Ivan is a consultant with extensive experience in personal injury. He started out his career as a paralegal with Stacks Goudkamp in 1994, eventually working as a Director and Practice Group Leader from 2004 to 2016. He then worked for another law firm for a couple of years before returning to the Stacks network.

Ivan works on major catastrophic injury claims, such as traumatic brain injury and severe spinal injury cases. He has expertise in financial management applications, appointing trustees and family as financial managers for those who are protected persons.

Ivan has worked on many personal injury cases where he feels he was able to make a difference for his clients. He worked on a very sad matter for a young boy who was three months old when he lost his parents in a car accident and sustained a severe brain injury. He became blind and was unable to move at all. The matter was settled for $16 million, the highest settlement that had ever been awarded in NSW at the time.

Ivan also acted in a matter involving a 15-year-old boy who sustained a traumatic brain injury while riding a bicycle, despite wearing a helmet. The injury was sustained when the forks of his mountain bike snapped and he was propelled head-first into the ground.

In the end, there were five defendants, including the German fork designer, the importer, the two companies that constructed the forks in Thailand and the bike shop that sold the boy the mountain bike. It was a hard-fought matter, but settlement was achieved on the second day of a four week trial, for $11 million.

Ivan believes his ability to prepare a case, his negotiation skills, people skills and empathy are particularly important for working in the area of personal injury. Ivan genuinely feels that he is making a difference to his clients’ lives and believes that if you do not have empathy, there is little point being in this line of work.

Outside of work, Ivan enjoys spending time with his family. He also loves golf, but unfortunately doesn’t get to play often enough. He is a frustrated handyman and also enjoys the occasional glass of red wine.

Ivan promotes Wheelchair Sports NSW. He was on its fundraising committee for a number of years and was made an ambassador of The Charity Challenge a number of years ago. Its mission is to organise corporate golf days, with the proceeds being shared between a number of charities.