Arnold Thomas & Becker

A Victorian man has been paid $2.71m in the highest ever non-court settlement for a child sex abuse survivor from the state government. The man was sexually abused as a ten-year-old by a prisoner at Beechworth Prison in the early 1970s. The landmark amount comes amid a rising number of multimillion-dollar settlements paid by governments, schools and churches in the aftermath of court rulings clearing the way for previous nominal payments to be superseded. More than 300 schools and other organisations in Victoria are facing similar claim amounts from thousands of historic abuse victims. Kim Price, leader of Arnold Thomas & Becker’s abuse practice, said there had been “an increase in compensation amounts awarded to abuse survivors as a result of precedents set by former claims”. Arnold Thomas & Becker is representing over 430 former Victorian school students from 250 schools who have suffered historic abuse. https://lnkd.in/ggFmyyGv.

The current surge in violence against women in Australia is alarming. Our client, Peta, knows the fear of domestic violence all too well. Peta was assaulted by her former partner Jason Richards in October 2021. Richards barged into her home in Kerang, in northern Victoria, armed with rope, pliers and masking tape, according to a writ filed in the County Court of Victoria in March. Peta is suing the supplier of a personal safety device and a security firm which failed to alert police despite her repeated requests to “please help me”. The case raises serious concerns about the monitoring of the body-worn technology, which was the recipient of a Commonwealth government grant as part of its national plan to reduce violence against women and their children. Her lawyer, Aki Alabella, nee Munir, a senior associate at Arnold Thomas & Becker Lawyers, accused the companies of failing in their duty of care. “The device gave our client a false sense of security, and the failures associated with it resulted in dire consequences,” Munir said. “We allege that as a result of the incident, our client has sustained significant psychological injuries.” https://lnkd.in/g2ig9gAA

The son of AFL great Sam Newman, NBA star Jock Landale and their former exclusive private school have avoided facing off at trial over an alleged violent assault when the pair were schoolmates. Max Jones launched legal action against Landale and Geelong Grammar over allegations the basketballer assaulted him, leaving him with a permanent back injury that thwarted his dreams of becoming a football player like his father. Mr Jones’ legal team said in a statement that the parties had come to a resolution. “The case between Maxim Jones and Geelong Grammar and Jock Landale was resolved in a Judicial Mediation earlier this week,” it said. “Mr Jones and David Thomas, Senior Associate with Arnold Thomas and Becker who represented Mr Jones, have no further comments in relation to this case." https://lnkd.in/gd54w9ih

Arnold Thomas and Becker has put a call out to former students of St Patrick's College in Launceston to provide information on recently publicised child sexual abuse allegations at the school if they can do so. Tasmania Police last week stated a 34-year-old male staff member at the school had been charged with two counts of penetrative sexual abuse of a child in 2019. Arnold Thomas and Becker deputy managing principal Kim Price said from experience, victim-survivors did not reveal instances of child sexual abuse until decades after it had occurred. "Our investigations often reveal there are multiple victims of a single predator," he said. https://lnkd.in/gkhHsAHY

The survivor of a rape at the hands of a “monster” has revealed she kept the crime inside a medical practice secret from her own family and friends. Sarah – not her real name – has spoken for the first time after being raped by a former Geelong doctor, Shafiul Milky, at the Peninsula Family Medical Practice in 2018. He was sentenced to 14 years and six months in prison after a jury found him guilty of 15 charges against six patients, including rape, indecent assault and sexual assault between 2012 and 2019. It comes as more women are stepping forward to Arnold Thomas & Becker with complaints against the general practitioner. https://lnkd.in/grHa_9yi

Well done to our Geelong team for achieving in excess of $1m in a milestone settlement for historic abuse after a witness was able to confirm that complaints had been made at St Joseph's College in Geelong. Jodie Harris, who represented the abuse survivor, said the settlement marked the first time that a witness was found to confirm that complaints had been made to the school. The school had consistently denied there had been any complaints of abuse relating to the offender. "It was critical to our investigations to find the witness,” said Ms Harris. "By locating and speaking with this witness, we were able to seek further damages for our client". Jodie would like to acknowledge the significant effort by our Geelong team in achieving this outcome. “Bethany Whitehead made a huge difference in the work she did in tracking down a witness who had made a direct complaint to the school in the year before our client was abused.

