Monday, 1 July 2024
Chair
Rochelle Castro, Principal Lawyer, RC & Co Lawyers
Attend and earn 1 CPD unit in Professional Skills
Description
This program is applicable to practitioners from all States & Territories
* This interactive online recording includes questions and quizzes requiring critical thinking about the topics, so you have no annual limits to the number of points/hours you can claim with this format of learning. Please verify with your CPD rules
* Original Content created in March 2024
Substantive Law
The Conveyancers Guide to Reviewing Standard Form Building Contracts
- The different types of contracts: e.g., one house and land contract or two separate contracts (one for the land and then the other contract for building works)
- How should the building and land contracts interrelate?
- What your letter of review should cover and why?
- What amendments to request to ensure the contract complies with the Domestic Building Contracts Act?
- Typical provisions to avoid as they breach the Domestic Building Contracts Act?
- What documents should be annexed to form part of the building contract
Presented by Donna Abu-Elias, Director and Principal Lawyer, Spectrum Lawyers & Consultants
Presenters
Donna Abu-Elias, Director, Principal Lawyer, Spectrum Lawyers & ConsultantsDonna is a specialist building and construction lawyer with over two decades of experience spanning private practice and senior in-house roles. Prior to founding Spectrum Lawyers, Donna practised at Clayton Utz and served as General Counsel for several of Australia's leading volume residential builders, including Burbank Group, Carlisle Homes and Simonds Group. In 2013, Donna completed her Diploma in Construction Law and also joined the Housing Industry Association's IR & Legal Committee, on which she has served continuously since. She was appointed Deputy Chair of that Committee in 2020, a position she continues to hold. Donna founded Spectrum Lawyers & Consultants in 2019, driven by a commitment to providing specialist, industry-focused legal services to building participants. The firm advises and represents owners, builders, owners corporations, building surveyors and other building professionals in the Courts, VCAT and before the Building Appeals Board. In 2025, Donna expanded her dispute resolution credentials by becoming an AMDRAS accredited mediator.
Rochelle Castro, Principal Lawyer, RC & Co Lawyers
Rochelle Castro is a strata, construction and conveyancing lawyer and owner of RC & Co Lawyers. Prior to practicing law, she was a university instructor before dedicating her service to law. Whilst working to further improve her legal skills, Rochelle saw that she could better serve her clients by not only advising and advocating for them, but also educating them. She works with her team at RC & Co Lawyers, through constant rigorous training, so that they could provide effective, resourceful and clear legal service to clients. Rochelle appears in tribunals and various court jurisdictions to advocate her clients’ rights. She presents papers on strata, construction and conveyancing in local and international forums. Rochelle is a committee member of a few organisations including Law Institute of Victoria Building and Construction committee and Property Law committee. She is also the current president of the diverse association Filipino Australia Lawyers Association. Rochelle is also active in social media to provide bite size tips to those who are in need of guidance about contract law and legal disputes. Rochelle believes that good practice of law requires effective communication and education to achieve for clients the best result.
