Medico-Legal Society of Queensland (MLSQ) Podcast

Pills v Precedents:  Measuring the Impact on Humanity Biography Petrina Macpherson is best described as a lawyer with a sense of humour. By day, Petrina is a Special Counsel at MinterEllison, specialising in complex construction disputes, and holds a Masters in Construction Law from the University of Melbourne. In addition to her Construction Disputes practice, Petrina also has a keen interest in...

A view from the Bench The Honourable Justice Rebecca Treston Biography - Justice Treston was admitted as a solicitor in 1991 and was called to the Queensland Bar in 1996. She was appointed Queen’s Counsel in 2013, and as a Justice of the Supreme Court of Queensland in 2024.   Her Honour had a diverse commercial practice at the Bar, predominantly in estate and trust litigation, but also in general...

Crossing the Expert: Mastering the Art of Cross-Examination of Experts  Gerard Mullins KC Biography - Gerard Mullins KC practices in Tort law. He specialises in catastrophic injury, medical negligence, aviation and human rights.   He has an LLM from the University of Queensland where he lectures periodically in the Masters Program. He has delivered papers nationally and internationally on diverse...

Everything About Expert Conclaves Jessica McClymont KC Biography - Jessica McClymont KC is a highly experienced practitioner in personal injuries, having practiced extensively in that area over the course of her legal career spanning more than thirty years. She practiced as a solicitor and was a Queensland Law Society Accredited Specialist, prior to commencing at the Bar in 2005 and being appointe...

Expert Immunity in Medical Indemnity: Legal Protections and Limitations Justine Beirne Biography -  Justine has over 25 years’ experience in medical indemnity across the spectrum of civil claims, class actions, disciplinary complaints and coronal investigations. She has successfully combined her litigation, risk management skills, Master of Laws, Postgraduate Certificate in Management, strategic a...

What does the “I” mean for an IME? Dr Jill Reddan Biography - Jill Reddan has been a medical practitioner for close to 45 years and a Fellow of the RANZCP for 36 years. Her subspecialty training was in forensics but she has always also practised as a general adult psychiatrist. She was a psychiatrist for the General Medical Assessment Tribunals, QCOMP and she was an Assisting Psychiatrist for the...

ABC for a Medicolegal Report A/Prof Christopher Cunneen OAM A/Prof Christopher Cunneen is a Consultant in Occupational and Environmental Medicine, with a distinguished career improving worker health in both corporate and government settings. Performing over 1000 independent medical assessments annually, he is a trusted expert regularly called upon by courts, tribunals, and legal professionals acro...

Expert Evidence: Sharing is Caring Paul Telford Paul holds a Master’s Degree in Law and practices in all areas of commercial, construction, estate and insurance law, including statutory claims and the defence of professional negligence/medical malpractice actions. He has extensive experience in all forms of Alternative Dispute Resolution, Disciplinary matters and Coronial Inquests. In 2011 he appe...

The role of experts Kate Betts Kate is a health law and policy specialist, experienced litigator and dispute resolution expert. Working almost exclusively for private and public sector health clients and their insurers for close to 20 years, Kate has developed a deep understanding of the way the Australian heath care system is funded, organised, managed and operated. Kate leads Corrs' health...

Medico-legal Reporting - Tips and Traps A/Prof Robert Labrom Dr Robert Labrom is an orthopaedic surgeon who has a practice specializing in Adult and Paediatric Spinal conditions. He works in private practice at The Welsey Hospital and at Queensland Children’s Hospital. His special interest is scoliosis surgery. Dr Labrom is an Adjunct Professor at QUT and is a Director of the Biomechanics and Spin...

Getting It Right: How to Brief Experts and Choose the Best Fit Kirsten Van Der Wal Kirsten Van Der Wal is a Senior Associate and the head of Maurice Blackburn’s medical negligence department in Queensland and the Northern Territory. Kirsten practises exclusively in the area of medical negligence. She is a committee member of the Far North Medical & Legal Society Inc and member of the Medico-Le...

Doctors, lawyers and the future of expert evidence Dr Owen Bradfield Dr Owen Bradfield is a dual-qualified medical practitioner and health lawyer, and currently the Chief Medical Officer of the Medical Indemnity Protection Society. He has 15 years’ experience in the medical indemnity insurance industry, where he has advised and represented doctors in a range of medico-legal disputes, including civ...

Judge Sandy Horneman-Wren explores the complex world of disciplinary proceedings for health practitioners in Queensland in his presentation, Doctors in the Dock. 

I'm not a bad person.... am I? Navigating equity in a rapidly changing social landscape A/Prof Rhea Liang A/Prof Rhea Liang is a general and breast surgeon on the Gold Coast, medical educator, Clinical Sub Dean at Bond University, and systems change leader. She researches, advocates and consults in diversity and equity issues. She serves on the British Journal of Surgery editorial board and t...

Hedley Thomas , award-winning investigative journalist and critically acclaimed podcaster and MLSQ director Dr Mellissa N. will explore the complexities of accountability and transparency at the dynamic intersection of Media, Medicine, and the Law, and how curiosity, courage and leadership can drive meaningful cultural and systemic change.

The Scenario continued... During the investigation, the surgical resident revealed that she had been exposed to racial and sexual harassment and bullied and belittled by the surgical consultant.  She had made the surgical registrar aware of this, but nothing had been done.  She had mentioned it to the DMS, who chalked it up to a “personality clash” and told her she needed to harden up.  The consul...

The Scope of Credentialing   This session is chaired by MLSQ committee member Dr Jenny Schafer.   The Scenario The setting is a large regional hospital in a relatively disadvantaged town.  There is difficulty attracting staff, and most positions are filled by locums, newly arrived IMG’s and rotating registrars. A patient presents on a Friday evening, another victim of drug related gang violence. ...

The Scenario The setting is a large regional hospital in a relatively disadvantaged town.  There is difficulty attracting staff, and most positions are filled by locums, newly arrived IMG’s and rotating registrars. A patient presents on a Friday evening, another victim of drug related gang violence.  He had been pinned to a wall by a car and sustained multiple injuries. He was resuscitated by the...

The Scenario continued... Unfortunately, while performing surgery, the patient deteriorated and died on the table.  This led to a Coroners notification, investigation and plenty of media attention.  All staff were interviewed by police, hospital and external investigators. The surgical consultant says he wasn’t properly informed of the patient.  The registrar indicated that he isn’t really supervi...

Balancing fatigue, workload and risk This session is chaired by MLSQ committee member Dr Catherine Yelland   The Scenario The setting is a large regional hospital in a relatively disadvantaged town.  There is difficulty attracting staff, and most positions are filled by locums, newly arrived IMG’s and rotating registrars. A patient presents on a Friday evening, another victim of drug related gang...

Psychosocial hazards in healthcare   This session is chaired by MLSQ committee member Dr Catherine Yelland   The Scenario The setting is a large regional hospital in a relatively disadvantaged town.  There is difficulty attracting staff, and most positions are filled by locums, newly arrived IMG’s and rotating registrars. A patient presents on a Friday evening, another victim of drug related gang...

Inappropriate workplace behaviour or resilience building? This session is chaired by MLSQ committee member Dr Catherine Yelland   The Scenario The setting is a large regional hospital in a relatively disadvantaged town.  There is difficulty attracting staff, and most positions are filled by locums, newly arrived IMG’s and rotating registrars. A patient presents on a Friday evening, another victim...