Slater & Gordon
Encyclopedia
Slater & Gordon, founded in Melbourne
Melbourne
Melbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater...

 in 1935 by Labor politician William Slater
Bill Slater (politician)
-Early life:Slater is believed to have been born in 1890. He was born to parents of Irish background. His father left his family when he was four years old. He and two siblings were brought up by his mother in Prahran. After briefly attending Armadale State School Slater left school early to sell...

 and Hugh Lyon Gordon, is an Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

n law firm
Law firm
A law firm is a business entity formed by one or more lawyers to engage in the practice of law. The primary service rendered by a law firm is to advise clients about their legal rights and responsibilities, and to represent clients in civil or criminal cases, business transactions, and other...

 employing over 800 people across Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

.

Slater & Gordon’s practice areas include: asbestos
Asbestos
Asbestos is a set of six naturally occurring silicate minerals used commercially for their desirable physical properties. They all have in common their eponymous, asbestiform habit: long, thin fibrous crystals...

 diseases litigation, workers compensation, motor vehicle accident compensation
Damages
In law, damages is an award, typically of money, to be paid to a person as compensation for loss or injury; grammatically, it is a singular noun, not plural.- Compensatory damages :...

, medical negligence, public liability
Public liability
Public liability is part of the law of tort which focuses on civil wrongs. An applicant usually sues the respondent under common law based on negligence and/or damages...

 litigation, Commonwealth
Commonwealth
Commonwealth is a traditional English term for a political community founded for the common good. Historically, it has sometimes been synonymous with "republic."More recently it has been used for fraternal associations of some sovereign nations...

 compensation (Comcare), industrial relations and employment law, wills probate and estate litigation, business advisory services and commercial litigation. The firm also conducts class action
Class action
In law, a class action, a class suit, or a representative action is a form of lawsuit in which a large group of people collectively bring a claim to court and/or in which a class of defendants is being sued...

s, typically product liability actions or commercial actions on behalf of investors who have suffered financial loss.

Over the years Slater & Gordon has handled some of the most complex and widely publicised cases in Australia. These include representing hundreds of asbestos miners at the Wittenoom
Wittenoom, Western Australia
Wittenoom is a ghost town located 1,106 kilometres north-northeast of Perth in the Hamersley Range in the Pilbara region of Western Australia. It is the site of Australia's greatest industrial disaster....

 mine in Western Australia
Western Australia
Western Australia is a state of Australia, occupying the entire western third of the Australian continent. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Great Australian Bight and Indian Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east and South Australia to the south-east...

;In 1987,the firm was involved in a landmark case where a telecom worker was exposed to hazardous chemicals and suffered major neuropsychiatric symptoms subsequently. One of the partners,Bernard Murphy appeared on behalf of the litigant.There was an out of court settlement after a senior psychiatrist, Ashoka Prasad presented his report;the In 2000, the company lodged a writ in the Victorian Supreme Court against Broken Hill Proprietary Company (BHP)
BHP Billiton
BHP Billiton is a global mining, oil and gas company headquartered in Melbourne, Australia and with a major management office in London, United Kingdom...

 on behalf of traditional owners in Papua New Guinea
Papua New Guinea
Papua New Guinea , officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea, is a country in Oceania, occupying the eastern half of the island of New Guinea and numerous offshore islands...

 over the collapse of a tailings dam led to waste from the Ok Tedi Mine
Ok Tedi Mine
The Ok Tedi Mine is an open-pit copper and gold mine located near the headwaters of the Ok Tedi River, in the Star Mountains Rural LLG of the North Fly District of the Western Province of Papua New Guinea...

 polluting the Ok Tedi and Fly River
Fly River
The Fly at , is the second longest river, after the Sepik, in Papua New Guinea. The Fly is the largest river in Oceania, the largest in the world without a single dam in its catchment, and overall ranks as the twenty-fifth largest river in the world by volume of discharge...

s in 1984. Other cases are representing victims of medically acquired HIV
HIV
Human immunodeficiency virus is a lentivirus that causes acquired immunodeficiency syndrome , a condition in humans in which progressive failure of the immune system allows life-threatening opportunistic infections and cancers to thrive...

 from contaminated blood supplies; and women suffering health problems due to faulty IUDs and breast implants.

In December 2005, the firm negotiated a settlement with James Hardie
James Hardie
James Hardie Industries Ltd. is an industrial building materials company headquartered in Ireland and listed on the Australian Securities Exchange which specialises in fibre cement products. James Hardie manufactures and develops technologies, materials and processes for the production of building...

 worth $4.5 billion on behalf of unions and people suffering from asbestosis
Asbestosis
Asbestosis is a chronic inflammatory and fibrotic medical condition affecting the parenchymal tissue of the lungs caused by the inhalation and retention of asbestos fibers...

, mesothelioma
Mesothelioma
Mesothelioma, more precisely malignant mesothelioma, is a rare form of cancer that develops from the protective lining that covers many of the body's internal organs, the mesothelium...

 and other asbestos-related diseases as a result of exposure to asbestos while working for the company.

The firm has completed acquisitions of a number of other law firms - Reid & Reid Solicitors, Maurice May Lawyers, Gary Robb & Associates, Geoffrey Edwards & Co, Paul Keady & Associates, Blessington Judd and Richards Lawyers in 2003. More recently Slater & Gordon has merged with D'Arcys Solicitors, McClellands Lawyers, Secombs Solicitors, John Micallef & Co, McGlades Personal Injury Law, Long Howland Lawyers, Kenyons Lawyers, Stewart & Noble Lawyers, Adams Leyland Lawyers, Trilby Misso Lawyers & Keddies Lawyers.

In May 2007 Slater & Gordon Limited became one of first law firms in the world to go public.

The board of directors at Slater & Gordon Limited comprises; the non-executive Chair Anna Booth, non-executive director
Non-executive director
A non-executive director or outside director is a member of the board of directors of a company who does not form part of the executive management team. He or she is not an employee of the company or affiliated with it in any other way...

 Erica Lane, managing director Andrew Grech, executive director
Executive director
Executive director is a term sometimes applied to the chief executive officer or managing director of an organization, company, or corporation. It is widely used in North American non-profit organizations, though in recent decades many U.S. nonprofits have adopted the title "President/CEO"...

 Ken Fowlie and non-executive director
Non-executive director
A non-executive director or outside director is a member of the board of directors of a company who does not form part of the executive management team. He or she is not an employee of the company or affiliated with it in any other way...

Ian Court.

Further reading

  • Michael Cannon, That Disreputable Firm: the Inside Story of Slater & Gordon, Melbourne University Press, Carlton South Victoria ISBN 0-522-84787-0
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