Queensland Council’s we’ve got you covered. Our services span:
- Corporate Governance, including financial planning and management
- Commercial arrangements, agreements, contracts, procurements and tenders
- Dispute Resolution
- Industrial Relations and Human Resources
- Right to Information and Information Privacy
- Public Liability and Professional Negligence
And much more. Click on the links to the left of this page for a deep dive into our know-how. Or click on the links to our expertise as grouped in the areas of COMMERCIAL, ADVISORY & PROPERTY LAW; PLANNING & ENVIRONMENT; and INSURANCE & DISPUTE RESOLUTION. Either way you’ll get the full range of what we do for our local government and other institutional and corporate clients.
We’re professional but personable. We’re expert but amicable. We care about our clients and our clients know this. We’re here to help and our clients know this too.
We’re proud of the management strategies we’ve developed and assiduously apply to ensure maximum satisfaction for our clients.
For instance, our Executive Partner, Tim Fynes-Clinton is the first point of contact for all new matters (unless you’re an existing client who already has a relationship with another of our staff) and Tim is always available to discuss the status of any continuing matter with all of our clients. But all our staff are “on call” to our clients.
The location of our office at Quay Central on Brisbane’s North Quay is by design. We’re placed within a few minutes’ walk from the Supreme, District, Planning & Environment and Magistrates Courts and just a one-minute stroll from the Federal and High Courts. And most of the leading Counsel and Senior Counsel in Queensland have their chambers in either our building, the adjoining Inns of Court or nearby Santos Place. All this means is that, in litigation matters, we’re perfectly placed for conferences with counsel, even urgent, short-notice ones, and court appearances and hearings.
We may be Brisbane-based but we travel – all the time and all over Queensland. Or, if our clients don’t need us for face-to-face, on-site meetings, we’ll be there virtually via Zoom, Skype, Teams or whatever platform suits the situation.
- We’ve drafted and reviewed dozens of planning instruments for Councils all over the State from the Gold Coast to Mt Isa, along with hundreds of agreements, tenders and contracts for all sorts of services and infrastructure from waste collection and water and sewage, to the upgrading of Council-owned airport runways and terminals and the management of swimming pools, caravan parks and cemeteries.
- We annually review the revenue policies, revenue statements and rating resolutions of Councils all over Queensland.
- In 2017 we appeared on behalf of the LGAQ at the Crime & Corruption Commission’s Operation Belcarra public hearings.
- In June 2018 we participated with the LGAQ in a State-wide broadcast to all Queensland local governments to explain the Local Government Act 2009 amendments changing the way Councillors deal with declaring conflicts of interest.
- In 2021 we successfully acted for the Gold Coast City Council in Island Resorts (Apartments) Pty Ltd v Gold Coast City Council in an appeal challenging the Council’s rating decision.
- Between 2017 and 2021 we successfully acted for Logan City Council in Kelsey v Logan City Council & Ors where the QIRC cleared the Council of unlawfully dismissing its former CEO.
We regularly provide advice to our local government clients about the Local Government Act 2009 (and regulations) dealing with making contracts, including the requirements to invite tenders and obtain quotes.
On the broader aspects of commercial and contract law, we’ve reviewed, drawn and assisted with settling all sorts of contracts and agreements, from the establishment and operation of major capital works such as sewage treatment plants and water supply systems, and tender and contract documents for the supply of goods and professional services, to licences to operate facilities or businesses on Council property, management and enterprise contracts, mining compensation agreements and joint ventures.
In short, we’ve got the expertise and practical experience to deliver quality advice and legal services on all this and more:
- Building and construction
- Commerce and contracts
- Industrial relations and human resources
- Property law and conveyancing
- Right to information and privacy law.
We’re professional but personable. We’re expert but amicable. We care about our clients and our clients know this. We’re here to help and our clients know this too.
We’re proud of the management strategies we’ve developed and assiduously apply to ensure maximum satisfaction for our clients.
For instance, our Executive Partner, Tim Fynes-Clinton is the first point of contact for all new matters (unless you’re an existing client who already has a relationship with another of our staff) and Tim is always available to discuss the status of any continuing matter with all of our clients. But all our staff are “on call” to our clients.
The location of our office at Quay Central on Brisbane’s North Quay is by design. We’re placed within a few minutes’ walk from the Supreme, District, Planning & Environment and Magistrates Courts and just a one-minute stroll from the Federal and High Courts. And most of the leading Counsel and Senior Counsel in Queensland have their chambers in either our building, the adjoining Inns of Court or nearby Santos Place. All this means is that, in litigation matters, we’re perfectly placed for conferences with counsel, even urgent, short-notice ones, and court appearances and hearings.
We may be Brisbane-based but we travel – all the time and all over Queensland. Or, if our clients don’t need us for face-to-face, on-site meetings, we’ll be there virtually via Zoom, Skype, Teams or whatever platform suits the situation.
