Land & Environment

Dip.Law (SAB)
Accredited Mediator (NMAS)
Notary Public FANZCN

Howard is a highly experienced lawyer, who has built a solid reputation for pragmatic, clear and strategic legal advice. Over nearly 40 years of practice, Howard has advised both corporate and individual clients on every aspect of property law, wills and estates and family provision. As an accredited mediator, Howard is able to achieve workable best-case solutions for clients with estate or property law disputes.

His expertise spans commercial, industrial and residential sales as well as put and call options, stamp duty and land tax issues and company title matters. He has helped innumerable clients with subdivision, strata and development issues including planning appeals, as well as compulsory acquisitions. As well as being an accredited property law specialist, Howard is also a member of the Law Society Property Law Committee.

Howard takes a holistic approach to his practice, often combining wills and estate work and/or family provision advice with his property practice. In this way, he helps his clients secure their legacy and create generational wealth.

Key Expertise

• Commercial and residential Property and Development involving acquisition, sale, development, leasing and construction, subdivisions throughout the Sydney, Wollongong and Newcastle areas
• Corporate & Commercial
• Trusts, Succession & Business Structuring
• Wills & Estates
• Employment Law
• Intellectual Property
• Private Client Legal Services
• Business and Company Sales & Acquisitions
• Mortgages & Business Finance
• Information Technology
• Commercial Litigation and Dispute Resolution

Area and Emphasis of Practice

John is a Commercial Lawyer providing a broad range of corporate, commercial and property legal services to a number of industries including the information technology and other technology industries, accountants and their clients, property and development industry, transport and tourism industries and a number of others.  He specialises in Business Law and Property Law. John has broad experience in:

• Sale and acquisition of companies and businesses
• Structuring of businesses and other entities
• Personal structuring and succession planning
• Funding of companies and businesses
• Insolvency
• Trade Practices, Competition and Consumer Law
• Revenue Law
• Due Diligence
• Compliance

Recent Matters

• Identifying suitable property, due diligence, negotiation and acquisition of Sydney CBD building for private off-shore investor
• Range of development advice for a consortium of investors with a large project in the South West of Sydney
• Sale of industrial business by company share sale involving due diligence and protracted negotiation with shareholders in dispute
• Sale in one line of two iconic Sydney CBD properties
• Insolvency advice and preparation of Deed of Company Arrangement to restructure a trading company
• Range of intellectual property advice for a number of tourism industry entities
• Succession planning, restructuring and funding advice for corporate and family group of companies
• Negotiation and successful resolution of complex inter-company guarantee dispute
• Range of employment advice to tourism businesses and other small and medium enterprises
• Negotiation, drafting and settling of complex software development and escrow agreement for development of specialised software for Sydney based national business

Education

• University of New South Wales, Sydney – Bachelor of Commerce (Accounting, Finance and Systems)
• University of New South Wales, Sydney – Bachelor of Laws
• College of Law –  Practical Legal Training
• Post graduate studies in Intellectual Property & Information Technology at University of New South Wales
• Accredited Specialist, Business Law (Law Society of New South Wales) (first group receiving this award)
• Accredited Specialist, Property Law (Law Society of NSW) (first group receiving this award)

Memberships

• Law Society of NSW
• Chairman of the Examination Committee for Business Law Specialist Accreditation for the Law Society of New South Wales
• Board Member of Uniting Resources of the Uniting Church of Australia (Synod of NSW and ACT)
• Member of the Statutory Corporation for the Uniting Church in New South Wales, The Uniting Church in Australia Property Trust (NSW)
• Skål International Sydney North (Tourism industry group)
• Member of Australian Tourism Export Council Limited

Civic / Charitable Causes

• Long term affiliation and working with Uniting Church Synod (NSW and ACT) on a number of boards
• Member of a number of committees of Law Society of New South Wales over many years
• Member of Property Council of Australia and contributor to Legal Panel over many years (recently ceased for time commitment pressures)
• Sponsor of Australian Tourism Export Council Limited and regular contributor of published articles and speaking engagements
• Honorary Legal Counsel for Australian Tourism Export Council Limited
• Sponsor of National Tourism Alliance and contributor of published articles
• Honorary Legal Counsel for National Tourism Alliance
• Regular presenter at legal education forums for College of Law, Law Society of New South Wales and other private legal education institutions

B.Bus & Com/L.L.B (WSU)

Anthony joined the firm in 2012, and practices within our commercial, litigation, and property law practices.

He represents clients in a wide range of business transactions and disputes, encompassing all areas of retail, commercial and industrial leasing, and commercial and residential property transactions and acquisitions. His experience in each of these areas allows Anthony to help his clients navigate through complex commercial matters and achieve a pragmatic outcome.

Key Expertise

• Commercial Law
• Intellectual Property
• Employment Law
• Information Technology
• General Commercial Litigation and Dispute Resolution
• Property Law

Area and Emphasis of Practice

Sarah assists a range of clients in providing both commercial and personal legal services across a variety of fields including the information technology, entertainment, property and building, and tourism industries, as well as providing legal services to clients within the non-for-profit sector (including religious organisations).  Sarah also has extensive litigation experience across a number of jurisdictions, and has regularly appeared in the Supreme Court of NSW, Federal Court and Administrative Appeals Tribunal in a broad range of personal and commercial disputes.

Recent Matters

• Advising major corporate clients as to their legal rights and options in circumstances where complex contractual and commercial relationships have broken down, and assisting clients to negotiate practical commercial solutions
• Instructing and assisting Senior and Junior Counsel in complex matters before the Supreme Court of NSW involving contract law, consumer law and corporations law disputes
• Assisting prepare complex documentation to allow a client to successfully complete the off the plan sale and leasing of multi-levelled inner city mixed use stratum development
• Successfully acting to secure settlements, or otherwise overturn decisions by insurers to cease or decline to pay worker’s compensation entitlements, on behalf of injured workers

Education

• University of Technology, Sydney – Master of Laws (majoring in Health Law & Policy and Intellectual Property, conferred with Distinction)
• Canberra Institute of Technology – Diploma of Government
• The College of Law – Graduate Diploma of Legal Practice
• The University of Sydney – Bachelor of Laws (conferred with Honours)
• The University of Sydney – Bachelor of Arts (Honours) (majoring in History and English, Honours in History)

Memberships

• Law Society of NSW
• City of Sydney Law Society
• The Lawyers Orchestra Incorporated Secretary and Public Officer