More on the new drink driving penalties
by Lana Black
Lana Black is a Solicitor at Mullane & Lindsay and practises primarily in Commercial & Property Law.
Further to our recent article ‘A Must Know – The New Drink Driving Penalties’, the following table provides details of the new disqualification periods and interlock periods imposed for serious and repeat drink driving offences:
Trends in family court filings
Mark Sullivan is a Director at Mullane & Lindsay in Newcastle and specialises in Family, Relationship and Matrimonial Law
In February 2015 the Australian Institute of Family Studies released a report analysing trends in family law court filings over a 9 year period between 2004-05 and 2012-13.
The report sheds light on the impact on court filings of the 2006 parenting reforms. These reforms encouraged greater use of non-court based mechanisms (such as mediation counseling) for resolving parenting disputes and placed hurdles to curb parents commencing court proceedings. Read the rest of this entry »
Ambiguity in commercial contracts
Tony Cavanagh is a Director at Mullane & Lindsay in Newcastle and specialises in commercial dispute resolution & litigation, and employment law.
Generally, where the terms and conditions in a commercial contract are clear, they are enforceable as drafted. However from time to time, Courts have looked at evidence about “surrounding circumstances” to determine precisely what contractual terms mean, where those provisions are ambiguous. The best known decision in this area is Codelfa which, amongst tother things, stands for the proposition that a Court must be satisfied a contractual provision is ambiguous before it can consider surrounding or extrinsic circumstances, and if it is not satisfied as to ambiguity it may not do so. Read the rest of this entry »
What is a case guardian?
by Rose Laffan
Rose Laffan is a Senior Solicitor at Mullane & Lindsay in Newcastle and practises extensively in Family, Relationship and Matrimonial Law
Occasionally a question will arise as to whether a party has the necessary capacity to make their own legal decisions following the breakdown of a relationship or marriage.
Should the party’s treating doctor or a specialist state that the person does not have capacity but the proceedings or action needs to continue, it will be necessary to consider the appointment of a Case Guardian. Read the rest of this entry »
What are “personal effects” in a will?
Tony Cavanagh is a Director at Mullane & Lindsay in Newcastle and specialises in commercial dispute resolution & litigation, and employment law.
Early in 2015 the NSW Supreme Court dealt with a dispute in which a widow argued that, properly understood, her late husband’s gift to her of ‘household furniture and furnishings and personal effects’ meant she should receive a motor vehicle, shares, money in bank accounts and on term deposit; and what appear to have been some convertible notes.
The case hinged on the legal meaning of the phrase ‘personal effects’. The widow argued that, because the disclosed estate property did not refer to household furniture and furnishings or items such as clothing, watches, accessories or appliances, the expression ‘personal effects’ must have been intended, in that context, to refer to things like bank accounts and share holdings. Read the rest of this entry »