Maurice Blackburn is a national plaintiff firm that dates back to 1919, with its Brisbane office on North Quay near Roma Street station. Its road injury team in Queensland is large, with supervising principals Jillian Barrett, Tanya Straguszi and Joanne Jefferies and special counsel including Darren Moore and Scott Keft. Michelle James, who heads its northern personal injury practice, is a Queensland Law Society accredited specialist in personal injuries law, according to the firm. It suits people with serious injuries who want a big team and offices across the state.
Founded in 1919
Also worth knowing
The firm lists more than 15 other Queensland offices.
Lawyers
Michelle James, Executive Director, Head of Personal Injuries North Accredited personal injury law specialist
Jillian Barrett, Principal Lawyer, Supervising Principal (work, road and public place injury)
Tanya Straguszi, Supervising Principal (work, road and public place injury)
Joanne Jefferies, Principal Lawyer, Supervising Principal (work, road and public place injury)
Melissa Meyers, Principal Lawyer (public place, work and road injury)
Darren Moore, Special Counsel (work, public place and road injury)
Scott Keft, Special Counsel (road, work and public place injury)
Kevin Barratt, Special Counsel (work, road and public place injury)
Kiran Birkin, Special Counsel (public place, road and work injury)
Laura Hadfield, Senior Associate, Office Leader (road, work and public place injury)
Jana Davey, Senior Associate (work, road and public place injury)
Areas of car accident law handled
CTP claims
Car accident claims
Truck accident claims
Motorcycle accident claims
Claims for lost income
Medical and rehabilitation costs
Care and support costs
General damages for pain and suffering
Claims after a missed lodgement deadline
Workers compensation claims
Office
Level 8, 179 North Quay, Brisbane QLD 4000
Other details
Other offices
Browns Plains, Chermside, North Lakes, Ipswich, Gold Coast, Sunshine Coast, Toowoomba, Gympie, Bundaberg, Gladstone, Rockhampton, Mackay, Townsville, Cairns, Mount Isa and interstate
Shine began in Toowoomba in 1976 as K.G. Shine & Co. and expanded into Brisbane in 1994. It is now listed on the ASX, with its Brisbane office on Ann Street and more than 20 Queensland locations. Motor vehicle work is a core practice, covering CTP claims for car, motorbike, truck, pedestrian, cycling and e scooter crashes, plus fatal accidents and claims where the other vehicle was unregistered or unidentified. The Brisbane office offers home, phone and video meetings. It suits people with serious or complex injuries who want a large team behind them.
Founded in 1976
Also worth knowing
The firm lists more than 20 Queensland locations.
Lawyers
The motor vehicle page lists these names as motor accident lawyers without individual titles.
James Hickman, Head of Personal Injury South Queensland, Special Counsel
Christine Smith, Motor vehicle accident lawyer
Mackenzie Peardon, Motor vehicle accident lawyer
Leigh Overend, Motor vehicle accident lawyer
Caroline Aafjes, Motor vehicle accident lawyer
Joel Blane, Motor vehicle accident lawyer
Areas of car accident law handled
CTP claims
Car accident claims
Motorbike accident claims
Truck accident claims
Pedestrian injury claims
Cycling accident claims
Electric scooter accident claims
Fatal road accident claims
Unregistered and unidentified vehicle claims
Related TPD and income protection claims
Office
13/160 Ann Street, Brisbane City QLD 4000
Other details
Other offices
More than 20 Queensland locations, over 40 nationally
Accident Legal is a Queensland compensation firm with its city office on Eagle Street and ten more offices from Loganholme to Cairns. Car crash and CTP claims lead its practice, alongside motorcycle, truck, pedestrian and public transport claims. Its guides cite the Motor Accident Insurance Act section by section, which is useful for reading up before a meeting. Its site shows a 2025 Doyle's Guide recommended listing for accident compensation, and the firm says it does home visits across the state. It suits people who want a Queensland only firm with regional reach.
Also worth knowing
The firm says it offers home visits across Queensland.
