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David Slatyer

Partner

Brisbane

David is among Queensland’s most respected and versatile insurance advisors and litigators, helping insurers and their customers, as well as self-insured companies and statutory bodies, with advice and managing their losses and resolving disputes.

Having 28 years in practice, David has valuable experience from resolving thousands of cases and legal disputes across all types of insurance including professional liability, public liability, life and TPD, property and motor, strata and employment liability.

David and his expert legal team manage schemes or portfolios of claims, material litigation, inquests, professional inquiries, as well as the drafting of insurance products, providing advice and assistance with insurance, liability and risk questions.

David specialises in practical and value driven claims solutions for insurers, focusing on early negotiation, plain English communications, proactive services, alternate dispute resolution and developing strong working relationships with insureds, brokers and opponents.

  • +61 423 821 528
  • +61 7 3228 0446

Memberships, Accreditation and Activities

  • Insurance Law, Personal Injury Litigation and Product Liability Litigation, Best Lawyers in Australia
  • Insurance Law, The Legal 500 Asia Pacific
  • Professional Indemnity, Doyle’s Guide.

Expertise

David’s expertise includes:

  • Insurance advisory work, such as advising on policy coverage across public and products policies, professional indemnity policies, strata, property, motor, ISR, business, EPL, life, IP and TPD policies
  • Advising on exclusions, the Insurance Contracts Act, co-insurance, proportionate liability and subrogated recoveries
  • Insurance defence work, including indemnity disputes, public liability, personal injury and product liability, professional liability professional conduct Inquiries, property damage, management and employment liability
  • Dust disease claim, catastrophic claims, pure psychiatric injury, civil abuse claims
  • Life insurance, IP and TPD advice and claims work, including non-disclosure, fraud, eligibility criteria, pre-existing conditions, unbundling claims, own occupation and ETE requirements, trustees and insurers duties, assessment duties, procedural fairness, SIS Act and AFCA complaints
  • Recoveries claims for property and motor losses.

Recent Matters

  • Currently managing the defence of a significant portfolio of silicosis injury and terminal illness claims for a national importer of stone and its insurer in QLD, NSW, VIC and WA
  • Succeeded in the High Court in a personal injury claim for the retail insured and its insurer, with the High Court refusing the applicant special leave to appeal, upon our client’s earlier success in four related appeals in the Queensland Court of Appeal (Day v Woolworths & Ors (2021) QCA 42)
  • Advised a national life insurer on the important changes in 2021 to the insured’s duty of disclosure under the Insurance Contracts Act (Cth) (the new duty for consumer insurance contracts) and on the insurer’s new remedies for breach of the duty of disclosure, in a life insurance contract
  • In 2023 acted for one of Australia’s largest architectural firms and its insurer, in a dispute concerning the use of combustible aluminium cladding on a 50+ level CBD tower and alleged rectification cost of $28M
  • In 2023 acted for an accountant and his insurer defending claims brought by the liquidators of a set of building companies for circa $30 million, alleging negligent approval of the companies’ solvency requirements
  • In 2023 acted for a superannuation trustee in the successful defence of an appeal to the Federal Court by a fund member. The matter was brought against the decision of AFCA regarding a claim for total and permanent disablement benefits and the effect of a pre-existing medical condition exclusion.

Memberships, Accreditation & Activities

  • Insurance Law, Personal Injury Litigation and Product Liability Litigation, Best Lawyers in Australia
  • Insurance Law, The Legal 500 Asia Pacific
  • Professional Indemnity, Doyle’s Guide.