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Brendan is an Accredited Specialist in Personal Injury Law who appears regularly in the Magistrates’ Court, County Court and Supreme Court of Victoria. He has extensive experience in litigation of personal injury claims, having acted for both plaintiffs and defendants.

Brendan practises primarily in civil litigation specialising in personal injury, TAC, WorkCover, Public Liability, Medical Negligence and Dust Diseases. Brendan’s practice also covers Employment and Industrial law in which he has significant experience.

As an NMAS Nationally Accredited Mediator, Brendan can also assist parties seeking to mediate disputes.

Brendan has appeared led and unled in a number of serious injury applications, and has been led in successful trials in the County Court and Supreme Court.

Before signing the Bar Roll, Brendan worked as a solicitor for over a decade, specialising in the area of personal injuries.  He had also previously worked as a Federal Industrial Officer for the Transport Workers’ Union of Australia appearing regularly in the Fair Work Commission in conciliations and arbitrations in industrial disputes, unfair dismissals and full bench appeals.

Brendan read with Maria Pilipasidis and his senior mentor was Paul O’Dwyer SC

Oliver practises in personal injury, insurance, and occupational health and safety. He appears regularly in the County and Supreme Courts of Victoria. He acts for both plaintiffs and defendants.

Oliver’s areas of practice include:

• Public/product liability;
• WorkCover including statutory benefits, serious injury applications, and damages actions;
• VWA s138 / 369 statutory recoveries;
• TAC including serious injury applications and damages actions;
• Intentional torts including physical and sexual assault claims;
• Medical negligence;
• Coronial inquests;
• Prosecutions / investigations under the Occupational Health and Safety Act 2004, and the Regulations thereunder.

Oliver is also a Nationally Accredited Mediator, and he accepts briefs to mediate across his areas of practice.

Prior to joining the Bar, Oliver practised as a Solicitor in the General Insurance and Workplace teams at Moray & Agnew Lawyers, across a wide variety of litigated matters including public/product liability, worker’s damages actions, s138 recovery proceedings, OH&S, and statutory benefits for self insurers.

Oliver has a Master of Laws from Monash University. He read with Richard H Stanley and Peter Rozen SC. His senior mentor was the Honourable Justice Gorton.

Oliver is a member of the common law and compensation law associations.

Andrew Newman practises in personal injury and industrial/employment law.

Andrew has been regularly briefed to appear in the Supreme Court, County Court, Magistrates’ Court, Federal Circuit Court, Fair Work Commission and VCAT. Andrew has extensive experience in serious injury applications, common law damages trials, statutory benefit claims, unfair dismissals, employment-related contractual disputes and criminal fraud prosecutions under the TAA and ACA. Andrew also has an active conferencing, mediation and paperwork practice related to these areas.

Prior to coming to the Bar, Andrew worked as a solicitor at the Transport Accident Commission. Andrew also worked as a legal academic, including as a Research Fellow to the Centre of Employment and Labour Relations Law and a Teaching Fellow of Corporate Law at Melbourne Law School. He has also lectured and tutored at Deakin University’s School of Law. Andrew began his career in Canada in 2006, where he worked as an Associate in the Employment and Labour Law department of a large national law firm, Gowling Lafleur Henderson LLP.

Andrew is a recipient of the 2011 Julian Small Foundation Annual Research Grant for his academic work. He has also received several commendations for the teaching of law, including Deakin University’s Vice-Chancellor’s Commendation for Excellence in Teaching (for his lecturing of Workplace Law in 2011). Andrew has acted as a legal education consultant to the Australia and New Zealand Institute of Insurance and Finance in the design of their statutory personal injury law training programme. He has also advised a range of international and governmental organizations, including a northern Canadian Aboriginal Tribal Council and the United Nations Development Programme’s Human Rights Project in Sana’a, Yemen.

Andrew has completed a PhD (Law) at Melbourne Law School, University of Melbourne. He holds an LLB and BCL from McGill University, Montreal and a BA from the University of British Columbia, Vancouver. He speaks and reads advanced French, as well as intermediate Spanish, German and Dutch.

Andrew read with Áine Magee QC and his senior mentor was Frank Parry QC.

Professional Memberships:

Common Law Bar Association

Compensation Bar Association

Industrial Bar Association

Recent Journal Articles, Conference Papers and Submissions:

John Howe and Andrew Newman, ‘Collective Bargaining and the Ownership of Employee Creation’ (2013) 26 Australian Journal of Labour Law 273.

Andrew Newman, ‘The Legal In/Security of Temporary Migrant Agricultural Work: Case Studies from Canada and Australia’ (2013) 18(2) Deakin Law Review 362.

Andrew Newman, ‘Book Review: The Role of Collective Bargaining in the Global Economy: Negotiating for Social Justice, S Hayter (ed)’ (2013) 26 Australian Journal of Labour Law 112.

