The Ballarat & District Law Association is delighted to invite you to dinner and drinks to celebrate the end of financial year at Piper's By The Lake on Friday 18 July 2025. The doors and bar will open at 6:00 pm. Tickets are $75 per person and will include three courses. If you have any specific dietary requirements, whether that be vegetarian, pescetarian or any allergies, please let Tamar Haigazian know by way of email to tamar@heinzlaw.com.au and we can arrange to cater for you. Purchase tickets by 5:00pm 11 July 2025 here! There will be a choice of beers, wines and cider supplied by way of a bar tab. Semi Formal Attire – we understand many will be coming straight from work so no need to rush home to change! Partners are welcome to attend. This event is proudly supported by Chapman's List Barristers.

We are very pleased to announce that our annual CPD Event will take place on the afternoon of Thursday, 27 March 2025 at 1:00pm, just in time for the CPD doomsday clock reset, with a brilliant group of presenters. Afternoon tea and refreshments will be provided. BOOK TICKETS HERE. The afternoon will cover all of the non-substantive mandatory areas; Practice Management; Professional Skills; and Ethics. Even if you have already satisfied your CPD requirements, you can get a head start and carry these units over until the next CPD year! The details for each of the speakers are below. Sessions CPD 1: FAIR WORK ACT & RIGHT TO DISCONNECT Speaker: Mitchell Latham and Alan Ford, Chapman’s List Barristers This presentation examines Australia's newly established Right to Disconnect provisions under the Fair Work Legislation Amendment (Closing Loopholes No. 2) Act 2024. As technology increasingly blurs the boundaries between work and personal life, this timely session explores the legal foundations, implementation requirements, and practical considerations for both employers and employees navigating these significant workplace reforms. Solicitors will gain valuable insights into compliance obligations, potential challenges, and emerging case law in this evolving area of employment law. This session will explore: The Right to Disconnect in Australian Employment Law" Overview of the right to disconnect and its importance Key provisions of the Fair Work Legislation Amendment (Closing Loopholes No. 2) Act2024 Steps employers must take to comply with right-to-disconnect provisions Overview of employee entitlements under the right to disconnect Cases that inform the right to disconnect Potential challenges in implementing the right to disconnect Summary of key points, including expected developments. CPD 2: ADVOCACY FOR SOLICITORS AND WHEN TO BRIEF Speaker: Nicholas Andreou and Mitchell Latham, Chapman’s List Barristers This session explores the critical decision-making process of when and how to engage counsel, offering solicitors valuable guidance on effective briefing practices and advocacy strategies. Drawing on extensive experience, Nicholas and Mitchell will provide actionable insights into maximising the value of counsel relationships while maintaining cost efficiency for clients, with particular focus on pre-trial negotiations, mediation preparation, and direct advocacy techniques. This session will explore: When should you not brief and when should you brief Preparing a brief to counsel: how to nail it How to use counsel in an economically efficient way How to prepare a mediation brief and how to effectively use counsel in mediations How to prepare good solicitors’ letters to resolve matters early / negotiation with your counterpart. CPD 3: GENERAL ETHICS POINT – ASSESSING CAPACITY & SOLICITOR WITNESSES Speaker: Mitchell Latham and John O’Halloran Chapman’s List Barristers This essential ethics session addresses two critical practice areas with significant professional responsibility implications: assessing client capacity and managing situations where solicitors may become witnesses. Mitchell and John will examine legal frameworks, procedural requirements, and ethical considerations to help practitioners navigate these complex scenarios while maintaining professional standards and minimising liability risks. This session will explore: What is capacity and how is it defined Engaging medical experts to ensure capacity Professional liability considerations for failing to ensure capacity Procedural requirements including Order 15 of the Supreme Court Rules and dealing with persons under disability Addressing conflicts between advocate and witness roles of solicitors Review of relevant cases Identifying when it’s ok for a solicitor to be a witness. CPD 4: PLEADINGS Speaker: Nicholas Andreou and John O’Halloran, Chapman’s List Barristers This technical session focuses on the essential skill of drafting precise and strategically sound pleadings. Nicholas and John will identify common pitfalls, clarify procedural requirements, and provide guidance on handling challenging pleading scenarios including fraud allegations and admission withdrawals, equipping solicitors with practical knowledge to enhance their drafting capabilities. This session will explore: Common pleading errors Material facts and particulars The pleading process Allegations of fraud Withdrawing admissions Striking out

The Ballarat and District Law Association invites our local Young Lawyers to join us for some drinks and nibbles in the sun to kick off the new year! Register now and join us at 6:00pm on 7 February 2025 at the Rooftop Bar at the Sporting Globe for some drinks and nibbles. For any dietary requirements/queries please contact tamar@heinzlaw.com.au          

The Ballarat & District Law Association is delighted to invite you to our end of year Christmas celebration! Be sure to register your free ticket and join us for a drink to celebrate the year at the North Star Hotel on 12 December 2024 at 6:00pm. 

