Lucy Wilk is a highly experienced medical negligence litigator who has handled some of the toughest, most complex and largest medical negligence claims in the Newcastle area and in New South Wales since commencing to practise exclusively in this area in 2014. Prior to this, Lucy taught the Law of Negligence at the University of Newcastle and practiced as a litigation and banking lawyer at a top tier commercial law firm, Allens Linklaters, in Sydney.
Lucy graduated from the University of Newcastle in 2009 with a double degree in Law (with First Class Honours) and Arts (majoring in Politics). She was admitted into practice as a Solicitor of the High Court and Supreme Court of NSW in 2010.
Lucy first gained insight into medical negligence litigation in 2009 when she worked as Tipstaff to Justice Lucy McCallum of the Supreme Court of New South Wales (now of the NSW Court of Appeal). During that time, she witnessed medical negligence trials first-hand and saw the devastating impact that medical negligence can have on claimants and gained some appreciation for the many complex legal and medical issues which can arise in this area.
Since that time, Lucy has handled and settled hundreds of cases including cases involving meningitis, sepsis, genetic testing, obstetrics, gynaecology, skin cancer, emergency medicine, breast cancer, chemotherapy, brain aneurysm, stroke, paramedicine, inpatient mental health, general practice, nursing, ENT procedures, gastroenterology, colorectal procedures, radiology, wound infection, aged care negligence, cosmetic and plastic surgery, general surgery, iron infusions resulting in staining, thrombosis, pharmaceutical negligence, travel medicine, amputations, infectious diseases, testicular torsion and facial disfigurement. On several occasions, Lucy has achieved multi-million dollar settlements for her clients.
Lucy has also acted in matters concerning loss of insurance benefits due to failure to diagnose (death and illness cover).
With Lucy, you are in safe hands. She is kind, compassionate, empathetic, an excellent listener and has been told on many occasions that she explains complex legal and medical concepts in a clear and easy-to-understand way. It is very important to Lucy that claimants understand the process of investigating and prosecuting a medical negligence claim and what may be the end result.
Lucy is highly motivated to move matters along as quickly as possible as she appreciates that litigation is stressful for most people and that unnecessary delays often exacerbate a client’s suffering.
Lucy’s attention to detail, extensive experience, astute analytical skills and legal knowledge ensure that claimants achieve the best possible outcome in terms of compensation.
When advocating for clients and dealing with the lawyers engaged by the insurers for doctors and hospitals, Lucy is determined, forthright, strategic, cost-effective and persuasive.
Lucy joined The Law Office of Conrad Curry in December 2020 because of its fine reputation for providing professional, excellent and client-focused legal services in the area of medical negligence which are cost-effective and fair. Lucy also joined the firm because of the many years of experience held by other legal practitioners at the firm in medical negligence.
Lucy is an avid music fan, especially rock music and live music. She also enjoys running and walking along the beach, camping, the outdoors and spending time with friends and family.
I take pride in specialising in medical negligence. Principle among the reasons for that is that I help transform the lives of people who have been negatively impacted, often devastatingly so, by failings in our health system.
For many clients, monetary compensation is not their prime motivation for bringing legal action. Often, clients want answers to why things went so wrong and also want to do what they can to prevent other patients suffering the same poor outcome. I find it very satisfying assisting clients with these very important objectives in conjunction with achieving the best possible outcomes in terms of compensation.