Love thy neighbour but not their trees?
Felicity Wardhaugh is a Special Counsel at Mullane & Lindsay in Newcastle and specialises in wills and estate planning,
commercial dispute resolution & litigation, and employment law.
The Land and Environment Court provides assistance to neighbours who are in dispute about trees. It is obviously preferable to talk to neighbours rather than take them to Court. However, knowing that the Court provides this type of service is helpful. It might persuade a neighbour to be more reasonable. Section 7 Trees (Disputes Between Neighbours) Act 2006 enables an owner of land to apply to the Court for an order to remedy, restrain or prevent damage to property or injury to a person as a direct consequence of a neighbour’s tree. Read the rest of this entry »
The difficult role of an Independent Children’s Lawyer
by Rose Laffan
Rose Laffan is a Senior Solicitor at Mullane & Lindsay in Newcastle and practises extensively in Family, Relationship and
Matrimonial Law
Late last year a Family Court judgement made headlines when orders were made that provided for the children’s lawyer to remain appointed until the youngest child turned 18.
An Independent Children’s Lawyer is bound to seek Orders in the children’s best interests. Their appointment is for the length of the Court proceedings.
The children’s lawyer in the matter of Stacey & Woden however was left in a difficult position.
Allegations that the children were at risk of harm from the father had been made by the mother. The Court expert found that there were risk factors present, a Police investigation commenced and Child Protective Services conducted an inquiry. But in the meantime the parents recommenced the children spending unsupervised time with the father. Read the rest of this entry »
Is Creative Commons Your Copyright Solution?
Katie Thompson is a Solicitor at Mullane & Lindsay in Newcastle and specialises in commercial dispute resolution & litigation, and employment law.
Creative Commons is a worldwide initiative that aims to make copyright material more accessible and negotiable in the digital environment. It is designed to provide an alternative model for managing copyright of digital content by allowing people to give permission to others to use their work, so long as it is attributed to them. In some circumstances, Creative Commons can provide an effective and simple way to share and collaborate with digital content and this could potentially help you to develop a social profile, build publicity and enhance the commercialized version of your content.
There are different types of Creative Commons licences and creators can mix-and-match the licencing restrictions that they would like to apply to their work. Read the rest of this entry »
Security of Payment Act – What is a valid payment schedule?
Lachlan Page is a Solicitor at Mullane & Lindsay and is part of our Commercial, Property & Estates Law team.
This article is part of a series of articles that provides an overview of the Security of Payments Act Regime in NSW and explores the notion of a Payment Schedule under the Building and Construction Industry Security of Payment Act 1999 NSW (“the Act“).
A Payment Schedule is a document provided in response to a Payment Claim under the Act that essentially puts forward a respondent’s position in relation to a Payment Claim. A Payment Schedule will usually state that the respondent intends to pay the full amount contained in the Payment Claim or a lesser amount than that contained in the relevant Payment Claim.
It is vitally important that when providing a Payment Schedule under the Act, that the Payment Schedule be a valid Payment Schedule. If a Payment Schedule is not considered to be a valid Payment Schedule, significant rights may arise in favour of the party who has issued a Payment Claim, including, a statutory right to payment for the amount set out in the corresponding Payment Claim. Read the rest of this entry »
Traps with Powers of Attorney
Tony Cavanagh is a Director at Mullane & Lindsay in Newcastle and specialises in commercial dispute resolution & litigation, and employment law.
The NSW Supreme Court recently dealt with a case about the transfer of a property under a Power of Attorney (PoA). Briefly, a Mrs Cohen, an elderly and infirm lady, granted a PoA to her son. The son was also the sole beneficiary of the only known Will of his mother.
The son used the PoA to transfer a home unit from her name to his. This particular PoA expressly permitted the son to confer a benefit on himself.
By the time of the hearing Mrs Cohen was in aged care; the cost of her care exceeded her pension; and the NSW Trustee & Guardian had been appointed to manage her financial affairs. It wanted to sell the unit, to release funds to be used for Mrs Cohen’s care. It argued the transfer was improper, despite the PoA allowing the son to benefit himself. Read the rest of this entry »
The women are closing in…
Ashleigh John is a Family Law Accredited Specialist at Mullane & Lindsay in Newcastle and practises extensively in Family, Relationship and Matrimonial Law.
Recent figures released by The Law Society of NSW reveal that female solicitors are closing the gap on their male colleagues.
In 2016, women make up 49.2% of the profession. This is largely due to the increasing number of female Law graduates. The Australian Financial Review has recently published figures showing that 59% of the 1,053 first year lawyers in NSW are female.
Mullane & Lindsay is leading the state-wide average with 6 of our 11 solicitors being female. We are also proud to have a female member on our Board of Directors, in Kristy Nunn. Read the rest of this entry »
Underpaid wages – risks to business advisers
Tony Cavanagh is a Director at Mullane & Lindsay in Newcastle and specialises in commercial dispute resolution & litigation, and employment law.
In recent months we have all heard of some high profile businesses that have underpaid wages. The 7-Eleven franchise has received some publicity in this context, but it is not alone. However it is not only the business in breach of wage payment obligations that is at risk.
Early in 2016 the Fair Work Ombudsman commenced civil proceedings against accountants who were business advisers to a hospitality business which allegedly underpaid workers. The allegation is that the accountants were ‘knowingly involved’ in underpayments and therefore have a separate liability to that of the business itself. Based on the FWO press release (the proceedings had not been determined at the time this article was prepared) the liability is said to arise because the accountants, having consulted to the business about a Fair Work audit, knew what the correct minimum wage was; but subsequently processed wages (for foreign workers on working holiday visas) at less than the minimum wage. Read the rest of this entry »
Are you an Enduring Guardian? What are your rights and obligations?
Katie Thompson is a Solicitor at Mullane & Lindsay in Newcastle and specialises in commercial dispute resolution & litigation, and employment law.
Enduring Guardians may be required to exercise a range of different functions if an appointer becomes totally or partially incapable of making lifestyle decisions.
In general, the functions of an Enduring Guardian are to:
- Decide the place in which the appointer is to live;
- Decide the type of health care the appointer is to receive, subject to any advance care directives;
- Decide personal services the appointer is to receive; and,
- Provide consent to medical or dental treatment on behalf of the appointer.