A small Queensland compensation firm with offices on Eagle Street and in Cairns, started by directors Jonathan Wu and Sinaumea Taufao after they left a large national firm. Motor vehicle and CTP claims are a main part of its work, including injuries in rideshare vehicles, and it also takes fatal accident claims. The directors run matters themselves, and the firm says a senior lawyer, not support staff, returns every enquiry. According to the firm, it was recommended in Doyle's Guide in 2025 and 2026 for motor vehicle accident claims. Sinaumea Taufao is vice president of the Pasifika Lawyers Association of Queensland.
Also worth knowing
Director Sinaumea Taufao is vice president of the Pasifika Lawyers Association of Queensland.
A personal injury only firm, practising since 1999 and run by legal practice director Faran Gouldson, with offices on George Street in the city, at Southport and in Toowoomba. Motor vehicle and CTP claims are part of that work, along with serious injury and wrongful death claims, and principals Kaine Shanahan and Carl Hughes work alongside Faran Gouldson. All six of its solicitors list personal injuries law as their area on the QLS register. If a crash has left you in hospital, or at home and unable to travel, its lawyers can visit you anywhere in Queensland.
Practising since 1999, first as Shine Gouldson Lawyers
Also worth knowing
All six of its solicitors list personal injuries law as their area on the QLS register.
Lawyers
Faran Gouldson, Principal, Legal Practice Director
GKS Law is a Moreton Bay and north Brisbane practice that started life as Gleeson Klein Stegeman. Director Mike Klein took over in 2006 and grew it from a one lawyer office into a sizeable local firm. Its personal injury side is led by Kane Stegeman, who has practised since 2005 and, according to the firm, was listed in Doyle's Guide for motor vehicle accident compensation in 2019. Car crash claims are run alongside work injury, public liability and TPD matters. It suits people on Brisbane's northside who want a local office in Aspley or Redcliffe.
Also worth knowing
It has offices in Aspley and Redcliffe.
Lawyers
Mike Klein, Director, Legal Practice Director
Kane Stegeman, Legal Practice Director (Personal Injury)
A Queensland compensation firm with its head office in Fortitude Valley and ten other locations, from the Gold Coast to Cairns, which helps if your crash happened outside Brisbane. Principal Kerry Splatt has been a Queensland Law Society accredited personal injury specialist since 1998, according to the firm, and works alongside executive practice leaders Andrew Splatt and Samuel Kenny. Motor vehicle and CTP claims sit with its catastrophic injury, wrongful death and psychological injury work, including nervous shock and PTSD. Home and hospital visits can be arranged by appointment, which helps if your injuries make travel hard.
Also worth knowing
Lists psychological injury, nervous shock and PTSD claims.
Lawyers
The firm says Kerry Splatt is a QLS accredited specialist in personal injuries law.
Kerry Splatt, Principal
Andrew Splatt, Director and Executive Practice Leader
Richardson & Lyons is a Brisbane injury firm with its main office on George Street and branches at Robina and Loganholme. Its motor vehicle page is one of the more practical we read, setting out the different notice deadlines for insured, uninsured and unidentified drivers, and what a proper search for a hit and run driver involves, such as police reports, witnesses and dashcam footage. It covers drivers, passengers, motorcyclists, pedestrians and cyclists. It suits people south of the city who want a local injury firm with offices on the Gold Coast and in Logan.
Also worth knowing
It acts for drivers, passengers, motorcyclists, pedestrians and cyclists.
Level 16, 15 Adelaide Street, Brisbane City QLD 4000
Full profile: lawyers, services and sources
About the firm
A compensation only firm set up in 2017 by Greg Black, Sean Ryan and John Vandeleur, who had worked together as partners at a larger compensation firm. Greg Black has practised only in personal injury law since 1997, and the firm says John Vandeleur has held Queensland Law Society accreditation since 2003. Motor vehicle and CTP claims are part of its work. It has two Brisbane offices, in the CBD on Adelaide Street and at Corinda in the west, plus Ipswich, Burleigh Heads and Robina, which suits people hurt on the road in the western suburbs or on the Gold Coast.
Founded in 2017
Also worth knowing
The firm says director John Vandeleur has held QLS accreditation since 2003.
