Mr Peter Gordon

Peter Gordon is a senior partner with law firm Slater and Gordon, which represented Rolah McCabe, the first person outside the United States to successfully sue a tobacco company for damages. In March 2002, Justice Geoffrey Eames of the Supreme Court of Victoria struck out the defence of British American Tobacco Australia after his finding that the process of discovery in this case was subverted by BAT and its solicitor Clayton Utz, with the deliberate intention of denying a fair trial to the plaintiff.

Ms McCabe was awarded $700,000 in damages from British and American Tobacco. BAT has since appealed. The case has triggered several official inquiries into the conduct of BAT and Clayton Utz and investigations by the US Justice Department.

Peter Gordon's firm was also involved in the unsuccessful Nixon class action against three Australian tobacco companies and Australia's first successful passive smoking case in 1988 for terminally ill Melbourne bus driver Sean Carroll.

Peter has extensively researched tobacco documents from around the world In his efforts to pursue litigation against the tobacco industry.

Back to Conference Speakers Section