- Toowoomba Regional Council – State of Queensland – Toowoomba Second Range Crossing Project Deeds and Agreements
- Acting on behalf of a Council in a dispute relating to that city’s CBD revitalisation project which resulted in securing an adjudication decision reducing the claim against the Council by more than 50 per cent.
- Between 2018 and 2021, we successfully acted for Logan City Council in Kelsey v Logan City Council & Ors with the QIRC, with the Council cleared of taking adverse action against its former CEO.
Our litigation practice is diverse and growing. We’re either preparing for proceedings or in Court daily for all sorts of reasons such as:
- Judicial reviews and Commissions of Inquiry
- Debt, including rates, recovery
- Prosecutions and Enforcement
- Development and Planning Disputes
- Industrial Relations
- Defamation
- Public liability and professional negligence claims
- Life insurance and TPD claims
- Building and construction disputes
- Human rights and anti-discrimination disputes.
We’re professional but personable. We’re expert but amicable. We care about our clients and our clients know this. We’re here to help and our clients know this too.
We’re proud of the management strategies we’ve developed and assiduously apply to ensure maximum satisfaction for our clients.
For instance, our Executive Partner, Tim Fynes-Clinton is the first point of contact for all new matters (unless you’re an existing client who already has a relationship with another of our staff) and Tim is always available to discuss the status of any continuing matter with all of our clients. But all our staff are “on call” to our clients.
The location of our office at Quay Central on Brisbane’s North Quay is by design. We’re placed within a few minutes’ walk from the Supreme, District, Planning & Environment and Magistrates Courts and just a one-minute stroll from the Federal and High Courts. And most of the leading Counsel and Senior Counsel in Queensland have their chambers in either our building, the adjoining Inns of Court or nearby Santos Place. All this means is that, in litigation matters, we’re perfectly placed for conferences with counsel, even urgent, short-notice ones, and court appearances and hearings.
We may be Brisbane-based but we travel – all the time and all over Queensland. Or, if our clients don’t need us for face-to-face, on-site meetings, we’ll be there virtually via Zoom, Skype, Teams or whatever platform suits the situation.
- In 2021 we successfully acted for the Gold Coast City Council in Island Resorts (Apartments) Pty Ltd v Gold Coast City Council in an appeal challenging the Council’s rating decision.
- In 2021 we successfully acted for Logan City Council in the QIRC in Kelsey v Logan City Council & Ors, with the Council cleared of unlawfully dismissing its former CEO.
- Also in 2021 we successfully defended Somerset Regional Council’s refusal of a development application seeking approval for a new use of rural land in the form of a hard rock quarry extracting up to 100,000 tonnes per annum and a concrete batching plant (Edith Pastoral Company Pty Ltd v Somerset Regional Council & Ors).
If the issue relates to a planning or environment matter, we can be relied on to provide expert:
- Planning advice
- Planning and Environment Court representation
- Advice on planning prosecutions and enforcement
- Drafting of highly specialised development agreements
- Advice on the legal aspects of drafting and amending planning schemes and other instruments, including the adoption of temporary local planning instruments and policies
- Advice on master planning and statement development projects
- Advice and representation on the application of building, mining, environmental, water and other resource legislation, including emerging environmental issues such as the impact of PFAS and other man-made substances and the ever-increasing need for climate change to be taken into account in planning decisions.
We’re professional but personable. We’re experts but amicable. We care about our clients and our clients know this. We’re here to help and our clients know this too.
We’re proud of the management strategies we’ve developed and assiduously apply to ensure maximum satisfaction for our clients. For instance, our Executive Partner, Tim Fynes-Clinton is the first point of contact for all new matters (unless you’re an existing client who already has a relationship with one of our staff) and Tim, with more than 30 years’ experience, is always available to discuss the status of any continuing matter with all our clients. But all our staff are “on call” to their clients.
The location of our office at Quay Central on Brisbane’s North Quay is by design. We’re placed within a few minutes’ walk from the Supreme, District and Planning & Environment Courts and just a one-minute stroll from the Federal and High Courts. And most of the leading Counsel and Senior Counsel in Queensland have their chambers in either our building or the adjoining Inns of Court. All this means is that, in litigation matters, we’re perfectly placed for conferences with counsel, even urgent, short-notice ones, and court appearances and hearings.
We may be Brisbane-based but we travel – all the time and all over Queensland. Or, if our clients don’t need us for face-to-face, on-site meetings, we’ll be there virtually via Zoom, Skype, Teams or whatever platform suits the situation.
- In 2020 we successfully defended Somerset Regional Council’s refusal of a proposed relocatable home part at Fernvale (Roubaix Properties Pty Ltd v Somerset Regional Council)
- Also in 2020 we successfully defended the Logan City Council’s approval of a new shopping centre at Underwood against an appeal brought by a commercial competitor (Shun Pty Ltd v Logan City Council)
- In 2021 we successfully defended Somerset Regional Council’s refusal of a development application seeking approval for a new use of rural land in the form of a hard rock quarry extracting up to 100,000 tonnes per annum and a concrete batching plant (Edith Pastoral Company Pty Ltd v Somerset Regional Council & Ors)