Lawyers
Greg Black, Director
John Vandeleur, Director
Zach Samuels, Special Counsel
Ray Cayamanda, Senior Associate
Daniel Macpherson, Senior Associate
Max Cai, Senior Associate
Areas of car accident law handled
Motor vehicle and CTP
WorkCover
Public liability
Medical negligence
TPD and superannuation
Asbestos and silica diseases
Industrial deafness
Institutional abuse
Office
Level 16, 15 Adelaide Street, Brisbane City QLD 4000
Other details
Other offices
Corinda (Brisbane West), Burleigh Heads, Robina, Ipswich and Melbourne
A plaintiff only injury firm formed in 2016 by Christopher Roche, a former Wallaby who is now retired, and his son Sean Roche, who runs it as legal practice director and manages every case himself, according to the firm. It acts only in Queensland and only for injured people, never insurers, with offices on Eagle Street, in Springwood and at Caloundra. Its road work covers car, motorbike, bicycle and pedestrian accidents, and it also handles the insurance claims that can follow a serious crash, such as TPD, income protection and superannuation death benefits.
Formed in 2016
Also worth knowing
Offices on Eagle Street in the CBD, in Springwood and at Caloundra.
Firm details come from each firm's own website. Google ratings are shown as published on Google and don't set the order. Spotted something out of date? Tell us.
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How we compiled this list
We include firms with a Brisbane area office that handle car accident and CTP claims as a main part of their practice. For each firm we read its own website in October 2026 and wrote the description ourselves. Where a firm says a lawyer is a Queensland Law Society accredited specialist we say so, and you can check the Queensland Law Society's Register of Solicitors. We show Google ratings with the date we checked them.
Some firms pay for a featured listing, which affects where they appear on this page. Payment doesn't buy the write-up. We write those ourselves, and firms don't get to edit them. If something here is out of date, let us know. There's more detail on how we rank law firms.
This page is general information, not legal advice. Rules and amounts are as published in Queensland legislation and by MAIC, the National Injury Insurance Scheme Queensland and the Queensland courts in October 2026.
After a crash: police, the notice and the deadlines
Queensland's CTP scheme is fault based. If someone else caused the crash, you claim against the CTP insurer of their vehicle, and MAIC has an online lookup for a Queensland registered vehicle's insurer. CTP only covers injuries. It doesn't pay for damage to vehicles or property.
Police: you must call the police if someone is injured, and the accident has to be reported to police before you claim. Police may give you a QP number, which you'll need for the claim
Treatment: public hospital and emergency treatment for Queensland CTP claimants is covered by the Hospital and Emergency Services levy, and MAIC says you shouldn't be billed
Claim farming: if someone calls or messages out of the blue to push you into a claim, that's an offence in Queensland. Report it to MAIC
Deadline
Time limit
Notice of Accident Claim to the CTP insurer
Within 9 months of the accident (or of symptoms appearing, if they weren't obvious straight away), or 1 month after you first consult a lawyer about a claim, whichever is earlier
Hit and run or unidentified vehicle
Notice to the Nominal Defendant within 3 months. A claim not notified within 9 months is barred
Court proceedings
Generally 3 years from the date of the injury
Notice given before the 3 years ran out
You can still start court proceedings within 6 months after the notice, or later if the court allows
Injured as a child
The notice time starts when you turn 18, though notice can be given earlier. The court time limit is 3 years from turning 18
A late notice still has to be given, with a reasonable excuse for the delay. If the insurer doesn't accept the excuse, you can ask the court for leave to go ahead with the claim. That isn't possible for a hit and run claim notified more than 9 months after the accident. MAIC's forms point out that the 1 month rule after seeing a lawyer doesn't extend any of the other time limits.
