Judith Waldock

Judith is a partner in our Compulsory Third Party.  She has over 30 years’ experience in the conduct of personal injury claims. She practices in the firms specialist catastrophic claims national practice group, acting for major national insurers.

Experience & expertise

Judith specialises in claims involving spinal injuries, traumatic brain injuries and amputations, and in claims involving complex liability and medical issues (including supervening acts of medical negligence). These multimillion dollar claims typically involve insurers and reinsurers, and Judith’s ability to communicate complicated concepts clearly, and to provide accurate early advice on reserving and risk, is much sought after.

Clients entrust her to manage high value and reputationally sensitive claims due to her excellent legal skills and meticulous masterly of detail. She is deservedly regarded by her peers for the pragmatic and cooperative approach she takes to resolving claims wherever possible. She routinely conducts negotiations and mediations against the most senior practitioners in the field without the assistance of counsel.

Judith has extensive experience in handling disputes over eligibility for participation in the Lifetime Care and Support Scheme, and has had success in challenging decisions made by the Authority, saving her clients millions of dollars in future treatment and care costs.

Judith  is consistently recognised in Doyle’s Guide and Best Lawyers® as a pre-eminent practitioner in motor accident and personal injury litigation. She has been named as the Motor Vehicle Law Lawyer of the Year in the 2027 Best Lawyers® in Australia.

Work highlights

Judith’s experience includes:

• Acting for the insurer in Flounders v Millar [2007] NSWCA 238, a leading case on causation, in which the plaintiff failed in an $8,000,000 personal injury claim, a decision upheld on appeal
• Acting for the insurer in Nominal Defendant v Staggs [2010] NSWCA 224, the first appellate decision (and still the leading NSW case) on interpretation of s36 of the Motor Accidents Compensation Act 1999 (NSW)
• Acted for the insurer in a claim by an English national badly brain damaged in NSW. He was repatriated to England and sued there, claiming damages under English common law (equivalent to $14 million), relying on a 2006 House of Lords decision which held that caps on damages in NSW did not apply in proceedings in England. Judith challenged the jurisdiction of the English Court to hear the claim, and compelled the plaintiff’s lawyers to commence proceedings in NSW. She then settled the claim, negotiating directly with the plaintiff’s barrister, for $7.25 million
• Advising her client insurer to invoke the Limitation of Liability for Maritime Claims Act 1989 (Cth) in a claim involving catastrophic brain injury to a spear fisherman, which reduced the insurer’s exposure to damages in that claim, and the derivative nervous shock claim for the injured man’s wife, by over $3,500,000
• Negotiating the settlement of a claim by a quadriplegic for $500,000 inclusive of costs on day two of a week-long hearing in which there was a significant contest on liability, and a claim approaching $10,000,000
• Negotiating the resolution of a claim for a child severely injured at age 2 in 2012. Judith’s team managed the claim for 10 years, advising the CTP insurer on rehabilitation measures and shepherded the claim through a complex medico-legal assessment process, culminating in a modest settlement and considerable (seven figure) saving on the insurer’s claims estimate (in a scheme in runoff). The settlement was approved after a rigorous Court review in April 2026.