Brendan Bourke

Director
Brendan is a Queenslander born and bred, a SLOB (St Leo’s Old Boy) at heart, and graduated from the University of QLD with a Bachelor of Laws in 1988. He was admitted to the Supreme Court of Queensland in July 1990, the High Court of Australia in September 1990, and the Supreme Court of NSW in December 1991.

After admission Brendan honed his skills in both Plaintiff and Defendant insurance work, initially in QLD before moving to NSW and taking up a position with Northern Rivers firm Stone & Partners in 1993. Brendan was a Partner with Stone & Partners from 1996 until 2005, when he started the firm Bourke Love McCartney Young. He remained in partnership with BLMY until 2009, and started Bourke Love Lawyers in partnership with Tony Love until 2021. He is now the Director of Bourke Legal.

“I really enjoy pulling apart a complex case, maybe one that to others seems hopeless, and finding the solution,” Brendan says. “It ain’t rocket surgery – it’s attention to detail that gets results.”

Brendan is an Accredited Specialist (Personal Injury), a member of the NSW Law Society, a member of the Far North Coast Law Society, and is an Approved Legal Services Provider with IRO (Independent Review Office).

He served on the Board of Directors of St Vincent’s Hospital at Lismore for 10 years, and has served on the Board of Directors of a local charity. Brendan has also served as junior rugby coach with Lennox Head Trojans (go hard or go home), is a former member of Group One Rugby League Judiciary, and has served as Honorary Defence Counsel before the Lismore Rugby Club judiciary.

Brendan loves the great outdoors, and when not in the office, he and his wife Michelle are busy finding new places all over the world to indulge a mutual love for hiking. He can’t decide whether he loves mountain biking more than road biking. Brendan is also a keen fisherman, dragging in a “metre barra” at Dhippirri in the Northern Territory, and held the record for the largest Black Marlin caught in Western Australia (334 pounds at Rowley Shoals in 1998).

Experience
and Wins

Work Injury Damages – million dollar judgment in the District Court of NSW, for a Police Officer suffering PTSD due to his employer’s failure to look after him.

Work Injury /Public Liability won a hugely complex Supreme Court case for a builder injured by the negligent operation of a crane by a co-worker after 10 days of hearing.

Public Liability forced an Insurer to admit blame then pay a $1M+ settlement for a man with severe burn injuries caused by installation of a faulty hot water system, settled on the first day of hearing in the Supreme Court of NSW.

Workers Compensation successfully argued a case on behalf of an injured builder in NSW’s leading decision involving “deemed workers” under Schedule 1 of the Workers Compensation Act.

Police Compensation cases – multiple cases of securing 10+ years of backpay for Police Officers with separate physical and psychological injuries.

No Win-No Fee Compensation Lawyers, Queensland & New South Wales