Archive

Kim came to the bar with 20 years experience in insurance and personal injuries litigation, focussing in more recent years on asbestos litigation and Commonwealth workers compensation.  Since coming to the bar, Kim has practised extensively in State workers compensation claims, including statutory benefits claims, serious injury applications and damages trials.  She also has extensive experience in the areas of public liability, reinsurance, Medical Panel reviews, s138 recovery claims, claims for wrongful death and personal injury damages claims.  Kim also has an interest in professional negligence and administrative law, including statutory and disciplinary tribunals, as well as immigration and other administrative decision making appeals.  She welcomes briefs in all of these areas.

She has been involved in matters in all superior jurisdictions, at both trial and appellate level.  She has also successfully represented clients in various alternative dispute resolution forums.

Kim was previously a partner at Thomsons Lawyers (now Thomson Geer).  She was a director of the Australian Insurance Law Association from 2001 to 2019 and a committee member of the Victorian branch from 1998 to 2019.  She is a committee member of the Law Council of Australia’s National Insurance Lawyers Group and the Personal Injuries and Compensation Committee.  She also sits as a committee member on the Victorian Bar’s Compensation Law Bar Association, and is a director of the Essoign.  In 2019, Kim was appointed as a director of Volleyball Australia.

Since coming to the bar in 2005, Gavin has been briefed primarily in the areas of insurance and personal injury law. He appears regularly in the Supreme and County Courts both in Melbourne and on circuit.

Before coming to the bar, Gavin was a partner at Deacons (now Norton Rose Fulbright). He has also worked as an inhouse legal counsel at both the Victorian WorkCover Authority and Transport Accident Commission.

1976-1978

Solicitor

1979

Abroad

1980

Solicitor

1981

Associate to High Court of Australia Justice, Sir Gerard Brennan.

1982-April 1983

Barrister, Victorian Bar

April 1983-April 1988

Senior Private Secretary and Principal Adviser to the Hon. Michael Duffy. April 1988 to date Barrister, Victorian Bar.

Counsels areas of practice are Administrative Law/Public Law and FOI. Insurance Law, particularly Indemnity and Contribution. Common Law and Industrial Compensation and Medical Panels. General Commercial Law, including Taxation, Trade Practices, ASC Compliance and Corporations Law, Superannuation, Mortgages and Securities, General Contract, Vendor and Purchaser, Insolvency. Intellectual Property, Professional Negligence. Media Law and Defamation and Broadcast Regulation. Telecommunications Regulation. Employment Law (but not IRC Industrial, other than unfair dismissal), Planning and Environmental, including defence to EPA Prosecution. OH & S including defence to prosecution.

Stella practices in common law personal injury, administrative law and equal opportunity including discrimination and sexual harassment cases.

Stella regularly appears in common law trials, appeals, serious injury applications, judicial review, coronial inquests, class actions, and in discrimination claims in the state and federal jurisdictions. Stella has been involved in significant litigation involving the duties of statutory bodies, intentional torts, human rights and novel duties of care in negligence.

Gary practices mainly in the areas of commercial law, administrative law, criminal law, personal injury, general torts, defamation and family law.

Gary returned to Victoria in 2001 having practised in South Australia as a prosecutor and then at the South Australian independent bar from 1985 to 2000.

He has prosecuted and defended serious criminal matters over many years at all levels.

Gary has appeared in numerous appeals in the High Court, Full Federal Court as well as various State Courts of Appeal and Criminal Appeal.

Gary has appeared as counsel assisting in a number of Commissions of Inquiry in various States and the ACT and has also represented parties before such inquiries. He has appeared in high profile coronial inquests on behalf of families and potentially affected parties.

Gary has also been appointed to facilitate conclaves of experts in Supreme Court proceedings involving aviation.

He has served as an Army Officer, both Regular and Reserve, and rose to the rank of Colonel.  He was appointed a Judge Advocate and Defence Force Magistrate in 1998 and resigned that appointment to become the Inaugural Director of Military Prosecutions between 2003 and 2006.  He has served two tours in Afghanistan and also served in Iraq and East Timor.

Gary has held a private pilot’s licence and an open water diver’s licence.

Narod practices in administrative law, insurance law and personal injury litigation including Class Actions. She accepts briefs from Plaintiff’s and Defendant’s.

Narod is skilled at managing complex and sensitive claims, in particular psychological injury claims. She has expertise and a keen interest in advising and appearing in alternative dispute resolutions forums. She has a practical and proactive approach to successfully negotiating resolutions at settlement conferences, conciliations, mediations and Early Neutral Evaluations.

She has extensive experience in undertaking assessments of damages for Class Actions, including most recently, the Monash IVF Class Action and the Dr Lanzer Cosmetic Surgery Class Action.

Narod provides her clients with comprehensive and strategic advice from the pre to post litigation stages. She advises clients on employment law implications and rights and liabilities interwoven with worker’s compensation schemes and regularly conducts successful negotiations resolving both employment and compensation disputes.

Narod came to the bar after a successful career as a Senior Associate in the Insurance and Corporate Risk Group at Minter Ellison. She practiced extensively specialising in worker’s compensation litigation including statutory benefits claims, serious injury applications, common law damages claims, merit reviews and appeals.

She acted on behalf of a diverse range of clients in both the Commonwealth and Victorian jurisdictions, including for employers, self-insurers, and government agencies such as the Victorian WorkCover Authority.

Narod completed a Bachelor of Laws and a Bachelor of Arts (Criminal Justice and Criminology) at Monash University and a Graduate Diploma of Legal Practice at the College of Law. She was admitted to legal practice in 2014 and signed the Bar Roll on 4 May 2023.

She is a member of the Common Law Bar Association and Women’s Bar Association.

Narod read with Her Honour Judge Diana Manova and Sasha Manova. Her Senior Mentor is Roisin Annesley KC.