This session was recorded on 14 March 2023 as part of the Property law: One day intensive – live webinar. 

Join industry experts for this full day online program as they discuss a range of issues faced by property lawyers.

Topics include:

The regulatory responsibilities solicitors have relating to legal costs – Nick Satouris, Professional Support Solicitor, Professional Support Unit, The Law Society of NSW

This session will take you through costs considerations involving:

• costs disclosure;
• cost agreements;  
• cost recovery; and
• cost assessment and billing in so far as it affects your daily practice.

Legal ethics – Linden Barnes, Senior Ethics Solicitor, Professional Support Unit, The Law Society of NSW

In this session, you will explore ethical issues that can arise in your daily practice. Linden Barnes will identify important cases that will assist you in determining your professional responsibilities. Linden offers a detailed summary of the facts of each case, analyses the judgment, and discusses the wider implications of these decisions. This will be an interactive session as Linden encourages active participation, so bring along your questions!”

Hot topics in residential construction law – Vikram Misra, Barrister, Clarence Chambers

This session will cover:

• owner’s right to terminate a residential construction contract in the context of builder delay and an analysis of some case examples;
• what to be aware of when advising on termination;
• practical guidance on relevant evidence required by the Court;
• drafting Builder’s caveats to avoid statutory non-compliance;
• security of payment in NSW in the context of owner occupier construction contracts.

Negotiating a Lease Proposal –  Leisha de Aboitiz, Partner, Massons and Joseph Consalvi, Senior Associate, Massons

This session will review case law and cover:  

• how a lease proposal or Heads of Agreement documents the proposed commercial terms for a lease as well as the process and timeframes for negotiating and finalising the lease documentation;
• when lease proposals bind the parties in the context of being generally framed as non-binding and “subject to contract”, with only certain provisions being expressed to be binding on the parties;
• how effective lease proposals are in preserving a party’s right to withdraw from a transaction;
• key terms, non-binding and binding provisions; and
• how to make a lease proposal “Subject to Contract”.

Exploring issues arising from the NSW legal reform to understand the way in which cladding liabilities and issues are evolving in NSW – David Bannerman, Principal, Bannermans Lawyers

This session will explore the following critical issues:

• the Grenfall Tower fire – reactions in NSW and more widely;
• Project Remediate – a dissection;
• cladding law matters in the context of the:

    - Home Building Act 1989
     - Design & Building Practitioners Act 2020
     - Residential Apartments Act 2020; and

• an update on the relevant class actions.

Make no error: rescission of a contract for the sale of land, on the basis of Flight v Booth [1834] EngR 1087, endures! – Sydney Jacobs, Barrister & Mediator, 13 Wentworth Chambers

This session will consider:

• diversity of cases where the Flight v Booth principle has been applied e.g. tombstones, auctioneer’s conditions of sale, drains, sketches attached to contracts for sale “off the plan”;  
• the intersection of Flight v Booth , Notices to Complete and repudiation;
• legislation that embodies the idea of Flight v Booth;
• the intersection of Flight v Booth and the Australian Consumer Law;
• re-occurring factual scenarios (other than the above) where Flight v Booth is worth considering when a purchaser wishes to rescind a contract for the sale of land, such as contractual promises by a developer of a strata scheme made in contracts for sale “off the plan” to build common property to a particular standard.