Memo:

Hi team,

Emily Rhodes called today for some advice in relation to some injuries she suffered last
year. She said she was prompted to seek legal advice when an old friend, who is a legal
secretary, mentioned that she might have a personal injury claim.

She also mentioned that a doctor had mistreated her in the past and wants them to be held
accountable.

She seemed a bit shaken up.

I’ve booked a meeting room for 30 minutes.

Thanks,

Donna
 Client Details:

Name: Emily Rhodes

Title: Miss
DOB: 4 August 1991 (32 years old)
Address: 16 Washington St, Sydney
Contact info: 0420 601 001

Only provide the below information if specifically asked:

Previous exposure to law firms:

● None; you have never sought legal advice before.

Criminal history:
● You do not have a criminal history and have not been charged with any offences.

GOALS:

Only disclose these objectives if specifically asked for them:

1. I want to know if I can get some compensation for my fall at the park, and if so, what
could I be compensated for? How would I seek compensation?
2. I want to know if I could get any compensation from Dr Bowman.
3. Are there any ways my old doctor, Dr Bowman, can be held accountable? Can I
complain about him somehow?
Client statement:

I’m here today seeking some legal advice about some injuries I suffered last year. When I
caught up with a friend recently, she mentioned I should talk to some lawyers about it, so I
want to know whether I could get any money for it. She said she sees claims like mine
sometimes because she works as a legal secretary. I was also concerned about some
comments made by my new doctor because I recently got back some distressing test
results.

In late 2022, I fell over when I was going for a morning bike ride in a park near my house. It
was definitely a Saturday, at the end of October. The park was Stanley Park run by the
Sydney City Council. I was thrown over the handlebars, landed badly on my shoulder, and
rolled onto my knee. My front tire was caught in the slats of a small bridge, and the bike
skipped, which caused me to lurch forward and tumble over the handlebars. There
was a rotten or damaged plank on the bridge that made the surface uneven. Luckily, I
didn’t hit my head. There was no sign displaying any damaged plank. Someone came
along the path the other way and managed to help me up. I think his name is Mike. He
lives a couple streets away from me. I couldn’t really walk, but they helped me to a park
bench, and I called my boyfriend to come and get me. I was diagnosed with a rotator cuff
injury to my right shoulder, and I damaged the meniscus of my left knee. My doctors
said I would possibly need surgery on my knee in the future.

I went to a GB, Dr Bloom, and she gave me medical certificates for the time off. She referred
me to physiotherapy and an orthopaedic surgeon. I was having physiotherapy twice a
week, which was getting to be expensive, especially because I’d been off work. I’m
down to one session every fortnight now, as I’ve been healing ok. I also had injections
on my shoulder to reduce pain and swelling. I’ve had to partly pay for my injections and
physio sessions as they’re not fully covered by Medicare, and I might need to pay for
surgery on my knee. I don’t know exactly but at least a few thousand dollars. I have
records of all that because I paid by credit card.

I didn’t make a complaint at first until my boyfriend went back through the park about a week
after my injury. He noticed the bridge was still not repaired, so we decided to let them
know that the bridge needed some repairs. They then fixed it a couple of weeks later.

After my fall, I had to take about three months off work. I ran out of paid leave in the first
month. I had to take unpaid leave, and that was quite difficult because I don’t have
much savings left. I couldn’t walk easily for a while, so I had to sleep on the couch because
it was really hard to go up and down stairs. It hurt to use my arm, especially reaching out for
things. It was hard to do a lot of necessary tasks, so I had to get some help from my
boyfriend at the time, Seth. We have broken up now, so I have had to pay more
expenses instead of sharing the utilities like before. Before we broke up, he helped
with things like doing the grocery shopping and a lot of the cleaning because it was
quite tricky for me to do those things. I’m back to work now, thankfully. I am not
completely healed, but I can definitely get around a lot easier.

Also, before my fall in 2022, I had been to see a GP, Dr Bowman, a couple of times with
some other health concerns. I noticed I had some back pain, mostly on one side. I had a
decreased appetite, was a bit fatigued and had lost some weight. I also had some
blood in my urine at one stage. I actually felt as if he didn’t listen to me and was very
dismissive.  have noticed this is quite common amongst my female friends; we are
often ignored or not listened to by doctors, or our symptoms may be simply
dismissed as “womanly issues” associated with our period or something. It makes
me quite upset to feel as if I am not heard. Then, obviously, I had the fall and was dealing
with all of those injuries as a priority, so it was out of my mind for a while. Anyway, in May, I
went to a new doctor as a new clinic opened near me, and I couldn’t get into my normal GP.
When going through my history, my new doctor, Dr Booker, expressed concerns that my
previous doctor may have failed to properly investigate some symptoms I’d described. She
referred me to get further tests. Dr Bowman, my old GP, had said it was probably just
because I was stressed from my job, and the back pain was because I sat down a lot.
The blood in my urine he didn’t seem too concerned about, which struck me as a bit
odd, but I guess I trusted that a doctor knows best.
● Confidential fact (only reveal if asked what further tests Dr Booker ordered): I
had to do urine and blood tests. After those came back a bit abnormal, she
sent me for an MRI and a kidney biopsy.

