Hillside Legal

21/12/2023

A quick heads up as we round off the year – our office will be calling it a day at 12 pm on 22 December 2023. It has been a year filled with challenges and victories, and we're super grateful for the trust and collaboration we've shared. Our team's taking a breather to recharge and soak up some quality time with loved ones.

We want to take a moment to remind everyone to stay vigilant during the holiday season - unfortunately, the holidays are prime time for cybercriminals. Remember, before you hit send on any fund transfers, make sure you contact the recipient to verbally confirm their account details. This extra step can help safeguard you against potential online money fraud.

It's also important to remember that domestic violence does not take holidays.

If you or someone you know is impacted by domestic violence, reach out to local support services, friends, or family members, call 1800RESPECT on 1800 737 732 or visit 1800RESPECT.org.au. In an emergency, call 000. You are not alone, and assistance is available.

We look forward to working with you in the coming year, and we can't wait to see what 2024 has in store for us.

15/08/2023

⚠️⚠️⚠️ If you are selling property, or if you are a real estate agent retained to sell property on behalf of your client, it is important you carry out adequate risk assessments and warn potential purchasers (for example, by way of a “Slippery When Wet” sign) attending open homes or inspections of any foreseeable risks.

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Recently, Associate Justice Harrison handed down a decision in the matter of Furner v Jackson [2023] NSWSC 914, ordering that the defendants pay the Plaintiff damages in the sum of $1,509,512 and costs.

On 18 Jan 2020, Kellie Furner (the Plaintiff) and her husband attended an open home in Garden Suburb, NSW, for the purpose of inspecting a property for purchase.

A week or so before the open home, the owners of the property (the first and second defendants) had painted their sloping driveway. As the Plaintiff and her husband walked across the driveway, the Plaintiff slipped and fell, sustaining a number of injuries.

The Plaintiff sought personal injury damages, alleging negligence by the first, second and fourth defendants (or either one of them).

The fourth defendant, CK1 Realty Pty Ltd, had been engaged by the first and second defendants to sell the property. On the day of the incident, Ms Johnson, an employee of the fourth defendant, was conducting the open home. Ms Johnson was not called to give evidence at the hearing, and, as such, a Jones v Dunkel inference was drawn.

In finding that the Plaintiff had satisfied the requirements of ss 5B and 5C of the Civil Liability Act (a summary of the principles in these sections appears at [125]-[129]), her Honour noted that the first, second and fourth defendants owed duties of care to the Plaintiff - the risk of a person slipping on the driveway was foreseeable and not insignificant – and could have taken reasonable steps to warn those attending open homes that the driveway was slippery. Her Honour also noted that the fourth defendant was an occupier of the property at the time of the accident, and was under a duty to exercise reasonable care to take reasonable measures to avoid foreseeable risks of injury. At the very least, the fourth defendant was obliged to warn prospective buyers that the driveway was slippery.

Her Honour also summarised, at [167]-[171], the principles of causation in s 5D of the CLA -

♦ to establish causation - the plaintiff must prove on the balance of probabilities that if the defendant had taken identified steps, the injury to the plaintiff would either have not occurred, or been avoided. Causation requires a determination that “the negligence was a necessary condition of the harm”.

♦ to succeed - the plaintiff must show that it is more probable than not that, but for the defendant’s breach, the particular harm which materialised would not have been suffered. This involves two elements – “factual causation” (a statutory restatement of the “but for” test of causation) and “scope of liability”. The determination of both involves a value judgment.

26/06/2023

First home buyers who are wanting to opt in to pay property tax (instead of upfront stamp duty), have less than 5 days to exchange contracts.

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09/12/2022

Congratulations to our principal solicitor Alexia Yazdani, who has been recognised in the Australasian Lawyer's Elite Women 2022 list.

The list recognises female legal professionals who have broken boundaries to support and succeed.

Alexia's unwavering passion for the law, and her constant drive to uphold diversity and gender equality in the profession are an inspiration.

In Australia, women lawyers comprise 53% of all solicitors, and since 2011, their numbers have risen by 67% compared to their male cohort’s increase of 26%. We have certainly come a long way, but there is still much left to be done to achieve gender equality and diversity in the workplace.

02/11/2022

If you’re building or renovating, make sure you consider a magazine bar for your bathroom.

Convenient access to all your reading material AND an ashtray!