How a CTP claim runs
Lodge the notice. Use the Queensland CTP portal or MAIC's Notice of Accident Claim form, then print it and sign it in front of an eligible witness. The form asks for the police report reference, a medical certificate from your doctor and identity documents. If you don't know yet how your injuries will turn out, you can tick that you're not ready to settle
The insurer replies within 14 days. It must tell you in writing whether your notice complies and, if it doesn't, give you at least 1 month to fix it. In the same reply it must say whether it will pay reasonable rehabilitation costs without admitting liability. If it doesn't reply in time, the notice is taken to comply
Treatment before liability is decided. The insurer can fund rehabilitation before it decides liability, and doing so isn't an admission. It needs to approve treatment first, and may not fund it if it denies liability. Once liability is admitted, it must pay reasonable private hospital, medical and pharmaceutical expenses, in proportion to its share if it says you were partly at fault
A liability decision within 6 months. Within 6 months of a compliant notice, the insurer must tell you whether it admits or denies liability, what share of blame it says is yours, and respond to any settlement offer you've made
Lost wages come at the end. Unlike WorkCover, CTP doesn't pay lost wages as you go. They're settled as part of the overall claim
The compulsory conference. Before you can sue, there must be a compulsory conference with the insurer. Either side can call one once 6 months have passed since the notice, or later if the insurer asked for more information. At least 7 days before, both sides swap their documents, and your lawyer must give you a costs statement setting out your legal fees and disbursements up to the end of the conference, an estimate of the costs of going to trial, and how costs would fall depending on the result compared with each side's final offer. It can be held by phone or video if you both agree
Final offers. If the conference doesn't settle the claim, each side must exchange a written final offer there, even an insurer that denies liability. Each offer stays open for 14 days. Court action should then start within 60 days after the conference
Accepting a settlement offer ends the claim. You can't make a further claim later for injuries from the same accident.
At fault drivers and the National Injury Insurance Scheme
If you were partly at fault, you can still claim, but your compensation may be reduced. A claim is refused if you were totally at fault, or if nobody was at fault, such as in some single vehicle accidents. CTP doesn't cover injuries to the at fault driver.
The Government finalised its review of the CTP scheme in early 2026 and decided reform won't be progressed for now, so the scheme stays fault based and there's no new CTP cover for at fault drivers.
The safety net for serious injuries is the National Injury Insurance Scheme Queensland, or NIISQ. For an accident in Queensland since 1 July 2016, it can fund treatment, care and support, in some cases for life, regardless of who was at fault, including for a driver who can't claim CTP. The injury has to be one of the eligible serious injuries and meet the scheme's criteria:
a permanent spinal cord injury
traumatic brain injury
multiple or high level amputations
severe burns
a permanent brachial plexus injury
permanent blindness caused by trauma
If you're a NIISQ participant and also have a CTP claim, the CTP insurer doesn't pay for the treatment, care and support that NIISQ covers. Call NIISQ on 1300 607 566.
Hit and run and unregistered vehicles: the Nominal Defendant
If the vehicle that hit you was uninsured, or the vehicle or its insurer can't be identified, the claim goes to the Nominal Defendant. It's a statutory body funded by a levy on CTP premiums, and its liability is the same as a CTP insurer's. It also steps in if a CTP insurer becomes insolvent. Contact the Nominal Defendant on 07 3035 6321 or [email protected], and send claim forms to the Nominal Defendant, GPO Box 2203, Brisbane Qld 4001. For general CTP questions, you can request a callback from MAIC on 1800 287 753.
Unidentified vehicle: notice is due within 3 months. A claim not notified within 9 months is barred, and neither the Nominal Defendant nor a court can waive that
Try to identify the vehicle first: MAIC asks claimants to make a genuine attempt to identify it. In court, a vehicle is treated as unidentifiable if proper inquiry and search failed to find it
Uninsured vehicle: the claim is only covered if the accident happened on a road or in a public place. The driver and owner of an unregistered vehicle may have to pay the injured person's damages
E-bikes and scooters: for vehicles that can't be registered, MAIC says a CTP claim is unlikely to be accepted
What you can claim, the ISV scale and fatal claims
A CTP claim can include lost wages and treatment costs, as well as general damages for pain and suffering. General damages are valued on an injury scale value, or ISV, from 0 to 100. The court gives your injury a score, using ranges for each type of injury set in the Civil Liability Regulation 2025, and the dollar amount for each score is fixed by an annual notice.
Injury from 1 July 2026
General damages
ISV 10
$21,850
ISV 100, the maximum
$494,150
Injuries from earlier years use the amounts for the year the injury happened.
