$5.9 million for Bulldogs abuse survivor
The Age has covered Rightside Legal’s win in Court on behalf of an abuse survivor against
Read MoreSadly abuse survivors have, at times, been let down by their lawyers in the past. With poor legal advice, some survivors have settled their very valuable claims for pathetically small sums of money. In other instances, survivors gave up their legal rights because of massive legal hurdles which were in their way – time limits and a legal defence the churches used called the Ellis defence. But whether it was poor legal advice or unfair legal hurdles, many survivors have given up their legal rights for sums that were simply not appropriate.
In those cases there are two possible solutions:
- You might be able to seek to have your old deed set aside by a Judge and therefore sue for full value.
- You might have a claim for professional negligence against your former lawyer.
Getting rid of your old deed
Laws passed in Victoria in recent years allow abuse survivors to go back to a Court and try and have their old settlement deeds set aside if the Court decides it is in the interests of justice to do so. This legislation applies to deeds signed before 1 July 2018. Typically you have to show that legal hurdles – time limits and/or the Ellis defence – influenced your decision to accept an inadequate sum of money and give up your right to further compensation.
Rightside Legal was the first law firm in Australia to use these laws to set aside old unfair settlement deeds – in Victoria and Western Australia – and we have got dozens of our clients out of old unfair settlements deed.
In many cases our clients have been able to gain more than $1million in further compensation.
For example …. case study.
So if you have a settlement deed dated prior to 1 July 2018 – and you believe it’s for an unfair and too-small sum – get in touch. You may be able to set that deed aside. As a guide, almost any deed entered into prior to 1 July 2015 is likely to be set aside. Deeds entered into between 1 July 2015 and 1 July 2018 will be harder but still might be possible.
Suing your former lawyer
In some cases, you will not be able to set your old deed aside.
In those circumstances your option is to consider legal action against your former lawyer.
This is more difficult – and in some cases your former lawyer will not have been negligent: your case might have been very challenging and difficult to prove or their might have bene other good reasons for accepting a reduced settlement sum.
But in some other cases, your former lawyer may have been negligent.
Rightside Legal has succeeded in a handful of these claims against two Victorian law firms. Rightside Legal has also run the only case to verdict against an abuse lawyer who negligently settled an abuse survivors claim. The case involved Waller Legal, a prominent Victorian firm which has represented hundreds of survivors. In this case, Waller Legal did not claim lost earnings for their client (a critical and valuable part of most survivors’ claims) and settled his claim for only $130,000. Rightside Legal was able to set aside his deed in part – and won the man an extra $400,000.
Then our client sued Waller Legal to recover another portion of his losses. After a Supreme Court trial in 2025, the Court ordered Waller Legal to pay our client another $260,000. The judge found that Waller Legal’s failure to advise the client about claiming economic loss was negligent.
In Rightside Legal’s experience, this failure to claim economic loss (or lost earnings) on behalf of clients, was very common in the past among some Victorian law firms.
I signed an agreement years ago in exchange for a small sum of compensation. Can I bring a case today?
Yes, in lot of circumstances you can. Rightside Legal is the first law firm to get court decisions in Victorian and Western Australia knocking down old, unfair child abuse settlements. So talk to a lawyer about your options, and make sure they have real court experience in getting rid of old deeds.
How do I choose a lawyer?
Remember, your lawyer works for you, not the other way around! Satisfy yourself that your lawyers: – Have trial experience in abuse cases. That does not mean you have to go to trial. But it’s important that your lawyers know how take a case to Court if they need to. If your lawyer has never taken a case to trial, will the Institution/Defendant be sufficiently worried to pay properly? – Won’t charge too much. Talk to your lawyers about what limit they offer on fees and costs, so that you know that the compensation will mostly end up where it belongs – with you. – Are easy to reach and give you straight answers about your case. Bringing a compensation case about your experience of child abuse can be challenging. You need a lawyer who understands that and communicates clearly and thoughtfully. – Is willing to fight hard for what your claim is worth.
Abuse Specialist
Partner
Grace Wilson
Grace has previously worked at Maurice Blackburn, Gordon Legal and Slater & Gordon Lawyers.
- Grace has acted for adult survivors of childhood sexual abuse, including winning at trial. She recently worked for a large number of survivors all abused by the same teacher in different State primary schools, securing settlement sums of upward of one million dollars in individual claims.
- Grace has represented many clients suffering from asbestos related diseases, including successfully at trial in the Supreme Court of Victoria
- Grace acted for Australian and New Zealand survivors of the drug thalidomide – all of them born with malformations. The litigation ended in a $100 million dollar settlement.
- Grace has succeeded in claims for clients suffering severe psychiatric injuries as a result of exposure to bullying and stress in workplaces, including at trial in the Supreme Court of Victoria.
Why Rightside?
Our Track Record
Rightside Legal’s goal from its creation was to set the standard in representing survivors of historical sexual abuse. It was founded by lawyers committed to getting the best possible result every time. Our experience is that the same Institutions who allowed sexual abuse to take place do not willingly pay proper compensation to survivors. They need to be dragged to the door of the Court, and if necessary, into the Court. Most lawyers and most other law firms have never run a trial for a survivor. Rightside’s lawyers have been at the legal coalface setting new benchmarks. We will explain to you in clear language how we see your case, and what we are going to do to get you the compensation you deserve. Our experience is on your side. Everytime. No exceptions.
Current Projects
Right now Rightside is working for survivors of abuse in Catholic Churches, State Schools, Government institutions, Christian Brothers institutions, Marist Brothers Schools, Church homes, and many private and Catholic schools. We have obtained more than $15 million in compensation for men abused by a single paedophile teacher (Robert Morris) in Victorian government schools. We obtained more than $8 million for a single victim of another Victorian government school abuser. We won a jury verdict against the Western Bulldogs for almost $6 million.
No Win. No Fee.
Capped Pricing.
At Rightside we don’t have a string of expensive offices, we don’t have dozens of partners and we don’t have expensive marketing campaigns to fund. What we do is prepare your claim properly and fight hard for 100% of what your claim is worth.
We understand that injured or ill people looking for a lawyer are often anxious and uncertain about the whole legal process. We’ll do our best to eliminate the uncertainties. We work on a No Win No Fee basis – that means we fund the litigation, and you only pay when we succeed. Taking this a step further, we also cap our fees to give our clients greater certainty.
Rightside Legal Melbourne
Suite 3, Level 5, 533 Little Lonsdale Street,
Melbourne, VIC 3000
Rightside Legal Perth
1/58 Walcott St Mt Lawley,
WA 6050