😆

23/10/2022

Happy Diwali to all our clients and colleagues celebrating today.

To victory of light over darkness, good over evil and knowledge over ignorance.

18/10/2022

Everyone in our office is craving pizza 🍕

How lucky are we to have some of the most amazing restaurants, right here in The Hills.

COME EAT & EXPLORE SYDNEY WITH ME 🇦🇺🦘 shared a post on Instagram: "Eat Sydney with me at 😍 This place serves some of the best pizza The Hills has to offer! From the arancini balls to the pizzas, you can just tell every dish is made with love and care. Good food, a g...

16/10/2022

Good luck to all finalists in the Sydney Hills Local Business Awards.

We are so excited to have been named as a finalist for the fourth year, and thank all our clients for their continued support.

26/07/2022

The Sydney Hills Local Business Awards are just around the corner and we would be extremely grateful for your vote.

Voting is super easy - just make sure you validate your vote by clicking on the link sent to your email address.

Thank you.

The Local Business Awards - Recognising and celebrating the best in Local Businesses

02/06/2022

Today is Mabo Day - a commemoration of the courageous efforts of Eddie Koiki Mabo to overturn the fiction of Terra Nullius.

Terra Nullius - literally “land belonging to no-one”, was used to justify the dispossession of the original inhabitants of this country. Essentially, it was deemed that Australia was unoccupied, without settled inhabitants or settled law… that the Indigenous people never actually owned the land (despite the fact that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples had been living on it for tens of thousands of years, spoke their own languages and had their own laws and customs before the British arrived).

Koiki Mabo and his legal team fought hard to dispel the shameful myth of Terra Nullius, to demonstrate that he and his people had traditional land ownership systems on Mer.

30 years ago, on this day, the High Court overturned more than 200 years of domination of land ownership. The judges referred to the policy as "the darkest aspect of (our) national history" and one that left "a legacy of unutterable shame".

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Yesterday, on the eve of the 30th anniversary of the landmark judgment, we were saddened by the news that Former High Court Chief Justice Gerard Brennan had died, aged 94.

It was his lead judgment on the Mabo case that recognised, for the first time under our country’s law, that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peopled had lived in Australia for thousands of years, that their pre-existing rights to their land survived "the Crown’s acquisition of sovereignty".

He made a remarkable contribution to the law. I remember reading his judgments and being left in awe of his fairness. His legacy will continue to echo.

Vale The Hon Sir Gerard Brennan

07/04/2022

On 29 March 2022 new laws came into effect offering greater support to expectant parents who lose an unborn child due to another person’s criminal act, making NSW the first (and only) jurisdiction in Australia to have a standalone offence of “causing the loss of a foetus”.

The news offences in the Crimes Act 1900 are:

⬛️ Offence of causing loss of a foetus (section 54A) – will apply to a wide rage of offences under a grievous bodily harm provision and carry a maximum penalty of 5-28 years (depending on the criminal act).

⬛️ Offence of causing loss of a foetus (death of pregnant woman) (section 54B) – which will apply to offences under the homicide provisions of the Crimes Act where the foetus is lost and the pregnant woman is killed due to a third party criminal act. This offence will carry a maximum penalty of 3 years imprisonment and apply in addition to the maximum penalty for the homicide offence.

In a proceeding for an offence of causing the loss of a foetus (meaning a foetus of at least 20 weeks’ gestation or a foetus that has a body mass of at least 400 grams) it will not be necessary for the prosecution to prove that the defendant knew (or ought reasonably to have known) that the woman was pregnant - unless that knowledge is an element of the relevant grievous bodily harm provision.

The reforms are the culmination of years of advocacy by expectant parents. The laws have been dubbed “Zoe’s Law" after a 2009 Christmas Day tragedy. Brodie Donegan, who was 8 months pregnant, lost her unborn baby Zoe after she was pinned under a van by a drug affected driver. The driver was charged with dangerous driving causing grievous bodily harm to Ms Donegan, but she faced no charge in relation to Zoe's death.

22/03/2022

You can fight for your client's rights without being belligerent and obnoxious. You can be kind and a good lawyer at the same time - the two are not mutually exclusive.

Wise words by our Principal Alexia.

The solicitor acting for the other side in one of my matters is one of the nicest solicitors I have ever dealt with. The first email I received... 21 comments on LinkedIn