The last year has tested property lawyers with tighter disclosure duties, complex building defect claims and reform under the Conveyancing Act, Real Property Act, Strata Schemes Management Act and Design and Building Practitioners Act. This trusted annual conference brings together NSW’s leading property law specialists to address the real issues that you deal with daily from building defects, property taxes and duty of care to practice risks from cyber and AI. Unpack the everyday pain points of delayed settlements, caveat disputes, insurance uncertainty and rising AUSTRAC scrutiny and compliance expectations. Gain clear, practical strategies for staying compliant, efficient and confident in your practice.

Presenters

Sian Jones, Special Counsel, Colin Biggers & Paisley
Sian has about 19 years experience in commercial litigation, focusing primarily on property litigation and advisory since joining Colin Biggers and Paisley in 2017. As an experienced litigator, Sian has been involved in resolving numerous disputes using alternative dispute resolution procedures and the Courts. Sian primarily acts for property developers, land owners, directors, and authorised representatives providing strategic advice and legal representation on matters involving contracts, easements, caveats, options, development management agreements, the Australian Consumer Law and professional negligence. Sian has been a committee member for the Urban Development Institute of Australia Seniors Living and Alternative Housing since 2021. Sian holds a Master of Law and Legal Practice from the University of Technology Sydney. Sian was admitted to practice in the Supreme Court of New South Wales in April 2006, the Federal Court and High Court of Australia.


Sydney Jacobs, Barrister, 13 Wentworth Chambers
Sydney Jacobs is a barrister at 13 Wentworth Chambers and an accredited mediator, with additional credentials as a BarADR-accredited arbitrator and expert determiner. An LL.M graduate from Cambridge, Sydney maintains a dynamic commercial equity practice, with a strong focus on litigation and advisory work across property, partnership, corporate law, building and construction, and strata disputes. He brings particular expertise to easement and covenant disputes, including matters involving both Torrens and Old System land. He is regularly briefed in leasing disputes, off-the-plan contracts, rescission, termination, specific performance, relief against forfeiture, and the recovery of deposits. His practice also covers restraint of trade, and disputes involving options, rights of first refusal, and notices to perform or complete. Sydney was, for 20 years, the sole author of Commercial Damages and Injunctions: Law and Practice, and a contributor to Commercial & International Arbitration (all published by Thomson Reuters). His practice is informed by this foundation of academic rigour, and a commitment to practical, outcome-focused advocacy. Outside of work, Sydney enjoys time with family, competing in tennis, snowboarding, multi-day hikes, photography, and exploring the arts.

Michael Osborne, Principal Lawyer, Osbornes Lawyers
Michael Osborne is the principal of Osbornes Lawyers and has been in private practice for nearly 30 years. Osbornes Lawyers is a speciality legal practice focusing on commercial and business law, with particular expertise in real property. Michael is an accredited property specialist, chair of the Advisory Committee for the Law Society of New South Wales for the specialist accreditation scheme in property, a member of the Property Committee of the Law Society. Michael has extensive practical experience in most aspects of property law, including options, sales, acquisitions, strata and community title, and commercial and retail leasing. He particularly specialises in property development - structuring and documenting the acquisition and sale of the site and the associated work: joint venture or shareholder agreements, building contracts, development management agreements, financing and security, leasing, advice on stamp duty and GST, and off the plan sales. In the period 2011 to 2013, Michael served as a member and alternate chair of the Minister for Fair Trading's Experts' Committee on retirement village contracts to draft the standard retirement village contract. That document is now comprised in schedule 2 of the Retirement Villages Regulation 2009.

Andrew Grima, Partner, Bartier Perry Pty Limited
Andrew Grima is a Partner at Bartier Perry. Andrew has significant experience and expertise in all facets of retail and commercial leasing, including: assisting and advising both landlords and tenants in their negotiations; drafting leases and other related transactions; assignments, surrenders and enforcement of obligations. Andrew also has extensive experience in major leasing and construction projects. Andrew approaches his legal matters in a practical way -getting to the real issues at hand by bringing clients together to communicate with each other about their concerns. By getting the parties to the table quickly, Andrew finds that they are able to move past the legal fog to identify the real issues.

Carmel Lee, Barrister, 6 St James Hall Chambers
Carmel Lee is a barrister with a broad practice encompassing commercial law and equity, conflict of laws (private international law) and public interest litigation. She has a strong reputation for her ability to problem-solve, frame solid arguments, think on her feet, and translate complexity into clear, compelling arguments. Carmel is known for efficiently resolving disputes, whether through litigation or alternate forms of resolution. She works in equal partnership with her legal team and encourages an ongoing dialogue with solicitors and her clients. Carmel has lectured in Conflict of Laws at the University of Sydney, in Advocacy and Strategic Litigation at Macquarie University, and in Evidence Law at University of Technology, Sydney (UTS). She has also lectured in Legal Ethics at the University of New South Wales and UTS.

