News: Litigation & Dispute Resolution

NSW has become the first state to legislate national defamation reforms that aim to modernise the law in Australia and bring it more into line with leading overseas jurisdictions such as the UK. The Defamation Amendment Bill 2020 passed both houses of the NSW Parliament on Thursday, 6 August. The reforms, which were agreed upon […]

Trees and hedges are a common cause of disputes between neighbours. For example, your neighbour’s tree may be causing damage to your property, or a hedge on their property may be obstructing sunlight or views from your property. If you are unable to reach an agreement with your neighbour about how to resolve the dispute, […]

If you were to enter another person’s land without their consent or without a lawful reason you would be trespassing. So what if you required access to your neighbour’s property to carry out work on your own land but they refused you access? What are your legal options? In NSW, the Local Court has the […]

Courts can be frustrating places at times. Dispute resolution through the Court system can be slow, expensive and ultimately not deliver you the result you really wanted or needed. It is important to keep in mind that there are many alternatives to the Court process that may work for you and your circumstances. Mediation involves […]

There is currently a case before the Supreme Court of New South Wales that could have significant ramifications for media outlets and basically any entity who is involved in using social media platforms to disseminate content to the public, including marketing firms. The case involves the Plaintiff, Mr Dylan Voller, bringing defamation proceedings against three […]

The Federal Court of Australia has recently handed down its decision in a case where a former gambling addict commenced proceedings against Melbourne’s Crown Casino and poker machine manufacturer Aristocrat, claiming that the poker machine “Dolphin Treasure” was in breach of section 18 of the Australian Consumer Law which prevents conduct that is misleading or […]

When you file an application to set aside a statutory demand, section 459G of the Corporations Act says that the application (or originating process) together with an affidavit in support must be filed and served on the person who issued the demand within 21 days of receipt of the statutory demand. In Imagebuild Group Pty […]

Parties will often be told that one of the key benefits of mediation is that the negotiations that they have are confidential and that the outcome they reach can be kept confidential. There is no doubt that confidentiality is very important incentive for parties to mediate and for the free flow of creative discussion and […]

In an interesting decision of the Supreme Court delivered on 7 March 2017, Justice Hammerschlag found that delivery of a USB stick containing an adjudication application on a respondent was not enough to meet the service requirements in the Building and Construction Security of Payments Act (SOPA). Section 17(3)(a) of the SOPA requires that an […]