Fees

Ranges and minima for most matters

I will generally discuss a matter with a client or solicitor at no charge to see if the matter is within my expertise and give other considerations.

Pursuant to cost agreements and fee disclosures, for all matters with direct access for advice or when briefed by a solicitor, my current fees as of 1 March 2024 are $750 per hour plus GST. A full day is therefore $6000 plus GST.

For any matter, there will be an initial reading fee of at least three hours or $2250 plus GST.

For review of dental contracts, these range from three hours or $2,250 plus GST to as much as $7000 plus GST

Most matters involving advice and submissions are at least $7,000 plus GST.

Unless I judge a matter to be urgent, no legal work will be done unless I have signed cost agreement with a solicitor or client.

Brad Wright - Barrister

4 days ago

𝙍𝙚𝙢𝙞𝙣𝙙𝙚𝙧 𝙤𝙛 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝘾𝙤𝙣𝙨𝙚𝙦𝙪𝙚𝙣𝙘𝙚𝙨 𝙤𝙛 𝙉𝙤 𝙄𝙣𝙨𝙪𝙧𝙖𝙣𝙘𝙚Each year when health practitioners complete their re-registration there are a number of declarations to be madeOne of these is in relation to professional indemnity insurance.The policy reason behind the requirement for PI Insurance is simply that patients need to be assured that if there is a personal injury claim made as a result of the treatment by a practitioner, they can be reasonably assured that there is a policy that will cover any likely claim. In other words, part of the requirement for public protection is assurance that a patient will not be at a disadvantage where they might have to rely on personal capacity to pay for injuries by a health practitioner.By way of example, a health practitioner may have a claim made against them for significant sum, but the practitioner has no PI insurance and so the patient may not get satisfaction of the claim because the health practitioner does not have the resources to pay the settled claim.This is the reason that a declaration is made.In Dental Board of Australia v Prasad (Review and Regulation) [2024] VCAT 342, these issues were canvassed as part of a range of disciplinary matters When a practitioner has no PI insurance and does not notify the board/AHPRA (see section 130 of the National Law in each state), a number of matters flow.There will be an allegation of a failure to hold professional indemnity insurance and make false declaration to the Board and a failure to self-notify about the lack of insurance.These are serious matters which may lead to cancellation or suspension of practice.In Dental Board of Australia v Prasad, the breaches were discovered by way of audit. Unfortunately this occurs regularly and can easily be avoided. Ensure before you make the declaration as to indemnity insurance that you check that you have a current policy.Ensure you use a proper robust email server for receiving professional emails and check spam and junk regularly.If you have a direct debit arrangement, either periodic or single payment then you have responsibility to reconcile this and make relevant enquiries as to currency – better to pay the entirety to the indemnifier and finance other ways rather than periodic debits.Identify and keep that certificate of insurance where it can be located.If you cannot locate a certificate of insurance, then seek immediate advice from your peer advisor or indemnifier.Do not make a declaration about any matter unless you are certain it is true.If in doubt seek proper expert legal advice. ... See MoreSee Less

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Brad Wright - Barrister

1 month ago

“𝙏𝙝𝙖𝙩’𝙨 𝙞𝙩 ? 𝙄 𝙟𝙪𝙨𝙩 𝙝𝙖𝙫𝙚 𝙩𝙤 𝙖𝙘𝙘𝙚𝙥𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙨 ?” 𝙐𝙢… 𝙣𝙤 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙙𝙤𝙣’𝙩 𝙖𝙡𝙬𝙖𝙮𝙨.Unfortunately many lawyers or advisors seem to look for errors of law in dealing with Boards’ proposed imposition of conditions and regulatory action rather than traverse the issues the Boards are concerned about and take these up directly with the registrant. That takes time. Time sometimes advisors cannot or are not willing to take.Opportunities are missed at these early stages where it's easy and affordable to address the concerns properly rather than argue later about irrelevant considerations such as apparent breaches of procedural fairness or other matters. It’s usually better to ‘confess and avoid’ rather than ‘argue the inarguable’.Unconditional registration is not some God given right passed down on graduation.A recent case where a young dental registrant was concerned about proposed unworkable conditions demonstrates this.𝘐 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘶𝘣𝘫𝘦𝘤𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘢 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘵 𝘣𝘺 𝘢𝘯 𝘦𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘰𝘺𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘦𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘥 𝘮𝘶𝘤𝘩 𝘱𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘭 𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘱 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘮𝘺 𝘪𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘮𝘯𝘪𝘧𝘪𝘦𝘳, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘋𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘢𝘭 𝘉𝘰𝘢𝘳𝘥 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘨𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘪𝘮𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘥𝘪𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘵 𝘴𝘶𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘷𝘪𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘰𝘯 𝘮𝘺 𝘱𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳 12 𝘮𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘩𝘴, 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘤𝘩 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘥𝘪𝘧𝘧𝘪𝘤𝘶𝘭𝘵 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘮𝘦 𝘢𝘴 𝘢 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘨 𝘱𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘳.𝘈 𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘰𝘳 𝘰𝘧 𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘥 𝘉𝘳𝘢𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘮𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘭𝘪𝘢𝘪𝘴𝘦 𝘮𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘢 𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘤𝘪𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘴𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘱 𝘮𝘦 𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘪𝘴𝘴𝘶𝘦𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘳𝘦𝘨𝘢𝘳𝘥𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘵.𝘕𝘰𝘸 𝘐 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘥𝘶𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘤𝘩 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘶𝘵𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘮𝘺 𝘪𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘮𝘯𝘪𝘧𝘪𝘦𝘳 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘢𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘥.𝘐 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘥 𝘉𝘳𝘢𝘥 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘢 𝘴𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘱𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘰𝘯, 𝘪𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘩 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘯𝘺. 𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘢 𝘭𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘰𝘯 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘮𝘦, 𝘢𝘴 𝘢 𝘯𝘦𝘸 𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘥𝘶𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘱𝘢𝘺 𝘧𝘰𝘳.𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘪𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘮𝘯𝘪𝘧𝘪𝘦𝘳 𝘥𝘪𝘥 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘢𝘳𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘺𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘉𝘳𝘢𝘥 𝘨𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘮𝘦 𝘩𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘢𝘥𝘷𝘪𝘤𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘮𝘢𝘥𝘦 𝘮𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘧𝘭𝘦𝘤𝘵 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘪𝘧𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘰𝘯 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘐 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘪𝘮𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘥𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘥𝘪𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘭𝘺. 𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘵’𝘴 𝘸𝘩𝘺 𝘐 𝘨𝘰𝘵 𝘢 𝘣𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘶𝘭𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯 𝘐 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨.”𝘔𝘴 𝘟𝘠𝘡As a result, an awful outcome was avoided. Not practising while seeking approved direct supervision can be catastrophic, and the longer it takes to get supervision, the worse the outcome will be. Luckily indirect supervisors were anticipated and the nomination process commenced before the conditions were imposed. ... See MoreSee Less

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Brad Wright - Barrister

1 month ago

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