Shine Lawyers

Shine Lawyers is an Australian law firm specialising in personal injury compensation law, operating on a no win no fee basis.^[1] The firm has expanded into providing toxic exposure, silica and dust disease, abuse and medical negligence services through a number of acquisitions.^[2][3][4][5]

Shine Lawyers

Company type	Public law firm
Traded as	ASX: SHJ (Shine Justice Group)
Founded	1976; 48 years ago (1976) as KG Shine & Co
Founder	Kerry Shine, Simon Morrison & Stephen Roche
Headquarters	Brisbane, Queensland
Services	Personal injury law, compensation law, workers compensation law, car accident claims, public liability claims, toxic exposure, silica and dust disease claims, class actions, aviation law, abuse law, product liability, medical negligence, brain injury claims, workplace claims and super and insurance claims.
Website	shine.com.au

Founded in Toowoomba in 1976, the firm is now headquartered in Brisbane, Australia, and currently has over 700 employees based across more than 40 offices across Australia and New Zealand.^[6]

History

Shine Lawyers was founded in 1976 (then known as KG Shine & Co) by Kerry Shine, an Australian Labor Party politician who was member of the Legislative Assembly from 2001 to 2012 and Attorney-General of Queensland from 2006 to 2009. It was rebranded as Shine Lawyers in 2006, under then managing partner Stephen Roche and current managing director Simon Morrison.^[7] It was one of the first law firms in the world to list on the ASX, in May 2013.^[8][9]

Acquisitions and mergers

Since 1976 Shine Lawyers has acquired and integrated more than 20 other legal firms.^[10] The firm has revealed plans to move into the UK legal market as part of an international acquisition strategy.^[11]

Notable current and past cases

Since 1976, Shine Lawyers have handled some difficult and widely publicised cases that have come before Australian Courts.

• In 2001, Shine Lawyers represented a woman who had suffered abuse as a student at Toowoomba Preparatory School.^[12] The civil court decision awarded a record payout to the victim, and a subsequent inquiry led to the resignation of the governor-general Peter Hollingworth.^[13]
• Notable personal injury cases include the car accident compensation case for Ray and Marion Whitley,^[14] the medical negligence compensation case for Zac Ward^[15] and the workers compensation case for Steven Reynolds.^[16]

Notable class actions

• On 27 September 2011, Shine Lawyers commenced a class action against DePuy International Ltd and Johnson & Johnson on behalf of Australians affected by faulty DePuy ASR hip implants.^[17] It is alleged that the DePuy ASR hip implants were defective, not fit for their intended purpose and/or not of merchantable quality, in contravention of provisions of the Trade Practices Act 1974 (Cth).
• On 16 October 2012, Shine Lawyers commenced a class action against Johnson & Johnson and Ethicon on behalf of Australians suffering complications as a result of faulty prolapse mesh implants.^[18] In March 2020, the Federal Court decided in favour of the three lead applicants, awarding them $2.6 million in damages. Johnson & Johnson’s appeal was dismissed in March 2021.^[19] On the 5th of November 2021, the High Court of Australia dismissed Johnson & Johnson’s application for special leave to appeal.

Notes and references

1. "No Win No Fee Services". Shine Lawyers. Retrieved 28 December 2013.
2. "Shannon Donaldson Merges with Shine Lawyers". The Chronicle. Retrieved 13 November 2014.
3. "Cleary & Lee Merger with Shine Lawyers". The Chronicle. Retrieved 13 November 2014.
4. Whealing, Justin. "Brockovich adds sparkle to Shine HQ". Lawyers Weekly. Retrieved 26 December 2013.
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6. "Shine Branch Locations". Shine Lawyers. Retrieved 26 December 2013.
7. "Our History". Retrieved 26 March 2021.
8. Eyers, James. "Shine Lawyers harnesses star power for its IPO". Financial Review. Fairfax Media Publications Pty Ltd. Retrieved 26 December 2013.
9. "SHINING LIGHT OF PUBLIC LAW". Brisbane Business News. Retrieved 26 December 2013.
10. "Shine Lawyers Prospectus" (PDF). Shine Lawyers. Retrieved 26 December 2013.
11. Merritt, Chris. "Shine Lawyers looks to buy into British market". The Australian. News Ltd. Retrieved 28 December 2013. (Subscription required.)
12. Topsfield, Jewel (27 July 2011). "Law firm offers free advice on sex-abuse claims". The Age. Retrieved 7 August 2019.
13. "How the royal commission can help Toowoomba to heal – again". Crikey. 18 February 2014. Retrieved 7 August 2019.
14. Whitley, Marion. "Road rage victims earn 670k payout". The Chronicle. Retrieved 13 November 2014.
15. Ward, Zac. "Court Awards little Zac Ward a record 644 million payout for injuries sustained during birth". The Courier Mail. Retrieved 13 November 2014.
16. Reynolds, Steven. "2m payout for elevator fall". Yahoo News. Retrieved 13 November 2014.
17. "Shine Lawyers DePuy class action page". Shine Lawyers. Retrieved 20 March 2014.
18. "Shine Lawyers Johnson and Johnson prolapse mesh action page". Shine Lawyers. Retrieved 13 November 2014.
19. Wells, Jamelle (4 March 2021). "Johnson & Johnson loses pelvic mesh court appeal". ABC News. Retrieved 26 March 2021.