We're hoping to see you all for dinner and drinks to celebrate the end of financial year at Oscars on Friday, 26 July 2024.  Start Time The doors and bar will open at 6:00 pm. Dinner Dinner will be served by way of individual plates on an alternate drop. if you have any specific dietary requirements, whether that be vegetarian, pesceterian or any allergies, please let Tom O'Dwyer know by way of email to todwyer@nevetts.com.au and we can arrange to cater for you. Drinks There will be a choice of beers, wines and cider supplied by way of a bar tab. Dress Code Semi Formal Attire – we understand many will be coming straight from work so no need to rush home to change! Multiple Tickets If you are purchasing multiple tickets for those at your firm, please send Tom O'Dwyer an email to confirm which people are coming and whether they have any dietary requirements.    If you have any questions, please let us know. Otherwise, we look forward to seeing you there.

We're hoping to see you all for dinner and drinks at Housey Housey on the 28th!  Start Time The doors and bar will open at 6:00 pm on 28 July 2023. Canapes consisting of a) mini beef burgers with tasty cheese, baby spinach and tomato and b) pumpkin and merediths goats cheese arancini balls will be served from this time up until dinner.  Dinner Dinner will be served at 7:00 pm and will consist of: Lamb shoulder with garlic and rosemary, slow roasted over carrot puree finished with sticky honey glaze; Whole butterflied roast chicken, with butter, herbs and fresh tomato salsa; Roasted crispy chat potators with rosemary and sea salt; and  Roasted seasonal vegetables with local olive oil and pickled herbs Dinner will be served "family style" on large share plates so you can take your choice of the above options, however, if you have any specific dietary requirements, whether that be vegetarian, pesceterian or any allergies, please let Tom O'Dwyer know by way of email to todwyer@nevetts.com.au and we can arrange to cater for you. Drinks There will be a choice of beers, wines and cider supplied by way of a bar tab. If the tab ends, which we doubt will occur, then drinks will be at bar prices. Dress Code Semi Formal Attire – we understand many will be coming straight from work so no need to rush home to change! Multiple Tickets If you are purchasing multiple tickets for those at your firm, please send Tom O'Dwyer an email to confirm which people are coming and whether they have any dietary requirements.    If you have any questions, please let us know. Otherwise, we look forward to seeing you on Friday.

We are very pleased to announce that the first CPD event for this year will take place on the afternoon of Thursday, 30 March 2023 at 1:00, just in time for the CPD doomsday clock reset, with a brilliant group of presenters. For those attending in person, we look forward to seeing you afterwards for a snack and a drink. The afternoon will cover all of the non-substantive mandatory areas; Practice Management; Professional Skills; and Ethics. Even if you have already satisfied your CPD requirements, you can get a head start and carry these units over until the next CPD year! A Microsoft Teams link will be available to those who have purchased a ticket.  The details for each of the speakers are below.   Scott Morris – Ethics Scott is a barrister at Youngs List in Melbourne. Scott was a solicitor in private practice from 1999 until he was engaged by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission in 2005. In 2007, Scott was appointed an assistant director of the Victorian Division of the Enforcement & Compliance Division and led a team investigating and prosecuting breaches of the competition and consumer protection provisions of the then Trade Practices Act 1974. In 2013, Scott became a nationally accredited mediator and barrister. In 2021, Scott was awarded the Suan Crennan AC QC award for outstanding achievement in pro bono advocacy undertaken by barristers who are between seven and 15 years call but are not silks.   Chris Fitzgerald – Professional Skills Chris Fitzgerald is a barrister at List G in Melbourne. While studying law at Melbourne University, Chris worked as a paralegal at Heinz & Partners in Ballarat. On graduation, in 2016 Chris worked as a graduate and solicitor for approximately two years at Clayton Utz before working as an associate to the Hon. Justice Sloss between March 2018 and July 2019. Chris returned to Ballarat for a brief stint at Heinz and Partners as an associate between August 2019 and February 2020, before becoming an associate at Allens.  Chris signed the Bar Roll in 2021 and now practices in commercial law, tort law and public law.   Practice Management – Garry Trotter   After several years in senior international leadership roles, Garry returned to Australia in 2005 and established SED Leadership & Culture. More recently in 2019 he founded a Leader’s Impact based on a fundamental objective of enabling senior leaders to achieve their core purpose… ‘To create an environment where everyone can consistently be their best’.  A Leader’s Impact now works across a diverse range of clients and draws on a robust understanding of organisational psychology and leadership experience to co-create practical, evidence-based approaches for growth and change.  Key services include: Executive coaching Leadership coaching and development High Performance Team Development Change Management Culture change

