Public Defender Blog

Maurice Blackburn joined forces with the Daily Telegraph in Sydney and the Herald Sun in Melbourne in 2010 and 2011 to make the law more accessible to all Australians through the weekly Public Defender news pages and legal blogs.

Three of the firm's top lawyers, Rebecca Gilsenan, Giri Sivaraman and Andrew Dimsey, answered questions on a wide range of legal issues emailed to the newspapers by readers in print and in real time online - and this information is still available to you now. The information is a great first step if you don't know where to start with a legal problem. Please note that this initiative is general in nature and shouldn't be regarded as legal advice from Maurice Blackburn.

Rebecca Gilsenan is a principal lawyer in our major projects team in Sydney, and she was the initial legal expert for the Daily Telegraph's Public Defender initiative. She is currently working on a test case about whether human genes can be patented, and class actions related to product liability and price fixing. Rebecca also acts for Greenpeace.

Giri Sivaraman filled in for Rebecca while she was on leave from Maurice Blackburn. Giri has an extensive employment and industrial relations legal career that includes many success stories for workers.

Andrew Dimsey is a principal lawyer in Melbourne and the head of the firm's asbestos and dust diseases, public liability and faulty products, and will disputes teams. Andrew was the legal expert for the Herald Sun's Public Defender initiative. He has extensive legal experience securing compensation for victims of negligence. Andrew's high profile cases include securing compensation for the widow of cricketer David Hooks who died after a night club assault. He is currently acting for Veronica Andrews, who is suing the Victorian Department of Human Services over the death of her two-year-old grandson Joedan, who died in 2002 near Mildura due to the failures of the child protection system.

Public Defender blog entries