With more than 30 years’ experience as an advocate at The Victorian Bar, John appears regularly as leading counsel for plaintiffs in common law personal injury damages trials before the County Court of Victoria inclusive of WorkCover, TAC and public liability matters. For more than 15 years, John has appeared at trial in numerous VWA recovery actions for and against plaintiffs seeking statutory indemnity against third parties in accordance with s.138 of the (old) Act, now replaced by s 369 of the (new) Act as well as appearing in worker’s serious injury applications.
John also has a special interest in advising and appearing in product liability and insurance matters (personal injuries and torts other than personal injuries). Recent product liability matters include acting for an injured plaintiff against the manufacturer of an allegedly defective truck and a primary producer, as the plaintiff, against the importer and retail distributor defendants of an allegedly deficient product in proceedings filed in the Major Torts List of the Supreme Court of Victoria.
John has also worked for leading Australian national law firms, US Attorneys and English law firms in tobacco, pharmaceutical and medical device product liability litigation. He also regularly undertakes briefs in common law matters to protect the interests of clients in commercial law, insurance, occupational health and safety, professional negligence, trade practices and Australian Consumer Law matters.
Recent common law personal injury damages cases:
Rawlins v Coca Cola Europacific Partners Australia Pty Ltd [2026] VCC 341 (30 March 2026)
Rawlins v Coca Cola Europacific Partners Australia Pty Ltd [2026] VCC 191 (18 February 2026)
Terceros v Allen Foundry Company Pty Ltd [2024] VCC 1831 (21 November 2024)
Pirrone v Bostik Australia Pty Ltd [2024] VCC 11 (29 January 2024)
Primmer v Don Watson Pty Ltd [2024] VCC 2045 (18 December 2024)
Chol v Pickwick Group Pty Ltd [2023] VCC 66 (6 February 2023)
Lenon v Australian Skydive Pty Ltd [2023] VCC 1255 (25 July 2023)
Recent commercial case:
Al Shawi v Ghaffari – Hesari [2026] FCA 68 (5 February 2026) – interlocutory application seeking removal of a party granted
Professional memberships:
· Victorian Bar
· Commercial Bar Association (Victorian Bar)
· Common Law Bar Association (Victorian Bar)
· Australian Insurance Law Association (AILA) – committee member of AILA (Victoria)
Legal articles and papers:
· Searching for a causal explanation in liability cases
· International Trends in Products Liability – “Forewarned is forearmed”
· Products Liability for the cosmetic manufacturer
· The State-of-the-Art Defence – What state of whose art?
· A Strict Approach to Liability for Defective Products under the EEC Product Liability Directive
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.
