The law and the courts

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  At-fault accident yields DIY claimant just $8k for ‘exacerbation’

  In McMillan v Trad, the Supreme Court of Queensland considered how a plaintiff can prove a later car crash caused compensable harm distinct from longstanding chronic pain.

  17 June 2026Supreme Court of Queensland
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  Court awards $160k to resilient worker for loss of the chance to excel

  A court has awarded $160k for the additional income a determined young man might have achieved but for ongoing back pain caused by an at-fault driver.

  27 March 2026
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  Rises in living standards & costs spark big general damages uplift

  A judge has ruled that increases in living standards and rising living costs warrant a big general damages uplift when assessed at common law. The events giving rise to the ruling began half a century ago.

  25 March 2026
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  Medical victim wins $5 mil cost of care for his remaining years

  Michael Stewart presented to the Redcliffe Hospital Emergency Department in March 2016 complaining of abdominal pain.

  22 October 2025
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  Jury delivers Roundup a $3 billion product liability verdict

  Jurors in the United States handed down a USD$2 billion product liability verdict in March after finding the company that produces Roundup weed killer responsible for a cancer developed by John Barnes of Georgia.

  2 June 2025
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  Trampoline manufacturer escapes defective product payout

  The protagonist in this account jumped on to a trampoline - which he later contended to be a defective product - at his sister’s residence in Brisbane on on Christmas Day 2017.

  20 January 2025
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  Pedestrian hit on sidewalk damned again by injury exaggeration

  A pedestrian hit by car on a Broadbeach sidewalk after a violent two car collision and then had a wall that the car also hit fall on top of her, has been ordered to pay a substantial part of the legal costs of the at-fault…

  15 March 2023
• Damages

  Safety measures messages mixed: thumb injury costs firm $727k

  The idiosyncrasies of the concrete industry have been laid bare in the case of a truck driver who sustained an on-the-job thumb injury when manipulating defective equipment in the course of delivering wet product to a…

  13 March 2023
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  Laparoscopic error: trivial damages for gruesome surgical outcome

  The horrifying consequences of a laparoscopic error causing a puncture to a female patient's colon have been recounted in detail to a court only to yield trivial general damages.

  10 March 2023
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  Appeal court cans “she’ll be right” verdict; future economic loss upped x 3

  A ruling that a seriously injured not-at-fault driver was capable of a return to work following a road accident trial has been rejected on appeal as having been unsupported even on the evidence of the most optimistic medical…

  27 October 2022
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  Ruby Princess zombie cruise: consumer access to class actions under serious attack

  North American guests aboard the Covid infected Ruby Princess zombie cruise have suffered a setback in their efforts to recover compensation from the cruise line for their devastating experience.

  6 September 2022Federal Court
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  Insurer fails in bid to move $800k partygoer burn injury claim out of C.Q.

  The Court of Appeal has refused to interfere with the exercise of discretion by the Central Judge in Rockhampton as to the suitability of his court to determine a claim concerning an injury sustained near Toowoomba.

  23 November 2021

Case notes explain decisions in other people’s cases. They are general information, not legal advice, and every claim turns on its own facts.