Joel Harris

Profile

Joel maintains a broad commercial and common law practice. He focuses on four principal areas:

• Insurance and reinsurance coverage disputes.
• Professional liability and regulatory claims.
• International trade and transport disputes, including shipping, marine and aviation claims.
• Common law, including personal injury and property damage claims.

His work as a barrister is informed by a significant period working in-house as an insurance claims manager in Singapore and London.

Insurance Law

Joel’s insurance law work frequently involves advice and litigation relating to policy coverage and the construction of policy wording.

He has experience across a broad range of wordings and policies, including cargo, crime, cyber, directors and officers, energy, marine and aviation hull, life science, management liability, private equity/venture capital, professional indemnity, property damage/business interruption, product liability and recall, public liability, specie, trade credit, and warranty & indemnity.

He also has experience advising on coverage under life insurance policies, including total and permanent disability, income protection, accident, and trauma cover. In his insurance work, Joel acts for both policyholders and insurers. Examples of recent matters include:

• Acting for a logistics company in a dispute with their general liability insurer arising from a personal injury claim.
• Acting for a cargo insurer on a large loss at a refrigerated logistics warehouse.
• Advising a construction company on the availability of alternative insurance for a personal injury claim after their general liability insurer had refused indemnity.
• Advising an insurer on a claim for mitigation costs under a construction professional liability policy arising from a defect claim at a large apartment complex.
• Advising an insurer on a claim for investigations costs for a boundary transgression under a professional liability policy.
• Advising an insurer on “faulty work” and “professional liability” exclusions under a general liability policy.
• Advising an Owners Corporation on the construction of a plumbing indemnity insurance policy.

Professional Liability and Medical Negligence

Joel represents a wide range of professionals in civil and regulatory disputes, including allied health, architects, auditors/accountants, barristers, building professionals, doctors, financial advisers, insurance brokers, real estate agents, solicitors, valuers, and veterinarians.

He is regularly briefed in various medical negligence claims, including delayed treatment, misdiagnosis, surgical errors, and failure to warn brought against hospitals, general practitioners, surgeons, and consultants. Examples of recent matters include:

• Acting for a client of an insurance broker with respect to the failure to advice a client to purchase cyber insurance.
•  Acting for a firm of accountants defending a series of claims arising from alleged misappropriations.
•  Acting for a nurse in an international tort claim.
• Acting for a real estate agency in a personal injury claim.

Transport (Marine and Aviation)

Joel acts in both insurance and non-insurance maritime and aviation disputes. He has advised on coverage and subrogation recoveries disputes arising under cargo, specie, aviation and marine hull contracts. He has experience with disputes arising from charter parties and bills of lading, including fraud claims. He has advised on admiralty matters, including the arrest of ships. Examples of recent matters include:

• Acting for an aircraft pilot in a negligence claim arising from a light plane crash. The case included both a coverage and liability element as the aircraft’s hull insurer had denied indemnity.
• Advising an insurer on recovery prospects under the Limitation of Liability for Marine Claims Convention.
• Acting for an insured in a coverage dispute with its aviation hull insurer arising from an illision of an aircraft on the tarmac. 
• Acting for a cargo interest with respect to a dispute over damage to a large helicopter during unloading.
• Acting for a charterer in a confidential SIAC arbitration.
• Acting for an insurer in respect to a coverage dispute arising from the total loss of a luxury yacht.
• Advising a shipping company on the incorporation of their standard terms and conditions into their contract of carriage.

General Liability

Joel is experienced in personal injury and property damage litigation. He has acted for plaintiffs and defendants in road traffic accidents, employer’s liability, product and public liability. He has been instructed in serious and catastrophic cases involving psychiatric injury, chronic pain, brain and spinal injuries.

His property damage experience involves claims arising from fire, explosions, water and earth movement and tend to involve complex issues that require an understanding of insurance, construction, product and professional liability issues.

Joel is often instructed in general liability matters with issues involving disputed insurance coverage, including acting for uninsured defendants or plaintiffs seeking to claim directly against insurers.

Joel has particular interest in product liability and life science claims. He has been instructed in matters involving cars, consumer goods, hardware, farming equipment, lithium batteries, medical devices, pharmaceuticals including clinical trials, trucks and wine.

Joel enjoys working on tort claims that involve an international or interstate aspect with jurisdictional or conflict of laws issues. This includes issues arising from interactions between state-based legislation such as the Wrongs Act and the Australian Consumer Laws or conflicts between interstate worker’s compensation legislation. Drawing on his transport experience, he has experience on international personal injury claims, including claims arising from accidents on ships and aircraft.

Advocacy

Joel regularly appears in a range of Courts, including the Supreme and County Court of Victoria and the Federal Court of Australia. He appears at VCAT in the Building and Property, Review and Regulation, Legal Practice and Civil Claims Lists. He has experience drafting submissions in disputes before the Australian Financial Complaints Authority, particularly in Insurance disputes. He has experience in all forms of ADR, including mediation, arbitration and special referees.

International Arbitration

Joel has experience with arbitrations administered by the ICC and the SIAC rules. Joel also accepts appointments as tribunal secretary, having completed the ICC's training for tribunal secretaries and is on the HKIAC panel for tribunal secretaries.

Recent instructions include advising cargo interests on bill of lading dispute under the SIAC rules.