When someone dies. A claim can be made on behalf of the person's dependants or estate, using MAIC's fatal injury form. Part A on its own covers funeral and other expenses, and a dependency claim needs Parts A and B. MAIC says a claim can include reasonable funeral costs, financial support for people who relied on the person's income, such as a spouse or de facto partner and dependent children, and domestic support such as childcare or home maintenance. Under the Civil Proceedings Act 2011, family members who can claim include children, parents and spouses. A de facto partner generally counts after 2 years living together, or sooner in some cases, such as where there's a dependent child of the relationship. The usual notice deadlines apply.
Legal costs, Brisbane courts and free help
For CTP claims, the law limits the legal costs you can recover from the insurer on smaller court awards. If a court awards $59,300 or less (2026 to 2027 figures), you can't recover any legal costs for the work done before proceedings started. Whether you get costs after that depends on how the award compares with the final offers. If the award is between $59,300 and $98,890, recoverable costs are generally capped at $4,960, at least for the pre-court stage. If a final offer is accepted instead, costs are worked out under the regulation. These figures change each 1 July.
Claims of $150,000 or less can go to the Magistrates Court, claims of $150,000 to $750,000 to the District Court, and larger claims to the Supreme Court. From 1 January 2027 the District Court limit rises to $1,500,000, for proceedings started on or after that date. Brisbane's Supreme and District Courts are at the QEII Courts of Law, 415 George Street, and the Magistrates Court is at 363 George Street.
MAIC (Motor Accident Insurance Commission): 1800 287 753, to request a callback about a CTP question, including reporting claim farming
Nominal Defendant: 07 3035 6321 or [email protected], for hit and run and uninsured vehicle claims
National Injury Insurance Scheme Queensland: 1300 607 566
Legal Aid Queensland: 1300 65 11 88. It doesn't give legal advice on personal injury matters, but its Civil Law Legal Aid Scheme may help with some costs of a claim if you're financially disadvantaged
Queensland Law Society: accredits specialists in personal injuries law. You can search its Register of Solicitors for accredited specialists by practice area and suburb
Brisbane car accident law: common questions
How long do I have to make a car accident claim in Queensland?
Your Notice of Accident Claim is due within 9 months of the accident, or 1 month after you first consult a lawyer about a claim, whichever is earlier. If the vehicle can't be identified, you have 3 months to notify the Nominal Defendant. The court time limit is generally 3 years from the date of the injury.
Does seeing a lawyer change my deadline?
It can bring it forward. Once you first consult a lawyer about a possible claim, the notice is due within 1 month if that's earlier than the 9 month date. MAIC's forms point out that this rule doesn't extend any of the other time limits.
Can I claim if the crash was my fault?
If you were partly at fault, yes, but your compensation may be reduced. If you were totally at fault, CTP doesn't cover your injuries. If you have an eligible serious injury, such as a permanent spinal cord injury or a traumatic brain injury, NIISQ can still fund your treatment, care and support regardless of fault.
What if the other driver didn't stop, or the car was unregistered?
The claim goes to the Nominal Defendant, on 07 3035 6321 or [email protected], and claim forms are posted to GPO Box 2203, Brisbane Qld 4001. For an unidentified vehicle, give notice within 3 months, and make a genuine attempt to identify the vehicle first. A claim not notified within 9 months is barred.
Will the insurer pay for treatment before it accepts liability?
It can. An insurer can fund rehabilitation before deciding liability without admitting fault, and within 14 days of your notice it must say whether it will. It has to approve treatment first, and may not fund it if it denies liability. Public hospital treatment is covered by a levy, so you shouldn't be billed.
What is the compulsory conference?
A meeting with the insurer that must happen before you can sue, usually once 6 months have passed since your notice. Both sides swap documents beforehand. If the claim doesn't settle, each side must make a written final offer, which stays open for 14 days.
Can my family claim if someone died in a car accident?
Yes. Dependants can claim financial support and domestic support, and reasonable funeral costs can be claimed too. Family members who can claim include a spouse or de facto partner, children and parents. The same notice deadlines apply, using MAIC's fatal injury form.
