Read a roundup of activities around the AILA and NZILA chapters

Young Professionals

AILA congratulates ANU, winner of the grand final of the inaugural AILA Insurance Law Moot.

The grand final moot on 10 August 2022, at the offices of Sparke Helmore Lawyers in Sydney, was between competitors from ANU and UNSW, and judged by a panel of experienced insurance law practitioners:

Timothy Smartt (Barrister, Tenth Floor Chambers)
David Lee (Partner, Clyde & Co), and
Belinda Michalk (Partner, Sparke Helmore Lawyers).

The quality was exceptionally high and, at the end of submissions, while UNSW won the case, ANU won the moot.

The ANU competitors won tickets to the AILA annual luminaries dinner later this year where, as ‘rising stars’, they will get the opportunity to meet, network and seek career guidance from pre-eminent figures in the insurance industry.

The AILA Insurance Law Moot is the first of its kind in Australia – the only insurance-focused moot available to Australian law students. The moot’s purpose is to connect law students with the insurance industry at an early stage and develop the practical skills of future industry professionals. The moot questions were developed by insurance lawyers based on legal issues that commonly arise in insurance matters.

AILA thanks all competitors, judges and organisers for making the inaugural moot a great success.

New South Wales

by Alexandra Bartlett, President

What a fantastic National Conference!

It was fantastic catching up with friends and colleagues and making new connections. My thanks to the organising committee, the speakers, sponsors, exhibitors and attendees, all of whom were critical to the success of the event. All the seminars and events received great feedback. Many presentations are covered in this issue of Resolve.

Our impressive speakers covered a wide range of important topics in insurance law in an engaging way. The Diversity@AILA event really resonated with many attendees. My thanks to Lyle Steffenson of Marsh, Anita Wear of HWLE, and Winnie Jobanputra of Kennedys for presenting and to HWLE for sponsoring the event.

Congratulations to the Australian National University for winning the YP moot and thank you to Dan Robinson, of Gilchrist Connell, and other AILA YP committee members for organising the event. The moot would not have been possible without the sponsorship of Sparke Helmore.

The emerging area of environmental, social and governance risk (ESG) was mentioned in the presentations and in discussions during breaks at the National Conference. This important topic was the subject of a NSW webinar, ESG and insurance – local and global perspectives, hosted on 8 September.

A 7 September Life@AILA webinar was titled AFCA approaches: sticking one’s neck out.

The seminal AILA NSW Twilight Series continues:

On 14 September, Emma Curtis, Lead Ombudsman – Insurance with AFCA, presented AFCA’s role under Australia’s new claims handling regime. It was chaired by Mohinder Kumar, Chief Risk Officer, The New India Assurance Co Ltd.

On 28 September, Justice Anthony Meagher was scheduled to speak on Covid-19 and the courts: insurance test cases, chaired by John Dillon, HWLE.

On 12 October 2022, Jonathan Newby, Partner, Colin Biggers & Paisley; Julie Morgan, Head of Technical and Complex Claims, Zurich; and Lauren McRae, Claims Manager – International Financial Lines Australia, AXA XL, will discuss Missing the bus: deficient notification of potential policy claims, chaired by Robin Bowley, Lecturer UTS Faculty of Law.

AILA NSW has several other events in the pipeline leading up to the end of the year. In particular, stay tuned for announcements on further AILA YP events in NSW.

Victoria

by Darren Ferrari, President

On behalf of the Victorian Committee, I congratulate our NSW colleagues for staging a successful, informative and fun national conference.

The work and persistence of the organising committee and, in particular, Alexandra Bartlett and Nicholas Zambetti, in facing the delays caused by the Covid-19 pandemic to put it all together was remarkable.

Sydney’s success has shown the task that Melbourne has in front of it in staging a show for the 2023 World Insurance Congress. But it is a challenge we are up for and, with planning well advanced, one we are confident of meeting. We look forward to hosting you and our international colleagues from 30 August to 1 September 2023. Save the date now.

In the meantime, we have continued our tentative steps into hosting more face-to-face events in 2023, with August’s Statutory Compensation and Common Law Update, hosted by TG Legal + Technology Lawyers.

