By Lawyers are delighted to announce the release of our new publication on Enfranchisement. This useful new publication will enable practitioners to guide freeholder and tenant clients through: Collective rights – Enfranchisement Tenants right of first refusal Collective rights – Right to manage Individual rights – Enfranchisement of a leasehold house The commentary discusses important issues in these areas including: Qualifying criteria Valuations Costs Timetables Bona Vacantia, County Court and First-tier Tribunal applications Conveyancing processes Withdrawal and termination The new guide also contains a complete suite of essential and useful precedents such as: To Do lists with timetables Enclosures for clients explaining the process All the statutory forms and notices Tenants Participation Agreement Articles of Association for a Right to Manage Company Statutory Declarations of occupation Deed of Surrender of Lease This guide is an invaluable tool for all practitioners working in leasehold property departments, including those with limited experience or supervising less experienced practitioners.

New precedents have been added to the By Lawyers Family Provision Claims QLD publication.

New precedents have been added to the By Lawyers Family Provision Claims SA publication.

New precedents have been added to the By Lawyers Family Provision Claims VIC publication.

A valid Energy Performance Certificate must be provided in order to market a property. The Purchase of Property and Sale of Property commentaries have been updated to provide information about where Energy Performance Certificates and reports are centrally registered including details of the new location for the Energy Performance of Buildings Register. These certificates can be downloaded for free by anybody. We invite you to explore these updated publications and welcome Comments & Suggestions as always.

Non-disclosure agreements and clauses have been added to all By Lawyers guides. These precedents augment the existing Confidentiality Deed

The Costs section in the By Lawyers Motor Vehicle Accidents From 1 December 2017  guide has been reviewed and enhanced.

The By Lawyers Victorian Supreme Court litigation publication has been reviewed by our author, resulting in consolidation and enhancement

All probate applications must be made online from 2 November 2020, with a few permitted exceptions for complex applications. The Estates commentary has been updated to reflect this change, and to provide a list of the exceptions for which a postal application may be made.

The By Lawyers Magistrates Court - Civil litigation publication has been reviewed by our author, resulting in consolidation and enhancement.

The temporary changes to insolvency laws under schedule 12 of the Coronavirus Economic Response Package Omnibus Act 2020 have been extended

With every new costs management practice direction comes a new spreadsheet and the 122nd Practice Direction update was no different. According to the revised Practice Direction 3E, Precedent T should be used from the 1st October to advise the court and other parties about variations in the costs budget during claims. Oppressive behaviour is also mentioned in the new practice direction and parties who believe that they are being pressured into spending money unnecessarily can apply to the court for relief. The By Lawyers Debt Recovery publications have been updated accordingly and Precedent T is available in the matter plan. The opportunity was taken to enhance the commentaries with recent case law discussions regarding: Security for costs applications relating to the economic consequences of COVID19. Reasonable adjustments which allowed a vulnerable witness to provide evidence. Choice of expert to provide evidence. The costs consequences of withdrawing a Part 36 Offer. The admissibility of ‘without prejudice’ material in limited circumstances. We invite you to explore the updated Debt Recovery – Acting for Claimant and Debt Recovery – Acting for Defendant publications. Comments and feedback are always welcomed.

Legislation has now come into force permitting wills to be executed and witnessed using video-link facilities. The legislation has retrospective effect, meaning that any wills executed using video-conferencing since 21 January 2020 will be valid if the correct process was followed. The Wills commentary includes detailed discussion of the processes involved in the witnessing of a will using video-link. Precedents for client instructions, a practitioner’s checklist and an attendance note have been created, as well as example wording for a will attestation clause. We invite you to explore this updated publication. Comments and feedback are always welcomed.

Elder abuse orders are now available in the Magistrates Court.

The Debt Recovery – Acting for the Defendant commentary now includes greater detail on the process for applying to set aside a default judgment order. Example content has also been written for a Draft order – Setting aside default judgment on the basis of a real prospect of defending the claim. This, together with all the other forms needed for this application, are in matter plan folder F. Default judgment and summary judgment. We invite you to explore this updated publication. Comments and feedback are always welcomed.