Recorded Webinar: 3 CPD Compulsory Topics for Property Lawyers

This webinar comprises 3 one-hour sessions covering each of the compulsory CPD subjects for property lawyers for the CPD year ending 31 March 2020. This is a national webinar and is suitable for property lawyers Australia wide.

Session 1: Ethics: Managing Ethical Dilemmas in Property Transactions

Property practitioners are beset by multiple ethical risks in their daily work. It is a matter of practitioner beware and being forearmed in practice. This session is about awareness of ethics risk in property transactions, including:

• Understanding solicitor conduct rules in property transactions

• Who is the client in property transactions? – getting the foundations right

• Conflict awareness – representing multiple clients in property transactions

• Is it permissible to get waivers of conflicts of interest in property matters?

• Getting too close to real estate agents – when this is not a good idea

• Vendor rebates discounts and bonuses – is this alright or not?

• Dealing with deposits – Solicitor acting as stakeholder

• Vendors sale liable to GST or CGT –vendor makes false statement: what to do

• Acting for both sides – getting appropriate protective measures in place

• Acting for a buyer company – can you advise director who gives guarantees?

• Acting for developer who refers you buyers – should you act?

Session 2: Professional Skills: Managing Experts in Property Litigation

Property cases often stand or fall on expert evidence. This session examines the key skills property lawyers need when working with experts, from engagement through to using the expert successfully at trial. It includes:

• When should you use an expert?

• Selecting the expert – a user’s guide

• Preparing the expert and the pretrial process

• The expert’s evidence – depositions for trial

• Dealing with opposition experts during discovery and beyond

• Examining your own expert – eliciting expert opinion

• Examining the opposing expert – the cross examination process for experts

• Dealing with multiple experts together – ‘hot tubbing’

• Case study – Expert evidence: when valuers disagree

Session 3: Practice Management Business Skills: Econveyancing Essentials in Property Law Practice Management

Econveyancing is here and it is vital to ensure practice management accommodates it, by building systems and anticipating risk. This session looks at the key areas to focus on in managing your Econveyancing practice, including:

• Understanding the entire end to end conveyancing process

• What systems can address the end to end conveyancing process

• Assessing the benefits of Econveyancing technology

• Using electronic tools that are appropriate for your firm’s Econveyancing practice

• Road testing electronic tools suitable for your practice – tuning your practice

• Compliance aspect of PEXA – is system intuitive and what it means for your practice

• Some practice management hot issues in Econveyancing:

  • The verification of identity systems – signing leases

  • Dealing with audits

  • Signing documents on behalf of client

  • Extent of liability transfer

• Using paralegals in your Econveyancing practice:

  • Educating and supervising

  • Experience

  • Quality and qualifications

  • CPD training

  • Delegation

• Case study - Understanding Econveyancing aligned practice management software