Ganga Narayanan

Full Profile

Ganga practices in all State and Federal jurisdictions. She brings to her practice wide ranging experience including defending large-scale multi-party litigation, personal injury, property damage and medical liability claims, fraud and non-disclosure claims and life insurance claims. She represents insured clients at coronial inquests, disciplinary hearings and assists financial services clients in preparing submissions to AFCA. She has an intimate knowledge of the interpretation and application of the Insurance Contracts Act and other industry relevant legislation.

Ganga played a key role in the team that acted for a major life insurer in the Royal Commission into banking and financial services. She has also assisted aged care facilities with their responses to the Aged Care Royal Commission.

Ganga is known for her commercial, practical and technically sound advice.

Ganga is recommended in Insurance by Legal 500.

Experience

• Life Insurance - Acted for a life insurer in the successful defence of a fraudulent non-disclosure case in the Supreme Court of Victoria (Montclare v MetLife Insurance Limited & Anor [2015] VSC 506). The plaintiff unsuccessfully appealed the decision to the Court of Appeal and then sought special leave to the high Court, but was refused leave.

• Life Insurance - Acted for a life insurer in the defence of a Supreme Court of Victoria matter in which the plaintiff sought a TPD benefit. The insurer was successful on appeal to the Court of Appeal on a policy interpretation point (MLC Ltd ats Kevin Daffy [2017] VSCA 110).

• Life Insurance - Acted for a life insurer in a NSW Supreme Court fraudulent non-disclosure case involving the failure to disclose a significant mental health history. The plaintiff withdrew his claim after a day of cross-examination.

• Personal Injury - Acting for the Commonwealth Government and an Aboriginal Land Council in a catastrophic injury claim where the plaintiff fell off a rock ledge at Stanley Chasm suffering spinal injuries resulting in paraplegia. This multi-party litigation involved consideration of the statutory obligations of public authorities.

• Personal Injury - Acting for a water authority in a claim brought by a person alleging that a bike path had been negligently constructed and designed. The person suffered quadriplegia after colliding with another riding on a section of the bike path.

• Personal Injury - Acting for a joint venture in a claim for damages by a contractor injured on a mining site after falling 1.6 metres from the deck of a 50-tonne mobile crane. The contractor worker was not wearing a safety hat, and as a result suffered quadriplegia. The claim involved a careful analysis of the responsibilities of the various organisations on the site to provide OH&S training and site inductions.

• Medical Liability - Acting for a sonographer in a case involving an alleged failure to detect a sarcoma. The respective responsibilities and duties of the sonographer and reporting radiologist were the subject of the expert evidence as was causation.

• Medical Liability - Acting for a GP who had prescribed a weight-loss medication which allegedly caused a cardiac arrest and hypoxic brain injury. During the preparation of the matter for trial, the weight-loss medication was withdrawn from the market. The matter was successfully defended before a jury by reliance on section 59 of the Wrongs Act.

• Medical Liability - Acted for a radiology provider in an alleged failure to diagnose breast cancer case. The claim was defended on causation as we were able to obtain compelling evidence that the short delay in diagnosis did not affect the prognosis of the aggressive disease.