We look forward to bringing more chances for networking soon with a joint function with the Australasian Institute of Chartered Loss Adjusters and a separate networking event for young professionals both in planning at the moment.

This is in addition to several great webinars and other offerings planned. Keep an eye out for those coming up.

I look forward to seeing many of you at these upcoming events throughout the rest of 2022.

Tasmania

by Lisa Rankin, President

The Tasmanian branch held its annual Workers’ Compensation Masterclass on 26 August 2022.

It was the first time since 2019 the masterclass has been held as a face-to-face event.

More than 100 people attended from all aspects of the insurance industry.

The event would not have been possible without gold sponsor Ereports, silver sponsors Medicins Legale, Procare and Red Health, and drinks sponsor Barry.Nilsson.

A massive thank you and congratulations to the sub-committee of Kate Stockford, Luke Taylor and Michael Valentine (pictured right) for all their hard work in making the masterclass such a success.

The Tasmanian committee will hold a face-to-face seminar in October, The when where and how of factual investigations, presented by Steve Knight and Robert Winter. We hope to end the year with a social event.

Vale Bob Brewer

The Tasmanian committee acknowledges the sudden death of Bob Brewer.

Mr Brewer was a partner at Dobson Mitchell Allport, joining DMA in 2008 when the firm where he started his legal career in 1977, Hand Ogilvie and Breheny, joined DMA.

Bob was a highly respected member of not just the insurance community but the legal profession and beyond. He was a brilliant lawyer and a true gentleman and will be greatly missed by all who knew him.

Queensland

by Jack Fairweather, Secretary

The Queensland committee has had a busy few months of seminars and events and continues to plan and push for a solid end to 2022.

Queensland’s flagship event, the annual one-day intensive, Unmasking the future, was on 2 June at the Calile Hotel, Brisbane, and was well attended. Attendees enjoyed a day of captivating topics and networking with industry colleagues. There’s coverage of several key presentations in this issue of Resolve.

The Queensland Branch thanks all the presenters who generously donated their time and the sponsors: Clyde & Co, Jensen McConaghy Lawyers, Sparke Helmore Laywers, Vincents, Leximed, Adept IME, Hemmant’s List, Independent Medical Opinion, Law In Order, Nationwide Experts and Surveillance Central. The Queensland Branch also thanks the committee members who devoted their time to the event to make it a great success.

A webinar on expert evidence, Objection, Your Honour: Optimising (and neutralising) expert evidence for trial, was on 27 July presented by Hemmant’s List barristers Jane Fitzgerald and Emma Fitzgerald to a national audience.

They provided an excellent and concise insight into the requirements for expert evidence under the uniform civil procedure legislation and how it can be used as a tool to assist with optimising expert evidence and picking apart expert evidence from an opponent.

The Queensland Branch gives a shout out to Declan See from Wotton Kearney’s Brisbane office for his outstanding representation of Queenslanders at the Ron Shorter Award 2022 national final on 2 August. Declan was runner-up and won the audience vote for best presentation on the evening.

Congratulations also to the winner Charlotte Hall and finalist Nicolas Sandrone for their excellent presentations. All three are the next generation of insurance professionals and look to be world beaters.

Queensland’s most recent webinar was presented by Richard Douglas QC and Kevin Holyoak, both of Callinan Chambers, on 18 August where the impact of the Queensland floods litigation was discussed, including the statutory defence excusing public authorities from liability in negligence under the Queensland Civil Liability Act and analogous provisions in NSW, Victoria and Western Australia. Attendees worked through some hypothetical scenarios with the presenters to put theory into practice.

Upcoming events not to be missed are:

Emerging vicarious liability issues: Part 1 – The course of employment in the wake of Schokman: presented by Jessica McClymont (Level 18 Inns of Court) and Kevin Holyoak (Callinan Chambers) and chaired by Liana Isaac (Wotton + Kearney).
Recent developments in dependency claims and assessment of damages: presented by Michael Lee (Director, Forensic Insurance Division, Vincents) and chaired by Sarah Tuhtan (Corporate Counsel, Legal & Claims, Bluebook Insurance Brokers).