We are very pleased to announce that the first CPD event for this year will take place on the afternoon of Thursday, 24 March 2022 at 2:00pm, just in time for the CPD doomsday clock reset, with a brilliant group of presenters. For those attending in person, we look forward to seeing you afterwards for a snack and a drink. The afternoon will cover all of the non-substantive mandatory areas; Practice Management; Professional Skills; and Ethics. Even if you have already satisfied your CPD requirements, you can get a head start and carry these units over until the next CPD year! A Microsoft Teams link will be available to those who have purchased a ticket.  The details for each of the speakers will be finalised shortly and set out in the circular email from the BDLA which attaches the ticketing information. Thank you   Speakers Maya Rozner - Drafting Affidavits Maya is a barrister at Devers List in Melbourne. For over 20 years Maya has engaged in a broad commercial practice including contract disputes, equities and trusts, building and construction, franchising and insolvency disputes. Maya regularly gives CPD talks to the Law Institute of Victoria in the areas of drafting affidavits and evidence. Maya has recently moved to Woodend and considers herself a semi-local of Ballarat.     Scott Morris - A few things on ethics   Scott is a barrister at Youngs List in Melbourne. Scott was a solicitor in private practice from 1999 until he was engaged by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission in 2005. In 2007, Scott was appointed an assistant director of the Victorian Division of the Enforcement & Compliance Division and led a team investigating and prosecuting breaches of the competition and consumer protection provisions of the then Trade Practices Act 1974. In 2013, Scott became a nationally accredited mediator and barrister. In 2021, Scott was awarded the Suan Crennan AC QC award for outstanding achievement in pro bono advocacy undertaken by barristers who are between seven and 15 years call but are not silks.   Zoe Allan - Recruitment and retention of regional employees    Zoe Allan is a born and bred Ballarat local,  with more than 20 years' experience in Recruitment, Human Resources and Management Consulting throughout Australia, having worked with firms including Deloitte, Hays Recruitment, Michael Page International, BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto. Zoe is the founder and Managing Director of Milano Partners, a boutique recruitment consultancy, based in Ballarat and specialising in bespoke End to End Recruitment, HR Advisory and Executive Search services for Senior Operations, Executive Leadership and Board Appointments throughout Regional Victoria. Since 2010, Zoe has been partnering with regional organisations to develop workable methods for attracting, selecting, recruiting and retaining the top senior talent they require to realise their strategic objectives and achieve long-term success.  Throughout her career, Zoe has developed a deep understanding of how regional organisations differ from their metropolitan counterparts and which skills and personal attributes are required for regional employees to be truly successful. 

One of the ways the BDLA is keen to bring the local profession back together is through quality in-person CPD events that don’t cost senior counsel rates!   To that end, we are very pleased to announce that the first CPD event for this year will take place on the afternoon of Thursday, 25 March 2021, just in time for the CPD doomsday clock reset, with a brilliant group of presenters.   Given social distancing restrictions we weren’t able to get the usual Technology Park venue, but have instead managed to lock in the Ballarat Regional Soccer Facility at Morshead Park.   The afternoon will cover all of the non-substantive mandatory areas; Practice Management; Professional Skills; and Ethics. Even if you have already satisfied your CPD requirements, you can get a head start and carry these units over until the next CPD year!   THE SPEAKERS:   Pat Barry is a barrister at State Chambers, Sydney and Howard Zelling Chambers, Adelaide. For over 15 years Pat has practiced in work health and safety law in all States and Territories as well as the United Kingdom and the Channel Islands. Pat’s safety practice focuses principally on defending corporate entities and individuals before courts around Australia. Before coming to the bar Pat was a senior associate at Freehills and K&L Gates. Pat is recognised among the leading Workplace Safety Law Barristers for the State of South Australia in Doyle’s Guide 2017, 2018 and 2019. Pat has a Bachelor of Laws from the University of Newcastle and is currently reading for his Master of Historical Studies at The University of Oxford. But most importantly, Pat is a Trentham boy made good and a part-time Ballarat local.   The Hon Clyde Croft AM SC is a member of the Victorian Bar, was a judge of the Supreme Court of Victoria from 2009 until 2019 and is a pioneer in commercial arbitration in Australia. He is the Patron of the new Victorian Commercial Arbitration Scheme (VCAS), which is designed to create a quick, non-nonsense, cost-effective way for parties to resolve civil disputes in Victoria without going through the exhaustive rigours of Court. His Honour strongly believes that the VCAS has an important role to play in the regions, particularly as access to courts and tribunals is so limited at present. On a more local note, Professor Croft is also a former Secretary of our very own Ballarat Tramway Preservation Society!   Robert Heath QC will be known to the numerous local practitioners who brief him. For those who don’t know him, he is a Queen’s Counsel with a commercial practice who has a particular fondness for cases that are long, complex, and would make most of us need a lie down. Like Professor Croft, he also has a strong interest in arbitration and is heavily involved with VCAS. Robert is also the Chair of the Football Victoria Appeal Tribunal and is the honorary lawyer to the Royal Historical Society of Victoria Inc. And continuing on our local theme, he is an old Ballarat Grammarian.    

