Court proceedings have been transformed by the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. This seminar will begin with a synopsis of the current Commercial List approach to online hearings and case management during the pandemic.

The seminar will also address the key practical aspects of Commercial List proceedings, from filing a list statement; procedural case management; the operation of Practice Note SC Eq 11; preparing a court book; objections; preparing for hearing; and of course running the hearing. The presenters will also analyse a recent decision of the New South Wales Court of Appeal concerning the principles of contractual construction (as they apply in commercial cases).

David Sulan, Barrister, Banco Chambers

Ryan Jameson, Barrister, Banco Chambers

This pre-recorded webinar was originally presented as part of Specialist Accreditation Week 2020

This session will explore developments in advocacy and the administration of justice from both a pre and post COVID-19 pandemic perspective.  

It will examine the policy and operational context of the criminal justice system in NSW pre COVID-19.  Specifically, it will outline how the business of the District Court and the Local Court, and the prison population have been effected by the drivers of the sustained growth in the number of matters brought before the courts, the District Court backlog initiatives, and the raft of legislative reform including the EAGP, sentencing and parole, high risk offender, and Table offence reforms. It will consider how some legislative reform operates disproportionately against the most disadvantaged people in our community.  

The session will then examine the criminal justice system in NSW post COVID-19.  It will look at the safety measures that have had an impact on advocacy in the criminal courts, as well as legislative changes, and consider how they might affect the criminal justice system in NSW into the future.  

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Join a panel of elder law experts as they discuss some of the recent developments in aged care and elder law, including

• Impact of COVID-19 and legislative amendments on privacy and records and the COVID-19 App

• Recent common law cases

• RV and Ministerial orders, screening and Orders regulating entry into residential aged care facilities (including flu vax)

• New visitor access code

• Duty of care and infection control

• Recent cases from the guardianship tribunal

• Newmarch House – legal implications for practitioners acting for staff and residents of aged care facilities that have tested positive for COVID-19

Kim Boettcher, Barrister, Frederick Jordan Chambers

Lucinda Smith, Partner, Thomson Geer Lawyers

Rodney Lewis, Senior Solicitor, Elderlaw legal services

Alison Choy Flannigan, Partner, Hall & Wilcox Smarter Law

This pre-recorded webinar was originally presented as part of Government Solicitors week 2020

This presentation considers the current state of executive federalism in Australia in the context of the development and continuation of the National Cabinet comprising the Prime Minister, State Premiers and Territory Chief Ministers. The National Cabinet has generally been viewed as a success in coordinating and guiding governmental responses to the Coronavirus-COVID-19 pandemic. The presentation will look at the reasons for this outcome, including by considering past intergovernmental governance models, and identify the issues relevant to the National Cabinet continuing to provide a successful mechanism for facilitating a functioning executive federalism.

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This pre-recorded webinar was originally presented as part of Government Solicitors week 2020

During this panel session our expert panellists discuss the ways that rapid legislative changes to billing practices in response to COVID-19 impacted medical practice and consequently patients. Hear from our panellists as they explore the constitutional issues relating to this legislation, deep dive into examples of practical changes to medical services delivery, and explore the government’s current approaches to upholding the integrity of the Medicare scheme through medical practitioner billing compliance initiatives.

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Moderator: Karen Keogh, Partner, HWL Ebsworth

Margaret Faux, Founder & CEO, Synapse Medical Services

Bruce Topperwien, Executive Officer & General Counsel, Professional Services Review Agency

Dr Jamie Orchard, General Counsel, Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency

In this webinar, experienced insolvency expert Ben Sewell will discuss how COVID-19 has affected corporate insolvency law and what legal practitioners can do right now for clients at risk of insolvency.

COVID-19 has impacted every aspect of the New South Wales workers compensation system since the 1st public health order in March 2020.

The pandemic has provided an opportunity for innovative and responsive changes to lessen or ameliorate the impact of the pandemic on injured workers, insurers and employers.  

This session will discuss changes or developments in the regulatory environment, legislation and practice in response to COVID-19 and will consider ‘what next’.

This session will examine recent legislative changes and administrative practices, including COVID-19 related measures, and cases affecting NSW stamp duty and land tax, including:

• important changes affecting discretionary trusts and foreign duty and land tax surcharges
• new revenue ruling on deceased estates
• COVID-19 duty and land tax relief measures
• recent cases on duty and land tax
• administrative practices affecting common property transactions

This presentation will include a review of the various ways in which the law has changed to allow the formation, signing and witnessing of documents (including deeds) without the traditional ‘wet ink on paper’ being required. The changes have been felt in nearly all aspects of legal practice and have in some instances increased the time burden on solicitors.

We will look at the Electronic Transactions Acts (Commonwealth and NSW), the Electronic Conveyancing legislation, the 2018 amendments to the Conveyancing Act, the practices of various government departments or instrumentalities such as ASIC and some more recent developments implemented as a response to the Covid-19 pandemic.  The latter changes are expressed to be temporary but there is a question whether it is helpful for these changes to automatically terminate when the government decides that the pandemic has passed in circumstances where for many the way in which we practice has and will remain irrevocably changed by the pandemic. 

This pre-recorded webinar was originally presented as part of Rural Issues Day 2020

Registrar Brett McGrath discusses the impact of the pandemic on judicial process and the way that family law practitioners and judicial officers have adapted to meet these challenges.