Rebecca was educated locally at the Launceston Church Grammar School before accepting a scholarship to study the combined degree of a Bachelor of Arts (English major) and Bachelor of Laws at the University of Tasmania in Hobart. Rebecca graduated in 1996 and was admitted to the degree of Bachelor of Laws with Honors in the combined degree of Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Laws. Rebecca then completed a Graduate Certificate in Legal Practice in 1996 also through the University of Tasmania before commencing her legal apprenticeship with Launceston Law firm Crawford and Crawford, under the mentoring of senior family law practitioner Mr. Bruce Crawford.
In 2001, Rebecca joined Bishops Barristers and Solicitors before commencing practice in her own right with her firm, Legal Solutions Barristers and Solicitors in February 2008.
In 1997 Rebecca was admitted to the Supreme Court of Tasmania and later that same year to the High Court of Australia, enabling her to appear and represent her clients in any Tasmanian Court as well as any Court with a Federal Jurisdiction.
Throughout her legal career Rebecca has practised predominantly in Family and Relationship Law in the Family Court of Australia, The Federal Magistrates Court of Australia and the Supreme Court of Tasmania.
In addition Rebecca regularly undertakes local Magistrates Court work including drink driving and traffic offences, restricted license applications, defending and applying for family violence and restraint orders and assault charges.
Rebecca and her team also have experience and expertise in buying and selling property – a personalised service that Legal Solutions offers to its valued clients.
Aside from sound academic knowledge as evidenced by her Honors Degree in Law Rebecca remains committed to staying abreast of all relevant developments in the law to ensure that her clients receive up to date and accurate legal advice. Rebecca has attended numerous interstate and overseas legal conferences to ensure that her knowledge of the law remains relevant and cutting edge.
Rebecca is approachable and committed to assisting you resolve your legal issues in the most costs effective manner for you – both emotionally and financially. Rebecca often turns to alternative dispute resolution methods to attempt to resolve what appear to be intractable disputes, including private mediations and utilising various government agencies which are often free of charge to our client.
Although Rebecca has an enviable litigation record in the courtroom, she is very proud of the high percentage of client files that she is able to settle by consent without recourse to the Courts or a final court hearing. “For us, a resort to emotionally and financially expensive Court proceedings is a last resort.”
Utilising her broad social and professional networks, Rebecca can also provide a wide range of referrals for clients to real estate agents, financial institutions and lenders who can assist us in assisting you.
Rebecca maintains and fosters excellent working relationships with other legal practitioners, court staff, police prosecutors, bankers and real estate agents.
Rebecca is very capably assisted by her hand-picked staff who include some of the most experienced paralegal support staff in Launceston.
Founded in 2008
3 people in their team
Family Law
Legal Solutions specialise in matrimonial and relationship property law and parenting issues.
In terms of parenting issues we can assist you with the following:-
As to matrimonial and relationship (defacto) property settlements:-
We acknowledge that a relationship breakdown is a traumatic and emotional experience.
We can provide you with informed, sensitive, practical and objective advice. Often being able to make an informed decision can assist parties in moving through the process of effecting a permanent separation and making decisions that are in the best interest of you and your children.
On your first appointment, we will be able to give you reliable advice about your legal rights, entitlements and obligations. Often that advice can determine whether your decision to separate is a permanent one, or whether you decide to separate from your partner at all. We can assist you in responding to a Court Application, or demands from your ex-partner’s lawyer.
To assist us in helping you, we recommend that you bring to your first appointment:-
Every case is different and your rights and entitlements depend on a number of factors, all particularly relevant to your own individual circumstances.
When dealing with parenting matters, we will require your instructions as to:-
When dealing with property matters we will explore:
We ordinarily request an initial security deposit of $500.00 which is held in our Trust account as security for the costs you will incur and potentially for any disbursements such as Court filing fees or valuation expenses. If there is a financial hardship for you, we can discuss alternative financial arrangements. We will provide you with full details of our scale of fees and charges, in plain English, or contact us by phone to discuss our fees.
Our location is private, parking is easy and your confidentiality is guaranteed.
Our lawyers are qualified to represent you both as a Barrister and a Solicitor. Family Law is a Federal Jurisdiction and we can represent you throughout Australia, where ever your matter may be listed.
However, we firmly believe that the best possible outcome for you is to avoid litigation and the Court process if at all possible, and to be able to resolve all outstanding issues between you and your former partner in a timely and amicable fashion.
Often lawyers can make matters worse by being aggressive, demanding and confronting. We prefer to provide you with sound legal advice and attempt to broker a consent agreement.
