InBrief

The following is a letter to the editor of the Sydney Morning Herald from President Anna Katzmann SC, in response to yesterday's opinion piece by Bob Carr, "As you give Della a kick, remember his successes". Published 4 September 2009.

John Della Bosca was an accomplished minister and an astute politician. There is no doubt his departure is a major blow for the government. In these respects I agree with the remarks of Bob Carr in his opinion piece in today’s Herald.� However, I disagree with his view that reforms to workers compensation and tort law came only at the expense of "plaintiff lawyers" and not workers.

Benefits for workers whose injuries were caused by their employer’s negligence have been savaged. Workers who sue their employers do not now receive damages for non-economic loss, they forfeit forever any entitlement to damages for medical or like expenses and have to bear most of the cost of proceedings themselves.

Tort law reform deprived many deserving people of compensation for injuries caused by the fault of others. Few elderly people now have any remedy.� Many children miss out. Anyone injured through negligent action by government agencies is worse off. �

Only this week the Court of Appeal held that two policemen engaged in the rescue effort after the Waterfall train disaster, and who were commended by the commissioner for their courage, were not entitled to any damages for psychiatric injury they claimed to have suffered as a result of the negligence of State Rail. The heroic officers lost their cases because of the government’s tort law changes.

And what about those "plaintiff lawyers"? The vast majority wait until the outcome of a court case before they are paid and will not charge for their work unless their clients are successful.� Few others are willing to forfeit any reward for their labour or to wait sometimes for years to be paid. As government funding for legal aid has declined considerably, few people would be able to afford access to the justice system if it were not for "plaintiff lawyers".

It is high time the government reconsidered some of the Carr/Della Bosca reforms and restored some justice and fairness to the compensation system in NSW.

Yours sincerely

ANNA KATZMANN SC President

3 September 2009