The claim arose principally from torture applied to nearly 300 children in Department of Social Welfare custody. All were state wards and a child psychologist systematically applied Electroconvulsive ‘treatment’ as a punishment regime, without any medical basis for doing so and without any pretense of following correct medical processes. A class action was brought against the Crown alleging breach of fiduciary duty and negligence. GCA represented 95 clients and recovered $6.5M and costs. The firm’s work also gave rise to a second process and the firm acted for another group of clients in that process. This resulted in further significant payouts for the firm’s clients and many millions to third parties.
