Insurance and risk management services for the better practice of law

Your client is purchasing an investment property, and the client is aware that they will be liable for land tax once settlement goes through. Settlement completes, the transfer is lodged and registered, the notice of acquisition is submitted to the council and water authority, and the file is closed.

Several years later, the client receives an unexpected land tax surcharge assessment from the State Revenue Office, including penalties and interest. The practitioner knew the client acquired the property as a trustee of a trust, but failed to lodge an LTX-Trust-08 form, also known as a Notice of Trust Acquisition or NOTA after settlement.

While checklists may seem like a relatively simple tool, used properly, they can more than earn their keep. Checklists can help practitioners identify key issues, follow critical steps and manage matters consistently.

Claims experience shows that small oversights can have significant consequences for both practitioners and clients, with the LPLC regularly seeing claims arise from missed tasks, overlooked deadlines and failures to follow established processes.

A client asks you to prepare an enduring power of attorney. The document is signed, witnessed and filed. Months later, when the client has lost capacity and the attorney needs to act, a bank or tribunal rejects the instrument because one witness certification was incomplete. The client's family must now apply to VCAT or the Supreme Court to resolve the problem, and your firm faces a negligence claim.

Enduring powers of attorney are among the most common documents prepared by Victorian solicitors. Courts enforce mandatory witnessing and certification requirements exactly. Even a single omission can invalidate the instrument. This article sets out what practitioners must do, and when, to get execution right every time.

Most practitioners, at some stage in their career, have files that sit in the too-hard basket. Often, files are sidelined because the practitioner is uncertain how to proceed, and this uncertainty leads to delay.

Avoidance can allow small issues to fester until they grow into significant problems, leading to complaints or claims. In our June LIJ article we provide some strategies to help practitioners ensure that even the most challenging files receive the attention they need.

Practitioners know that, subject to limited exceptions and strict criteria, duty (stamp duty) is charged on the transfer of real property.

Practitioners advising on or transferring shares in a private company or units in a unit trust should be alert to potential duty consequences.

This article provides an overview of landholder duty, when it applies, and explores the potential duty consequences to watch out for through a dive into the Oliver Hume case.

Research consistently shows that clients rarely retain all of the verbal information provided during a professional consultation, and if the client only takes in some of the advice, there is a risk of things going wrong for both the client and the practitioner.

Lawyers should get into the habit of confirming legal advice in writing following every client contact.

Our article highlights 5 circumstances in particular where follow-up advice letters are essential.