We encourage and regularly use alternative dispute resolution methods such as Tasmanian Mediation Services and we will happily attend mediation with you to attempt to settle your matter. That process in our experience is often a lot more effective than having lawyer’s letters fly backwards and forwards over weeks if not months.
We look forward to meeting with you to discuss your particular needs. Friends and family members are always welcome to join you at your appointments, especially the first one, which can be daunting.
” Let us guide you through the legal process with experienced, friendly, compassionate and informed family law advice”
Conveyancing
The Conveyancing team at Legal Solutions are friendly and experienced lawyers and conveyancing clerks, who will work for you to ensure your sale or purchase runs smoothly.
As we are a law firm, if legal issues arise at any point during the transaction, we have the resources and knowledge to resolve those issues, including where necessary, representing your interests in Court.
What is Conveyancing?
Conveyancing is the process of transferring the legal ownership of a property from the owner to the purchaser.
Pre-Contractual Legal Advice
Legal Solutions will happily assist you prior to signing an offer, by reviewing your Contract to ensure that your interests are protected and providing advices to you about additional clauses you may require. We will also explain the terms of the Contract to you and answer any other questions you may have about the transaction.
We strongly recommend that you contact us prior to signing a Contract as we do not have Vendor Disclosure laws in Tasmania and therefore you are purchasing the property on an “as is, where is” basis, unless your Contract provides otherwise.
Now you have signed the Contract, what do you do next?
Contact the friendly Conveyancing Team at Legal Solutions, to commence the conveyancing process, if you have not already done so.
If you have already engaged us, please have your agent nominate Legal Solutions as your Solicitor and they will then forward us a copy of the signed Contract.
Conveyancing Process
During the conveyancing process, we will keep you informed as to progress of your transaction on a regular basis. It is important to us that we communicate all aspects of your transaction to you, to ensure that your sale or purchase runs smoothly and in the event that any issues arise that they are dealt with efficiently and quickly.
As a part of our service, we will undertake all due diligence and other required searches of the property, and report their findings to you.
We will liaise with your lender and prepare all documentation on your behalf that is required to effect settlement.
We will also liaise with the other parties’ legal representative and your real estate agent throughout the process.
We will attend settlement on your behalf, and advise you and the agent once the transaction has settled.
Traffic Offences and Restricted Licences
For many people a vaild driver’s licence is an essential requirement of their employment. To face losing your licence can have serious and significant financial and practical implications for you and your family.
We can represent you in relation to most traffic charges, negotiate with police to try and dismiss / reduce the charge, defend you if you are not quilty of the offence or enter a plea in mitigation to attempt to obtain you the minimum statutory penalty for your offence.
In some cases, if convicted of a driving offence or in the event of a loss of demerit points you may be eligible for a restricted licence. To be eligible you must be able to demonstrate that without a restricted licence you or your family would suffer severe and unusual hardship. By way of example, severe and unusual hardship would constitute a loss of employment. Alternatively, your children could not get to and from school by any other means, or there may be a medical issue in your family that necessitates an ability to drive at short notice.
Some people are precluded from obtaining a restricted licence under any circumstance. If your blood alcohol level is over three times the legal limit (0.15) you are excluded. If you have a recent prior conviction or if you were a provisional driver who has been charged with an alcohol related offence you may also be excluded from applying.
We invite you to schedule an appointment to discuss your legal needs and how we can obtain the best result under difficult circumstances for you.
Wills and Powers of Attorney
Wills
A will is a legal, written document setting out how your property (your Estate) is to be distributed on your death. A Will appoints who is to distribute your Estate (your Executor) to those who are to benefit from your Estate (your Beneficiaries).
A Will can be made by any person who:
You should consider making or updating your Will on:
If you die without a valid Will, your Estate may not be distributed in accordance with your wishes and intentions.
Power of Attorney
A Power of Attorney is a legal document granting another person the power to manage your legal and financial affairs whilst you are still alive. If you become unable to manage your own affairs, your assets may be frozen unless:
A General Power of Attorney may be useful in temporary absences including overseas travel, or whilst serving a sentence of imprisonment, whereas an Enduring General Power of Attorney can continue to operate if you suffer an incapacity including an illness or injury.
An Enduring Guardian differs from an appointment of a Power of Attorney by granting another person the legal capacity to make medical and lifestyle decisions on your behalf. An Enduring Guardian can operate if you suffer an incapacity including an illness or injury.
Please contact us if you wish to make an appointment with one of our solicitors to discuss your requirements in relation to drafting Wills, Powers of Attorney and Enduring Guardians.
