This session was recorded on 19 March 2024 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.

Click here to view the full program

Topics include:

Stamp duty and land tax in real property transactions – Andrew Rider, Barrister, Level 22 Chambers

This session will cover the impact of recent legislative and other changes to stamp duty and land tax in real property transactions, including:

• New dutiable transactions
• Aggregation and valuations
• Exemptions and concessions
• Surcharge duty and land tax

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

In this session Linden Barnes will consider ethical issues and scenarios relevant to property lawyers.

Leaving no room for error: Best practice drafting for put and call option deeds – Spyridon Augoustinos, Associate, Green & Associates Solicitors

In this session you will learn:  

• About the implications of recent changes to conveyancing regulations and the NSW stamp duty regime and potential pitfalls and alternatives to entering into option deeds that may be relevant to your clients 
• To use precise language when drafting clauses dealing with grantor and grantee obligations  
• To draft favourable clauses for a property developer client entering into a call option arrangement such as extension, nomination, interdependent contracts, caveat, early access and facilitation of DA clauses  
• To draft favourable clauses for option grantors, such as grantee provision of security deposits and option extension fees being paid in addition the purchase price 
• About recent case studies and option deed disputes which reflect the important of precise option drafting. 

Retail leases: cases and developments, Gary Newton, Partner, HWL Ebsworth

This session will cover recent critical conveyancing and property law cases and update on cases overturned on appeal, which include:

• Termination of contract and relief against forfeiture of the deposit
• Pre contract misrepresentation and off the plan cases
• Easement wars
• Agent recovering commission
• Destruction of property before completion

Dispute management: building and construction defects, Anne Fernando, Partner, Sachs Gerace Lawyers

Join Anne Fernando as she examines managing disputes relating to building and construction defects. Topics covered will include:

• Practical guidance on steps to take when building defects are raised
• Common ‘traps’ to avoid in building defects litigation
• Best practice for resolving building disputes fairly and efficiently
• An analysis of relevant case examples.

Litigating with abandon:  the obstacles to obtaining a declaration that an easement has been abandoned, Sydney Jacobs, Barrister, 13 Wentworth Chambers 

In this session on easements, Sydney Jacobs will discuss:  

• Navigating section 89 of the Conveyancing Act 1919 (power of the Court to declare easement abandoned or to modify) and related section 49 of the Real Property Act (Power of the Registrar -General) 
• When to use one pathway other than the other ? What are the rights to appeal such decisions? 
• What is the general judicial attitude to claims that an easement has been abandoned? 
• The presumption in the above legislation that an easement is abandoned if no use for 20 years e.g. What type of conduct constitutes “use“? 
• Recent cases by reference to sketches: Castle v Achdjian [2022] NSWSC ; Sheppard v Smith [2021] NSWSC 1207 and on appeal to the NSWCA in 2022. 
• The effect of Gan v Xie [2023 NSWCA to “gist” evidence as opposed to “direct speech” evidence in these types of matters.

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.