of law.
• Barrister in Queensland from 1976 to 1992 appearing in all State Courts and the High Court.

Relevant Memberships & Associations

• Commonwealth Compensation Liaison Committee
• United Service Club
• Victoria Barracks Officers’ & Sergeants’ Mess
• Australian Lawyers Alliance
• Chairperson of Australian Lawyers Alliance Special Interest Group in ComCare
• Queensland Law Society

Professional Qualifications & Admissions

• Graduated from University of Queensland in 1976
• Admitted to Supreme Court of Queensland 1976
• Bachelor of Laws (Honours), University of Queensland
• Graduate of the National Service Officer Training Unit Scheyville

Post-nominal

RFD

Publications/Articles/Books

• Published numerous articles, given papers/presentations, served on committees dealing with various legal matters, and have been involved in training of articled clerks and young lawyers.

Client Testimonials

Thank you for all you have done for me. Words just cannot explain how good it feels to be able to finally move on from this (and such dealings with MCRS). You and your support team should feel great pride in your work. Having to deal with MCRS is like being kicked repeatedly when you are down. I understand that they have a job to protect the interests of the defence/government, but D’Arcy’s has been like a breath of fresh air…like little angels dealing with the tough stuff when you are ill equipped to face it. NC

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I would like to take this opportunity to thank the D’Arcys team for their support and patience with both of my claims. Not only am I happy with the result you got for me, but it’s also nice to know there are people out there on our side. TB

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I write this reference to express my appreciation for how D’Arcys Solicitors has handled my compensation case.

I served in the Australian Army between the 1st of November 1971 and 2nd of February 1993. At the time I was injured I was a Warrant Officer Class 1. I had never thought about compensation before but once I was injured then the battle began.

I fought the Department of Veterans’ Affairs in relation to my claim with initial assistance from an advocate and another firm of solicitors all the way through to the Administrative Appeals Tribunal where I lost my case. I consequently had no liability admitted and no benefits of any kind as a result of my injury at work. I was told by my advocate and my then solicitors that there was just nothing else that could be done and to forget about my case.

I did just that until I was put in contact with D’Arcys Solicitors many years later. D’Arcys took on my case and battled the Military Compensation and Rehabilitation Service for 4½ years finally achieving in not only an admission of liability for my injury which resulted in me receiving lifetime medical treatment but also they obtained:

*A number of tax free lump sums for my various permanent impairments.

*Incapacity payments which are now running at ¾ of my WOI salary indexed up.

*Arrears of incapacity payments based on my WDI salary back to the early 1990’s at the time when I was injured.

This achievement was not without a fight and I express my sincere gratitude for the involvement of D’Arcys Solicitors in obtaining my benefits which would not otherwise have been obtained. I had a real battle with the compensation authorities but D’Arcys persisted and eventually we succeeded. (Initials withheld as per client's request.)

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I am writing to you to express my thanks to you, your company, and in particular Mr. Peter Granger for the magnificent job that was done for me.

I, probably like many service people, had what I believed, totally legitimate claims for injuries totally rejected by the respective military compensation organisations. The main aspect was not any financial settlement but was the likelihood that I would require ongoing medical treatment for injuries that were caused by my military service. To say that I was totally disillusioned by the rejection of my claims would be an understatement.

I was lucky enough to have attended a lecture that you delivered at Enoggera Barracks back in 1999. I was a bit sceptical during your presentation because at that time I was relatively fit and found it a little unbelievable that real claims would be rejected as it was my impression that only ones rejected were bordering on vexatious. I will be forever grateful that I listened and even more grateful that I made an appointment with D’Arcys to progress my claims.

From the initial interview to the final letter from D’Arcys I have been greatly impressed with the professional advice and assistance that I have received. My respective claims took a long time to finalise and I believe that the majority of this time was due to the initial claims being sent directly by me to MCRS/DVA. Due to the way that I have been treated by MCRS/DVA I have become a staunch advocate in advising my peer group to seek professional assistance and not make the same mistakes that I made.

Once again thank you very much for helping me and can you please pass these wishes on to Peter and your staff as they are a real credit to D’Arcys and the legal profession. CH

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I am pleased to say that D’Arcys patience and persistence with the MCRS ultimately led to a satisfactory resolution. I was very pleased with the professional approach and the extensive efforts conducted by D’Arcys that eventually got me the compensation to which I was entitled. AL

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I would like to thank you for the favourable outcome in my Department of Veterans Affairs and Military Compensation matters. I would gladly recommend your staff and firm to anyone, after trying to wade through the minefield that is Military Compensation. JP

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I did my own Veterans Affairs claim and had, what I thought was a favourable outcome. D’Arcys then took over this matter and I had a far more favourable result and obtained entitlements that I was not even aware I had a right to! I can only thank you for all your very rewarding work and would gladly recommend you to anyone. JP

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I would like to take this opportunity to thank you for a job well done, and for the professional way in which you handled my case. Your determination, sincerity, commitment and diplomacy in which you handled the research and communication of my case does you credit. I’m certainly glad you were on my side and not theirs! MH

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I’m more than happy with the outcome you achieved for me. A really professional effort which I would recommend to anyone. GS

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Please do not hesitate to show this to others, if it can help get a soldier what is rightfully theirs! RB

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I wish to thank you for representing my claim to the MCRS with regards to my right shoulder condition.

Words cannot express how wonderful it was to receive payment that I was entitled to, under Commonwealth legislation, which had previously been denied. RB