I got the results two weeks ago, and Dr Booker told me that I possibly have a tumour on my
kidney and may need surgery. I’m really upset that I now have more health problems, not to
mention this possibly means more time off work. I am very dedicated to my job, and I hate to
let down my boss. Dr Booker even said some things which make me think my previous GP
should have done more. She said something like the fact that I had back pain on one
side and blood in my urine should have ‘rang alarm bells’ for him.
It’s been a really stressful year, and I’m hoping you can help me. I’m just a bit worried about
my recent health problems, and I would like to know if there’s any compensation I could get,
because I’ve incurred quite a few medical expenses. I really think Dr Booker should be held
accountable for not treating me properly. All of my family lives in Adelaide, and Seth and I
broke up, but I have a couple of friends from university, and my co-worker, Aaron,
who I can ask for help if I need.
 Judging Guide:

Connection with client:

Ms Rhodes is understandably upset about her recent ill-health. Teams should be rewarded
for acknowledging their client’s distress and reacting sympathetically, potentially referring to
non-legal services such as counselling. Further, teams who recognise that their client has
expressed that they have incurred lots of medical expenses and thus may be stressed about
being able to pay legal fees, so they may suggest a payment plan.

Discovery of story:
Teams should be rewarded for a logical structure and strategy of their questioning, when the
timeline of events does overlap and is offered out of chronological order by their client.
Teams should therefore be rewarded for establishing / clarifying the timeline of events.
Furthermore, teams should be rewarded for tactfully asking about their client’s health issues,
as it may understandably be a delicate subject.

Identification of legal issues:

Teams should recognise their client’s two key issues, both pertaining to negligence: Dr
Bowman failing to diagnose a kidney tumour, and personal injury caused by her fall from her
bike.

Issue 1: Fall
Competitors should note that Ms Rhodes may have a cause of action for negligence against
Sydney City Council for her fall. She was owed a duty of care by BCC, and that duty was
breached by failing to ensure that the bridge was adequately maintained. That breach clearly
caused Ms Rhodes’ injury as were it not for the bridge being in disrepair, she would not have
fallen from her bike. She was keeping a lookout so there is unlikely to be contributory
negligence on her part.

For a personal injury claim in Queensland, a claimant should commence through the
scheme provided for by the Personal Injuries Proceedings Act (PIPA). This process is
intended to mean that claims are resolved more quickly, through settlement, thus ideally
minimising the cost of claims. PIPA applies to all personal injury claims except for workplace
injuries, motor vehicle accidents, injuries resulting from criminality, dust/asbestos related
conditions, and injuries resulting from tobacco products.
Teams should note that the first step is to serve a Notice of Claim (Part 1) on the person /
entity who has caused them the personal injury. Teams should note that a PIPA Notice is
required to be provided by the earlier of 9 months of the injury or within 1 month of
instructing lawyers (s9(3) PIPA).

Therefore, the significance of Ms Rhodes’ fall occurring 8 months ago is that she must serve
a PIPA Notice on BCC within the next month, otherwise she will have to provide a
reasonable excuse for delay.

In the PIPA Notice, Emily is required to describe the details of her medical treatment, the
circumstances surrounding the incident, etc.

In terms of compensation, teams should recognise that their client may be able recover for:
● General damages for her injuries (pain and suffering)
● Past economic loss e.g. $12000 missed pay
● Past special damages e.g. medical expenses paid out of pocket
● Future special damages e.g. possible cost of knee surgery
● Interest on past losses (s60 CLA)
● Damages for loss of superannuation entitlements (s56 CLA)

The threshold is not met for past gratuitous case as it was not at least six hours per week for
a minimum of six months (s59(1)(c) CLA); Seth only helped her for 2 months. It does not
seem likely that Emily would have grounds for a future economic loss claim here either.

Issue 2: Medical negligence

Ms Rhodes was owed a duty of care by Dr Bowman, and that duty was likely breached by
failing to adequately diagnose / failing to refer her for further investigations. Dr Booker’s
comments may potentially represent peer professional opinion for the purposes of
establishing breach (s22 CLA).

However, competitors should be rewarded if they identify that their client may struggle to
prove there has been causation here. It is unlikely that these breaches were actually
causative of any loss suffered by Ms Rhodes, as she would have still required surgery to
remove the tumour if it was identified 2 years ago or last year, as it was slow-growing. If the
failure to diagnose meant that the tumour had progressed so to spread into other areas of
the body and/or caused further lasting damage, then the failure to diagnose would be
causative of that loss and Ms Rhodes’ action would be more likely to succeed.
Issue 3: Complaint about Dr Bowman
Teams should advise that there are mechanisms in place for complaints about medical
practitioners. Ms Rhodes could make a complaint to the Office of the Health Ombudsman
(OHO) (which will likely then be referred to Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency
(AHPRA). Her complaint can be made on the OHO website or over the phone. The
complaint should have details of the practitioner, what happened to her, and what she wants
to happen (e.g. apology).

OHO / AHPRA would require that Ms Rhodes has taken steps to contact Dr Bowman and
make her complaint known to him, so the team may propose that they help formulate the
complaint to Dr Bowman.

While OHO and AHPRA are not compensatory bodies, the practitioner may be disciplined
such as having conditions imposed on their licence. Further, a complaint may be referred to
conciliation where refunds, etc. can be potentially negotiated with the practitioner.

A complaint can be made anonymously. However, Ms Rhodes is now being treated

elsewhere and thus may not be worried about further interactions with Dr Bowman. Further,
it would be easier practically for OHO / AHPRA to investigate a matter in which the
complainant is named as the Dr can then more appropriately respond to the specific
allegations, and the records of that particular patient can be relied upon for their findings.

Conclusion
Competitors should be rewarded for reaching the conclusion that their client may have a
cause of action in negligence against BCC for her fall and outlining what she may recover
for. Competitors should also be rewarded for explaining that a cause of action in negligence
would likely not succeed against Dr Bowman; however, he may still be disciplined by OHO /
AHPRA if Ms Rhodes makes a complaint and they subsequently make a finding in favour of
her.