J. Howe and A. Newman, ‘Statutory Industrial Instruments and the Ownership of Employee Creation: An Empirical Study of Selected “Creative” Industries’, at the 2nd Mobility and Competition Clause Workshop, Ludwig-Maximilians-University, Munich, Germany, December 2012.

Andrew Newman, ‘The Legal Precariousness of Temporary Migrant Work: Common Regulatory Challenges to Security of Employment in Canada and Australia’, at the Australian Labour Law Association National Conference, Canberra, 16-17 November 2012.

John Howe, Andrew Newman and Tess Hardy, Submission to the Independent Inquiry into Insecure Work in Australia, 25 January 2012.

Experienced in commercial and common law matters with an emphasis on employment and administrative/regulatory law.

In-house, corporate procurement and private practice pre-Bar background.

Accepts direct briefs and instructions from in-house counsel.

Regularly acts and advises pre-court/non-court matters on strategy, commercial objectives and dispute resolution.

Appears in most forums including Alternative Dispute Resolution forums such as mediations.

Regularly drafts/settles all manner of pleadings, letters, correspondence, affidavits, witness statements, Notices and other documents.

Provides a flexible, modern and tailored range of legal services including general and specific advice as required, as well as advice on litigation and dispute resolution strategy.

Approved Worksafe Counsel.

Member of the Victorian Bar Pro Bono Scheme.  He also has a long-standing association with the arts.

In 2009 and again in 2012 he was a recipient of Arts + Law’s Print Commission Award in recognition of the pro bono support he provided to Arts + Law for those years.

Holds a CASA Part 61 Private Pilot Licence (Aeroplane) with retractable undercarriage, constant speed unit and tailwheel endorsements.  He also holds an aerotow endorsement and an Instrument Rating.

The information referred to above has been supplied by the barrister concerned. Neither Lennon’s List Barristers nor The Victorian Bar Inc have independently verified the accuracy or completeness of the information and neither accepts any responsibility in that regard.

Prior to joining the Bar, Stephen practised as a solicitor for almost eight years. During this time, he specialised in workers’ compensation litigation.

Stephen accepts briefs in all common law matters (including damages trials and ‘serious injury’ applications), for both plaintiffs and defendants, as well as statutory workers’ compensation disputes in the Victorian and Commonwealth jurisdictions.  Stephen also accepts briefs to appear, and to provide advice, with respect to transport accident (TAC) statutory benefits disputes; judicial review applications; and employment / industrial disputes.

Stephen completed his Bachelor of Laws and Bachelor of Arts degrees at the University of Melbourne in 2008.  In 2016, Stephen completed a Master of Laws at Monash University.

Ray is an experienced legal practitioner, having practised as a lawyer for over a decade, including as a barrister for more than seven years.  He has a broad and considerable practice, reflecting a desire to be a well-rounded advocate.  He works primarily in personal injury law and also appears regularly in a variety of other matters, particularly administrative law and employment law matters.

Ray has particular experience in claims for psychiatric injury, and acts for clients in statutory entitlement schemes and the common law area including historical abuse matters.  He has significant expertise in handling all types of claims under the Commonwealth workers’ compensation system (‘Comcare’ work).

Ray was awarded the Public Interest / Justice Innovation Pro Bono Award in 2016, as part of team of three barristers, for work on the Hazelwood Mine Fire Board of Inquiry.

Ray has been the Treasurer of the Compensation Law Bar Association since 2015.

Ray completed degrees in Arts and Law (with Honours) at Monash University and then undertook articles at Sparke Helmore Lawyers.  He practised at that firm for a number of years until he took up a position at one of Australia’s best-known companies, where he worked for several years before coming to the Bar.

Ray is pleased to accept e-briefs or conventional hard-copy briefs.

Some notable and recent cases in which Ray appeared include:

Goulburn Valley Suns FC, 2015 FFV Tribunal (TA15022)

Tye and Tase 0508 P/L [2016] FWCFB 8733

Arumugam and TNT Australia P/L [2017] AATA 2660

Halliday v Pomare & Pazzan [2017] MCV (21/6/17, a bailment case)

Gates v Robinson [2018] VCAT 40

KR v BR & Anor [2018] VSCA 159 (led by I Fehring)

Gropel v Comcare [2018] FCA 1146 (led by N Horner)

Li v West Sands P/L & Gao [2018] MCV (20/11/18, a civil penalties case under the Fair Work Act 2009)

Courtney v Ray & State of Victoria [2019] VSC 175

Barnes and Victorian Building Authority [2019] AATA 4796

Davis and Australian Postal Corporation [2021] AATA 30

Chung and Secretary, Attorney-General’s Department [2021] AATA 4804

For a full list of decisions in cases where Ray appeared, please contact him directly.