***** POSTPONED UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE ***** Many of you probably received the LIV’s email on Tuesday afternoon advising that it was cancelling all face-to-face CPD events for the foreseeable future. Given the BDLA operates under the LIV’s auspices, and conscious of doing our bit to limit the opportunity for Coronavirus to spread, we have made the very difficult decision to postpone this Thursday’s CPD event. A new date will be selected once the dust settles on the current situation but, alas, that will undoubtedly be after 31 March.   We sincerely apologise for any inconvenience this may cause to those who have registered.     Refunds will be arranged as soon as possible.   What to do if you still need points before 31 March?   We are acutely aware that some members may have been relying on Thursday’s event to satisfy their CPD requirements for the year. Thankfully, the VLSB has removed its cap on the number of points that can be obtained through private study. Here is the advice we received from the LIV this afternoon:   In these special circumstances, the Victorian Legal Services Board (VLSB) understands that solicitors may need to complete more than 5 of their CPD units through private study of audio/visual material. This means that for the 2019-20 CPD year only, the VLSB will not be enforcing the 5-unit cap on private study of audio/visual material as set out in the Legal Profession Uniform Continuing Professional Development (Solicitors) Rules 2015 (CPD rules).    Details to note: The audio/visual material used for private study must be specifically designed for the purpose of updating a solicitor’s knowledge and/or skills relevant to his/her practice (CPD rule 8.2).  Solicitors are already permitted to complete an unlimited number of units of ‘web-based programming’ under the CPD rules. Web-based programming is different to private study of audio/visual material because it takes place in real time or involves an interactive element such as a discussion group.   I also refer you to the Rules and our website for further information about CPD requirements. Need an Ethics point? Members may also be aware that the LIV offers a free online seminar on Ethics which is available here: https://www.liv.asn.au/CPD-Networking/Education/LIVing-Ethics-2020-VIDEOS   Need a Practice Management point? Further, Commerce Ballarat are hosting a free 30 minute online webinar tomorrow afternoon on Workplace Relations implications of Coronavirus, which I will be presenting. The video can be live-streamed via Commerce Ballarat’s Facebook page or reviewed afterwards. A similar webinar will be offered the following week which will be presented by HR consultants Inspire HQ. The two sessions combined will qualify for one point of Practice Management CPD.   Need anything else (apart from a stiff drink)? For any other missing points, we would suggest that members avail themselves of the resources available in the LIV library, such as Audio CDs available for hire: http://library.liv.asn.au/resultsCat.jsp?query=sound+education   The LIV have also invited any members concerned they will not be able to complete their CPD requirements by the end of this month to email them at compliance@liv.asn.au   Once again, on behalf of the BDLA, we sincerely apologise for any inconvenience caused and thank you for your understanding. The BDLA is very pleased to invite its members to an afternoon of CPD on Thursday 19 March 2020, which will cover the mandatory areas of Professional Skills, Practice Management and Ethics, just in time for the annual cut-off date. The speakers/presenters and their topics are as follows: Patrick Barry, State Chambers, NSW - 'Duties under the Occupational Health and Safety Act: Considerations for law firms now that our industry is under the regulator’s spotlight ' Panel discussion of Sarah Lia, Stacey Grose, Georgia Yanner - 'Community Boards: What lawyers can offer them and what they can offer lawyers' (Professional Skills) Scott Morris, Victorian Bar & John Leung, Victorian Bar - 'A robust exchange or something more: The line between legitimate advocacy and professional misconduct' & 'Clients: When and how to sack them' (Ethics)      

The BDLA Committee are pleased to announce this year’s annual Christmas function will be held at the Cubby Haus Brewery, just south of the Ballarat CBD. Our Christmas function continues to be a successful event, giving members the opportunity to relax and unwind with both their peers and court staff and celebrate the end of another year. We hope to see you there! Tickets are available at the door if not purchased in advance.