Together with Sydney Jacobs, an expert property law Counsel, unpack the duty of care owed by solicitors and conveyancers when acting for purchasers, with a focus on access issues, easements and undisclosed encumbrances. Through practical examples, explore when a failure to identify or advise on these matters may amount to negligence, and how plaintiffs may frame their claims.
Wednesday, 28 October 2026
Description
Attend and earn 1 CPD unit in Substantive Law
This program is based on NSW legislation
Chair:
Kim Boettcher, Barrister, Frederick Jordan Chambers
1.00pm to 2.00pm Duty of Care: Cautionary Tales from the Trenches
- Consider the duty of care of a conveyancing solicitor or Conveyancer who acts for the purchaser of Whiteacre and who does not pick up difficulties with legal access to Whiteacre and that Blackacre has the benefit of an easement over Whiteacre
- When is the Solicitor or Conveyancer acting for the purchaser negligent in failing to advise about lack of legal access to the property purchased?
- As a plaintiff/purchaser, how might one frame the duty of care?
- What is the duty of care of the Solicitor who has limited time to advise before auction?
- What of the Solicitor/Conveyancer who, acting for the purchaser of Whiteacre, fails to pick up that Blackacre (neighbouring the property of Whiteacre) has the benefit of some or other easement over Whiteacre (best of all, an easement for pipe, or worst of all, an easement for recreation over Whiteacre!)?
Presented by Sydney Jacobs, Barrister, 13 Wentworth Chambers; Accredited mediator; Bar ADR Expert Determiner
Presenters
Sydney Jacobs, Barrister, 13 Wentworth Chambers
Sydney Jacobs is a barrister, accredited mediator and a Bar ADR Expert Determiner, with a longstanding specialist practice in easement, covenant and real property disputes. He is widely briefed in matters involving the creation (e.g. by long user), interpretation and validity of easements, their enforcement and imposition by applications under s 88K of the Conveyancing Act 1919 (NSW). Such disputes might concern rights of carriageway, stormwater, other utilities, crane swing and rock anchors. These matters involve both Torrens and Old System land. An LL.M graduate of the University of Cambridge, Sydney practices broadly in commercial equity and property law, with experience across partnership and corporate disputes, building and construction matters, strata disputes, leasing, and contracts for the sale of land, including off-the-plan sales, rescission and termination, specific performance, relief against forfeiture, recovery of deposits, and notices to perform or complete. He is also briefed in disputes involving options, rights of first refusal, and restraint of trade. For 20 years, Sydney was the sole author of Commercial Damages and Injunctions: Law and Practice, and a contributor to Commercial & International Arbitration (Thomson Reuters). His practice is characterised by doctrinal depth and practical, outcome-focused advice, informed by extensive experience in complex property and easement disputes.
Kim Boettcher, Barrister, Frederick Jordan Chambers
Kim is a Barrister at Frederick Jordan Chambers in Sydney. Kim practises in Equity, Property Law, Protective and Guardianship Law, and in the Probate and Succession List. Prior to coming to the Bar, she practised as a Solicitor in commercial and civil litigation law in London, Sydney and Brisbane. Kim was appointed to the NSW Minister of Fair Trading's Retirement Villages Advisory Council in 2013 and also to the Minister's Expert Committee on Retirement Villages Standard Contract Terms and Disclosure Documents in 2011. Kim was a member of the inaugural Legal Services Council in 2014 and reappointed from 2017-2020. She was Treasurer of the International Commission of Jurists Australia and the NSW Bar Association’s Succession and Elder Law Committee from 2021-2024. She is now a member of the Human Rights Committee and NSW Regional Women Lawyers even though she usually has to work in Sydney.
This seminar is part of a series
Property Law: Access, Easements, Licences and Undisclosed Encumbrances
Neighbour disputes, access rights and hidden encumbrances continue to present complex and high-risk challenges for NSW property practitioners. This two-part series you will; take a deep dive into the statutory and common law frameworks governing access to land, dividing fences and informal rights. In addition, examine the evolving scope of the duty of care for solicitors and conveyancers, highlighting where you are most exposed in transactional and advisory contexts.
Description
Attend the whole series and earn 2 CPD units in Substantive Law
This program is based on NSW legislation
If you register for the full series as a live online product after the date of an individual session, you will be sent the recording for the sessions that have passed. Alternatively, you can register for individual sessions by following the links below.
View series listing
