Slater and Gordon
Blog
Keep up to date with the latest in the law.
Featured blog posts
Ok Tedi - Reflecting on the case today
In Ok Tedi - Entering Uncharted Territory we took a look back in Slater and Gordon's history at the David and Goliath battle between a group of Papua New Guinea Villagers and the Australian mining giant BHP. In this article John Gordon, now a respected Barrister, reflects on the case. The Ok Tedi litigation against BHP was important in many ways, and I think the lessons have become even more important as time passes. BHP had got away with dumping mine waste, cyanide and tailings into the river system for many years. By the time we got involved the upper Ok Tedi river was destroyed, the gardens and crops of the lower Ok Tedi villages were being covered in tailings and mud and the entire Fly...
by Slater and Gordon
Determining Legal Capacity - A Refresher for Medical Professionals
As a medical professional, you are charged with a profound responsibility. People come to you for your expertise, and authoritative advice, in a complex and expansive field. However, in some circumstances an adult may choose to refuse your advice, and any medical treatment or medication you recommend, which is acceptable providing that: This ability to make informed decisions and deal with their own affairs is known as an individual’s ‘legal capacity’ and in this article, we’ll give you an overview – or a refresher – of that concept. What we’re talking about here is not a principle of medicine or health, but a principle of law. And the base principle of law at the heart of...
Wittenoom - continuing the fight
Though reeling from its initial loss in the Wally Simpson case, Slater and Gordon took heart from a vital test case win in Melbourne. In a stunning verdict, Wittenoom victim Klaus Rabenalt was awarded $426,000 damages for negligence, plus $257,000 exemplary damages. It was the first verdict for a former Wittenoom employee, and the first time in a British or Australian court that a company had been punished to such an extent for reckless indifference to the health of its workers. The first victory for the new Perth office came in the case of Colin Watson, a wharf worker who loaded asbestos in the 1950s. In 1987, burdened with bottled oxygen and a fatal diagnosis, he approached Slater and...
by Slater and Gordon