Meet Our Principal Solicitor
Accredited Specialist in Personal Injury Law
Founder, Birth Injury Lawyers
“With over three decades of specialist expertise in medical negligence litigation, Anthony Porthouse has built his career on a single conviction: that every person injured through no fault of their own deserves access to justice — no matter how powerful the institution responsible.”
36
+
Years of medical negligence experience
100
+
of Successful Settlements
Doyle’s Guide
Leading Medical Negligence
Lawyer 2022 – NSW
All States
We can help you anywhere in Australia
- Background
A Career Built on Excellence in Personal Injury Law
Anthony Porthouse is one of Australia’s most experienced personal injury solicitors, with a distinguished career spanning more than 36 years. He is an Accredited Specialist in Personal Injury Law — a rigorous recognition awarded by the Law Society of NSW to solicitors who demonstrate superior knowledge, skill, and experience in their specialist field.
Anthony graduated with a Bachelor of Laws and a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Sydney in 1988 and was admitted as a Solicitor of the Supreme Court of New South Wales in 1989. Since then, he has dedicated his practice entirely to personal injury and compensation law, developing a particular depth of expertise in medical negligence litigation at both trial and appellate level.
Over his career, Anthony has secured hundreds of successful settlements for injured clients across New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland, Tasmania, Western Australia, and South Australia — litigating in every jurisdiction in Australia. He is on first-name terms with Australia’s leading medical experts in the field, and is highly respected by defendant solicitors acting for hospitals and insurers throughout the country.
Education
LLB & BA, University of Sydney (1988)
Admitted to the Bar
Supreme Court of NSW, 1989
Accreditation
NSW Law Society Accredited Specialist — Personal Injury Law
- SPECIAL FOCUS
Australia’s Leading Specialist in Birth Injury Litigation
In 2025, Anthony founded Birth Injury Lawyers — Australia’s only legal practice dedicated exclusively to representing mothers, infants, and families affected by birth-related medical negligence. This specialisation was born not simply from legal opportunity, but from a deep conviction that too many women who have suffered preventable harm during childbirth remain unaware of their legal rights and go without the compensation they deserve.
The 2024 NSW Parliamentary Inquiry into Birth Trauma found that more than one in four women experience birth trauma — with many injuries resulting from preventable medical failures. Anthony recognised that while national personal injury firms focused on infant brain injury claims, injured mothers were being overlooked. Birth Injury Lawyers was established to close this gap.
Anthony has personally litigated numerous birth injury claims for both mothers and infants across Australian jurisdictions, accumulating unmatched expertise in the unique legal, medical, and procedural complexities of this area of law. He brings this knowledge to every client — offering not only legal skill, but genuine understanding of the physical, emotional, and financial toll that birth injuries place upon families.
- SPECIAL FOCUS
What Anthony Can Help You With
Maternal Birth Trauma
Severe perineal tears, pelvic floor injury, episiotomy mismanagement, postpartum haemorrhage, failure to obtain informed consent.
High-Risk Pregnancy Mismanagement
Failure to properly manage high-risk pregnancies, delayed emergency caesarean sections causing maternal or infant harm.
Medical Negligence — General
Broader medical negligence claims across all hospital and clinical settings, at trial and appellate level, throughout Australia.
Infant Birth Injuries
Hypoxic brain injury, cerebral palsy, failure to recognise foetal distress, forceps or vacuum misuse, neonatal intensive care negligence.
Psychological Injury
Claims for fathers and family members who witnessed traumatic births and suffered consequential psychological harm.
Compensation & Damages
Claims for pain and suffering, economic loss, ongoing medical expenses, and long-term care and support needs.
- CAREER
Thirty-six years,
one focus.
A practice built slowly, deliberately, and with deep respect for the women whose stories are at its heart. Tap a year to read more.
1988
University of Sydney
Graduated Bachelor of Laws and Bachelor of Arts, University of Sydney.
1989
Admitted to the Supreme Court
Admitted as Solicitor of the Supreme Court of New South Wales.
1989–Present
Litigating in every state
Built a practice spanning all areas of personal injury and compensation law, with particular expertise in medical negligence litigation at trial and appellate level across all Australian jurisdictions.
Pre-2025
Leading large litigation teams
Managed medical negligence litigation teams with combined budgets exceeding $3 million annually, overseeing high-volume and complex claims with a strong record of results for clients.
2022
Listed in Doyle’s Guide as a Leading Medical Negligence Lawyer in NSW.
Listed in Doyle’s Guide as a Leading Medical Negligence Lawyer in NSW — one of Australia’s most respected and independent legal directories.
2026
Founded Birth Injury Lawyers
Founded Birth Injury Lawyers — Australia’s only specialist legal practice dedicated exclusively to representing mothers, infants, and families affected by birth injury and birth trauma.
1988
University of Sydney
1989
Admitted to the Supreme Court
1989–Present
Litigating in every state
Pre-2025
Leading large litigation teams
2022
Doyle's Guide listing
2026
Founded Birth Injury Lawyers
- Anthony’s Approach
Why Anthony Does What He Does
Anthony approaches every client matter with one guiding principle: justice delayed is justice denied. He is known within the legal profession for the efficiency and rigour with which he manages complex litigation — an approach that benefits both clients and the integrity of their claims.
Unlike many large national firms, Birth Injury Lawyers limits its reliance on barristers, performing most work in-house to reduce unnecessary cost and delay. Anthony has also been an early adopter of workflow management technology and artificial intelligence tools in legal practice, allowing his team to handle high-volume and complex work with exceptional efficiency.
Above all, Anthony is committed to making the legal system accessible to the people who need it most. Birth Injury Lawyers operates on a no-win, no-fee basis, and offers a transparent lump-sum fee structure that gives clients certainty from the very first conversation — a deliberate break from the hourly-rate model that keeps so many injured people from pursuing the compensation they deserve.