Nicole Unger, General Counsel, Real Estate Institute of NSW
Nicole is a senior corporate real estate lawyer with a diverse professional background, ranging from top-tier to in-house roles. She specialises in real estate (including property development), major projects and has extensive experience in tender processes, property finance and complex contractual arrangements. Nicole is also experienced in a range of corporate matters, having worked on a number of high profile transactions for corporate and government clients. Nicole prides herself on her strong project management and leadership skills, providing prompt advice to her clients and building strong relationships with those whom she works.


David Bannerman, Principal, Bannermans Lawyers
David Bannerman is the principal of Bannermans Lawyers, Sydney's leading Strata Law firm, providing specialised legal services for the strata industry. David is a qualified lawyer. He is an Accredited Property Law Specialist with the Law Society of New South Wales and has over 15 years extensive experience in all aspects of property law and building litigation.

Vikram N Misra, Barrister, Clarence Chambers
Vikram Misra was admitted as a solicitor in 2012 and called to the NSW Bar in 2015. He maintains a broad commercial practice and is regularly briefed in matters relating to property law and construction law. Vikram has completed a Graduate Diploma in Taxation Law at the University of Sydney in 2015 and a Master of Laws majoring in construction law and contract law at the University of Melbourne in 2016. Vikram is the author of “Security of Payment in the NSW Building & Construction Industry (7th Ed)” (Thomson Reuters). He is also the sole contributing author to “Jacobs, Commercial Damages” (Thomson Reuters) and “Jacobs, McCarthy & Neggo, Injunctions: Law and Practice” (Thomson Reuters). Vikram is also a contributing author to Commercial Arbitration Law and Practice (Thomson Reuters) in the following sections: Domestic Arbitration, International Arbitration, Security of Payment (NSW) and Security of Payment (SA). Vikram is currently a casual academic at Western Sydney University in the subject "Building Law".

Oliver Berkmann, Barrister, Ground Floor Wentworth Chambers
Oliver was admitted as a solicitor in 2005 and was called to the Bar in 2019. Prior to coming to the Bar, Oliver was at Revenue NSW (formerly Office of State Revenue), where he held a number of senior leadership and technical roles. As Counsel Oliver has appeared in revenue and taxation matters and advises regularly on complex revenue and taxation transactions in the field of land tax, stamp duty and payroll tax including private rulings and objections. Oliver has appeared in all jurisdictions and has presented at Legalwise seminars, the Taxation Institute of Australia’s Annual State Tax Conference and at the College of Law and UTS to law students on revenue topics.

Timothy Goodrick, Partner, KPMG Australia
Tim is a Director in KPMG’s Financial Crime practice where he specialises in leading projects to design and implement effective systems to combat financial crime, with a focus on financial crime transformation. Tim works with clients in the financial and gaming sectors across the financial crime ecosystem including customer due diligence, transaction monitoring, targeted operating models, technology, data, remediation, and sanctions. Tim joined KPMG in 2019 from the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) where he spent 5 years based in France and South Korea. At the FATF, Tim led projects to develop policy on beneficial ownership, anti-corruption and virtual assets, and assessed countries against the FATF standards. Most recently, Tim was the acting Director at the FATF’s Training and Research Institute in South Korea. Prior to joining the FATF, Tim worked in the Australian Government (2007-2012) as the Director of Financial Crime at the Australian Attorney-General’s Department, and previously at AUSTRAC in policy and compliance. Tim has represented Australia and the FATF internationally in various international fora, including at the FATF, G20, OECD, United Nations, Asia-Pacific Group, and the Basel Committee.

Glenda Carry, Legal Risk Manager, Lawcover
Glenda was admitted to the Australian legal profession in 2014 and shortly after commenced her role as a Regulatory Compliance Solicitor with the Law Society of NSW from where she joined Lawcover in the role of Legal Risk Manager in September 2021. Prior to this Glenda was admitted as a solicitor in Ireland in 2006 and practised primarily in the areas of litigation, wills and estates and family law. Glenda studied law and commerce in her undergraduate degree and went on to complete a post-graduate course in marketing practice at the UCD Graduate School of Business, Dublin, Ireland. With her background in business and marketing as well as law, Glenda has a keen interest in law practice management with a particular focus on promoting the benefits of good risk management.