MF+A Director Michelle French and Senior Consultant Linda Oppy were invited to attend the Melbourne launch of Out of the Ashes, the biography of Marie Browitt and Stephanie Browitt.
Michelle and Linda first met Stephanie and Marie when they were engaged by Gordon Legal to provide independent expert opinion in their legal matter. It was a rare kind of engagement for Australian expert witnesses, as the case was to be heard in the United States. Over the course of the matter, they undertook assessments, prepared reports, and gave depositions — something not typically part of Australian expert witness work.
Following resolution of the matter, Michelle and Linda reflected on the professional and clinical insights gained through that experience. The book launch provided an opportunity to reconnect with the Gordon Legal team and other experts involved, and to mark an important milestone in Stephanie and Marie’s ongoing journey.
Out of the Ashes is an apt title for that journey, characterised by resilience and realism. In telling their story, Stephanie and Marie are open about what they have lost, and optimistic about where they are heading. Their account reflects adaptation grounded in lived experience, rather than optimism divorced from circumstance.
Occupational therapists frequently work alongside individuals and families facing profound and lifelong change, assisting them to understand how injury or loss reshapes function, identity, and life roles. In expert witness work, this involves articulating the longer‑term implications of change and supporting consideration of a person’s current and future needs.
Rarely, however, is there an opportunity to see that process of adaptation so actively unfolding over time.
Out of the Ashes offers insight into resilience, adaptation and future possibility. These themes sit at the center of community rehabilitation, and of the independent expert opinion work MF+A is engaged in.
Michelle and Linda first met Stephanie and Marie when they were engaged by Gordon Legal to provide independent expert opinion in their legal matter. It was a rare kind of engagement for Australian expert witnesses, as the case was to be heard in the United States. Over the course of the matter, they undertook assessments, prepared reports, and gave depositions — something not typically part of Australian expert witness work.
Following resolution of the matter, Michelle and Linda reflected on the professional and clinical insights gained through that experience. The book launch provided an opportunity to reconnect with the Gordon Legal team and other experts involved, and to mark an important milestone in Stephanie and Marie’s ongoing journey.
Out of the Ashes is an apt title for that journey, characterised by resilience and realism. In telling their story, Stephanie and Marie are open about what they have lost, and optimistic about where they are heading. Their account reflects adaptation grounded in lived experience, rather than optimism divorced from circumstance.
Occupational therapists frequently work alongside individuals and families facing profound and lifelong change, assisting them to understand how injury or loss reshapes function, identity, and life roles. In expert witness work, this involves articulating the longer‑term implications of change and supporting consideration of a person’s current and future needs.
Rarely, however, is there an opportunity to see that process of adaptation so actively unfolding over time.
Out of the Ashes offers insight into resilience, adaptation and future possibility. These themes sit at the center of community rehabilitation, and of the independent expert opinion work MF+A is engaged in.
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