Maurice Blackburn

Key practice areas: Class Actions & Major Projects
Qualifications: B Com, LLB (UNSW)
Location: Sydney (NSW)

Julian Schimmel is a Senior Associate in the Major Projects department in Sydney.

Julian is currently conducting two class actions in the Federal Court of Australia for victims of faulty knee implants and faulty hip implants. These class actions are both against DePuy International Ltd, which manufactured the implants, and against Johnson & Johnson Medical Pty Limited. The DePuy ASR hip implants class action was launched in February 2011 and proceedings were launched in the DePuy LCS Duofix knee implants class action in 2010.

Julian has worked on several large shareholder class actions, most recently helping to secure $39.5 million in compensation for 1,300 AWB shareholders who were misled about the company's involvement in the oil-for-food kickback scandal. Julian has also worked on a shareholder class action against OZ Minerals and a cartel class action against Amcor/Visy.

Like many other Maurice Blackburn lawyers, Julian is passionate about social justice and is working on a class action against the NSW government over the false imprisonment of children by police. He also acts for and provides advice to Greenpeace.

Before joining Maurice Blackburn in December 2007, Julian had almost four years experience as a criminal defence lawyer working for the Aboriginal Legal Service in Redfern and Wollongong, where he was vigilant in ensuring that Aboriginal Australians had access to justice and proper legal representation when they became entangled in the criminal justice system.

Julian has also previously worked as a lawyer at the New South Wales Crown Solicitor's Office and at the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions.