Richard Travers

Richard Travers is currently the managing director of Altior Pty Limited. 

He mixes his legal practice with teaching law at the University of New South Wales.  He is also an author, writing history in his free time.  His book, Diggers in France: Australian Soldiers on the Western Front, published in 2008 was commended in the Australian National Literary Awards.      

Career

Richard Travers joined Clayton Utz in January 1975.  He became a partner of the firm on 1 January 1983.

In December 1985, he commenced practice as a barrister, returning to the Clayton Utz partnership in October 1987.  From 1988 until 1994, he practised in the firm’s Melbourne office.  In 1994, he returned to the Sydney office.  

He served as a member of the firm’s national board. He was the managing partner of its Melbourne office.

He retired from the Clayton Utz partnership late in 2002, to set up Altior Pty Limited. 

Richard Travers is the author of the sections on medical practitioners and product liability in the Thomson Lawbook Co’s Laws of Australia, and of many journal articles relating to legal issues and litigation risk management.

Diggers in France is a history of the Australian soldiers who fought on the Western Front in the First World War. Richard Travers has recently completed a history of the Australian campaigns in North Africa and Greece in the Second World War.

Richard Travers also teaches administrative law in the Law School of the University of New South Wales.

Major cases

Nevada copper mine

Richard Travers provided advice in connection with an action in the District Court of Nevada in June and July 2003, in which Equatorial Mining Limited and its subsidiaries recovered a verdict in excess of US$136.9 million from the engineering company, Kvaerner. 

The action arose from the catastrophic failure of a heap/leach copper mine which Equatorial had constructed in Tonopah, Nevada. 

Kvaerner had conducted a feasibility study for the project in which it concluded that the mine would operate profitably.  The court held that Kvaerner carried out the feasibility study negligently, and breached the contract pursuant to which it conducted the study.

Seven Network Limited

Ziegler v Village Roadshow Limited

Richard Travers assisted in the preparation of the plaintiff’s case in this claim to recover damages approaching $150 million for breach of contract.

Richard Travers represented the respondent in an appeal in which the High Court of Australia considered the application of the law of restitution in Australia.  The decision is reported as Roxborough v Rothmans of Pall Mall Australia Limited (2001) 76 ALJR 203.

Class action

Richard Travers represented two of the respondents in a major class action brought against members of the Australian tobacco industry.  The Full Court of the Federal Court of Australia held that the action could not be brought as a representative proceeding.  The Full Court’s decision is a key authority on the availability of class actions in the Federal Court of Australia.  The decision is reported as Philip Morris Australia Limited v Nixon (2000) 170 ALR 487.

Olympic Co-ordination Authority

Richard Travers represented the Olympic Co-ordination Authority in several cases connected with the Sydney Olympic and Paralympic Games.

National Health and Medical Research Council

Richard Travers represented the applicants in proceedings which lead to the grant of an injunction preventing the National Health and Medical Research Council from proceeding adopting a draft report on the health effects of passive smoking without following the prescribed legislative process.  The decision is reported as Tobacco Institute of Australia Limited v National Health and Medical Research Council (1996) 142 ALR 1.

Publications

Richard Travers has published widely in the fields of product liability, commercial litigation and medical and scientific aspects of the law.  He is also a military historian. 

For details of his publications, see the publications page of this site.

Tertiary education