More women have come forward demanding compensation from a Bellarine Peninsula medical clinic that employed a doctor jailed for the rape and sexual assault of multiple patients.   Arnold Thomas and Becker lawyer and partner, Jodie Harris, said the firm had issued proceedings against Peninsula Family Medical Practice in the Supreme Court on behalf of three women in relation to alleged abuse by Dr Shafiul Milky.   Milky is serving an 11 year prison term after a County Court jury found him guilty last year of 15 charges against six women, including two counts of rape.   Ms Harris, who leads the firm’s Geelong branch, said the Ocean Grove centre had been served for three women Dr Milky was convicted of abusing, with the combined suit tipped to run into the millions of dollars if proven.   It’s understood they are investigating another nine cases and anticipate issuing further proceedings against the clinic “in the near future”.   “We are also concerned that there may be more women coming forward with further complaints,” she said. https://lnkd.in/g-CaxQbU.

On Tuesday, Masa Tawalbeh, Legal Trainee from our Ringwood office, was admitted to practice, with Principal Don Maffia moving her admission in Court. This is one of the most important events in the career of a lawyer, and we are so proud of Masa's efforts and the commitment it took to reach this milestone. A big congratulations to Masa and we wish her every success in her legal career.

Congratulations to ATB’s Senior Associate, Nick Korkliniewski who comes one step closer to driving change in an area of law that can have far-reaching impacts for workers ⚖. Last week, Nick's legal team (supported by @Leah Baker) was granted special leave to appeal to the High Court to raise new points of law which should serve to clarify an area that has been dealt with inconsistently by the Courts. Of 43 applications for special leave, only 6 have been granted – so we are thrilled to see this application accepted. The case in question relates to a workers compensation claim for our client who suffered a psychological injury following an incident that happened when he was traveling for work. This investigation led to the termination of our client. Nick and his team sought damages for our client, on the basis that the employer did not follow proper disciplinary procedure and was negligent during the process, which caused our client a psychological injury. Nick also argues that there was a breach of contract as the proper disciplinary procedure was not followed. The case ran in the Supreme Court over 17 days where we secured a win for our client who was awarded compensation of $1.7M for breach of contract. An appeal was then launched by the employer who questioned the original judgment and argued that that they had not breached the contract. They also argued that compensation should not be payable for injuries suffered following the termination of our client’s employment. The case subsequently ran in the Court of Appeal in late 2023, where we lost as the judges cited no negligence and no breach of contract. Nick then applied for special leave from the High Court, arguing that the precedent that had been applied was based on the case of Addis which says that you cannot get damages for psychological injury from breach of Contract – this case is from the House of Lords and over 100 years old. Nick put forward the contention that the employer should have taken reasonable care and properly followed their disciplinary procedure and that the precedent set by Addis should no longer apply. Well done to Nick and this team for the tenacity and dedication in fighting to get a fair outcome for our client. It’s a huge win to take this matter to the High Court. We will be cheering Nick and his team on as they prepare for this monumental case which could change the course of the law for so many workers.

We’d like to wish everyone a happy International Women’s Day. This year's campaign theme, ‘Inspire Inclusion’ calls for action to break down barriers, challenge stereotypes, and promote gender diversity.   At ATB, we're dedicated to supporting women through practical measures like flexible work arrangements, leadership development programs, family-friendly policies, and equal opportunities.   We also recognize the crucial role men play in promoting women's inclusivity.   We asked a few of our people, men and women, what International Women’s Day and this year’s theme means to them.   We invite everyone to join us in commemorating this important day and celebrating the achievements of women everywhere.