Our Senior Partner, Mr Harry Freedman, of Freedman & Gopalan solicitors, was awarded the Law Society Pro bono solicitor of the year award at a lavish ceremony held at Parliament House on Wednesday evening, 29 October 2014, as part of

In his acceptance speech, Mr Freedman , who had previously been nominated for the same award in 2013, acknowledged the importance of assisting those less fortunate in the community. He stated that the giving of charity was a concept ingrained in his family life and also part of his Jewish culture. Over the years he has acted on numerous matters for those in need and was mostly successful in obtaining positive results.the Justice awards 2014.

He acknowledged the support of his Partner and staff in assisting in being able to provide this service and encouraged all professionals to consider offering a certain amount of time per annum to provide similar assistance to those in need. He stated that, “rewards do not always have to be financial”. The award given by the Law Society of New South Wales ought to better be publicised  throughout the community to counter the few but highly publicised instances when solicitors had acted poorly to the detriment of clients. He stated that, “the reputation of solicitors is often harmed by the greedy actions of a few members, as the vast majority of solicitors always act in the best interests of their clients”. Even though he commenced a new partnership in the last 12 months, he and his partner were committed to putting back into the community and intended to continue on this path.

New laws and amendments have been introduced.  Make sure you keep up to date with these changes.

Bankruptcy Law: Important name change for ITSA

As of 15 August 2013, the Insolvency and Trustee Service of Australia (ITSA) has changed its name to Australian Financial Security Authority (AFSA).

Estate Law: The law says multiple spouses - be wary

The changing dynamics and structures of the family unit and the increase in multiple spouses and domestic partners has led to changes in the Succession Amendment (Intestacy) Act 2009 (“the Act”) which deals with the distribution of a deceased persons assets in circumstances where there is no Will.

Employment Law: A post on social media (LinkedIn or facebook) will it cost your job?

Do you hold a belief that no matter what you post on social media (whether Linkedin or Facebook) that it would be a private matter and not concerning your employer? You might be of that belief, however, the Fair Work Commission has upheld an architectural companies position to dismiss an employee after it was found that he had attempted to approach his employer’s clients through the social media’s network, Linkedin (so that he could promote and expand his own business).

Bradford Pedley v IPMS Pty Ltd t/as Packvonhartel (2013) FWC 4282 looked into the issued when an employee was pursuing, out of work activities, which were against employees duties to his employer

Family Law: The times - they are a-changing: can an affair be legally considered a de facto relationship?

Relationships are complicated generally and when the Law becomes involved further complications arise. Up until some years ago, the Law treated marital relations and de facto relations differently. Family Law Act gave exclusive jurisdiction to the Family Court and Federal Circuits Court to effectively treat de facto relationships on the same basis that marital relationships are being dealt with. At the time that these amendments were being contemplated, concern was voiced by many Practitioners as to the broad description of what constituted a de facto relationship. This issue was recently considered by the Family Court in a matter of Jonah & White. In this Application the Applicant sought a division of property from the Respondent claiming they were in a de facto relationship. The Court was asked to declare the existence of the de facto relationship

Employment Law - Unfair dismissal - your rights

Under the Fair Work Act a person has been unfairly dismissed,

• if the dismissal was harsh, unjust or unreasonable and;
• Was not consistent with the Small Business Fair Dismissal Code and/or
• was not a case of genuine redundancy.

Read more (Reporter September 2013 Issue)