Ogilvie Jennings

Injuries & Compensation

Injuries can affect every aspect of a person’s life

Our Injuries & Compensation team are made up of some of Tasmania’s most knowledgable and experienced practitioners, who are dedicated to achieving the best possible outcome for you. What makes our team different is that we treat you as an individual. Each person who suffers an injury goes through their own experience, and we work with you to make your case as stress-free as possible.

Personal Injury

We are experts in personal injury matters.

If you are injured at work, in a motor vehicle accident or by another’s negligence we will assist you to obtain your statutory benefits and/or to claim damages. We can help you obtain fair and just compensation for your lost income, expenses, pain and suffering.

Our lawyers are also highly capable and well experienced in providing defences against personal injury claims.

Workers Compensation

Our injuries & compensation team is available to assist in all workers’ compensation issues.

We have significant experience and expertise in relation to claims for workers’ compensation. At the core of our injuries and compensation practice, we successfully claim or negotiate compensation for our clients on a regular basis, at both State and Commonwealth levels. We will provide assistance to obtain and enforce your rights to entitlement.

Family Law

Family disputes can be difficult for all involved and is often an area fraught with emotion. Our Family Lawyers offer a pragmatic, commercial and sensitive approach to resolving family law issues, whether it involves property settlement, spousal maintenance, child support or disputes concerning children. Ogilvie Jennings has been listed as one of three top tier Family Law firms in Tasmania by Doyle’s Guide.

Our team includes qualified LEADR and AIFLAM mediators who use their dispute resolution skills to avoid the stress and expense of family law litigation. Where litigation is unavoidable, our team includes highly skilled courtroom advocates.

Our Family Law partners are regularly appointed as Independent Children’s Lawyers and Child Representatives, and appointed as Counsel by other law firms both in Tasmania and interstate.

Our Family Law team has particular experience in:

• Difficult children’s matters, including cases relating to shared time regimes, cases involving allegations of abuse and denials of time.
• Preparing Financial Agreements for the protection of assets in both marriage and de-facto relationships.
• Appointment as Independent Children Lawyers in the Family Court and Federal Circuit Court.
• Appointment of Child Representatives in Child Protection Proceedings.
• Complex property settlement and maintenance arrangements involving interests in trusts, corporations, superannuation funds or businesses negotiated through mediation, or litigation.
• All aspects of child support including child support agreements.
• Preparing and structuring settlement outcomes and agreements that reduce the impact of taxation, stamp duty or other charges.
• Applying for injunctions to provide protection in cases of family violence.
• Appearing in final hearings in all Tasmanian registries and in other States of Australia.

We maintain good working relationships with experts who are often involved in family law proceedings such as accountants, valuers, counsellors, and psychologists.

Our Family Law team includes lawyers trained in Collaborative Law, and accredited mediators who are engaged to settle lengthy and often acrimonious disputes.

Property & Conveyancing

Buying a house is usually the most important investment that anyone will undertake in their lifetime. Mistakes made when you are buying and selling real estate can be costly, so it’s important to get the sale or purchase of your house right from the start.

We support all property transactions with sound advice relating to property development including environmental and planning laws, restrictions on use, stamp duty, caveats, mortgage advice and easement issues.

We offer comprehensive conveyancing services in Tasmania, no matter where your property is located. We act for both purchasers and vendors in all kinds of property transactions – residential, rural and commercial.

Our Property Lawyers are also experienced in advising landlords and tenants regarding the leasing of commercial and industrial property, preparation of leases, mortgages, subdivisions, planning and environmental law.

In addition, Ogilvie Jennings has particular expertise in relation to the housing and care of the elderly.

Our property lawyers are always accessible. We keep our clients involved and informed in each step of the process, explaining things in terms that you can understand.

Commercial & Corporate

We’ve been trusted business advisers to Tasmanian business, both large and small for a very long time. We help clients across a wide range of businesses and a diverse selection of industry segments. Our clients appreciate the straight-forward and pragmatic commercial advice we give them.

We provide highly competent & commercially sound advice and managed legal strategies that provide our business clients a commercial edge in the highly competitive and modern business world.

In all commercial transactions, our focus is on doing things right the first time around. We don’t like our clients being involved in commercial disputes, and our attention to detail is what really helps set us apart.

Where disputes do arise, we are extremely effective at commercial dispute resolution.

We are able to advise on all aspects of Corporations Law, including ASIC regulatory compliance and company director obligations.

Our Commercial team has experience in the following areas:

• Agreements and contracts
• Trusts
• Business succession
• Commercial and trade agreements
• Commercial dispute resolution and litigation
• Commercial property
• Leases and licences
• Corporate governance and structure and compliance
• Sales, mergers and acquisitions of businesses
• The Aged-Care Industry

Wills & Estates

Estate Planning

Planning ahead and ensuring that the people you care about are financially protected before and after your death, is one of the most important things you can do for your loved ones. The process of considering how you want your assets to be distributed is usually referred to as “Estate Planning”.

We have extensive experience in estate planning, and our lawyers have the skill and discretion to plan your legacy with confidence and peace of mind.

We know that estate planning is more than just about having a Will. We look at your overall circumstances, and work out how best to plan your affairs so that your assets are distributed in the way you wish.

Our estate planning lawyers work closely with our family lawyers, and take into consideration any family separation or divorce issues when structuring your Will.

We are also knowledgeable in the area of superannuation, and ensure in all cases that your superannuation interests are taken into account when we plan your estate. We maintain excellent relationships with accounting firms and financial advisors all across Tasmania, and will work with your advisors when planning your estate.

Estate Litigation

Any person who considers that they had an entitlement from an estate can bring a claim before the Supreme Court if they are not happy with what they receive. Contesting a estate can be complex and stressful, but our experience in estate litigation helps make the process as streamlined and trouble free as possible.

Ogilvie Jennings employs some of Tasmania’s most experienced estate litigators, and we have substantial experience in both bringing and defending estate claims in the Supreme Court of Tasmania, and can assist if you find yourself involved with such a situation. Ogilvie Jennings also has experience in appealing Superannuation decisions before the Superannuation Complaints Tribunal.

We have experience in:

• Applications to the Supreme Court of Tasmania for further provision from a deceased estate
• Applications for removal of executors/trustees
• Applications to revoke grants of probate
• Contested probate applications based on allegations of lack of capacity and/or undue influence
• Applications to the Court on questions of Will interpretation
• Probate & estate administration
• Superannuation death benefit applications

Importantly, we can discuss with you any aspects of your family circumstances which may ultimately result in claims being made against your estate, and help you to organise your affairs to minimise the prospects of such litigation being brought, or being brought successfully.

Criminal Law

Being charged with a criminal offence can be incredibly stressful, but from the moment you contact us, we provide clear advice explaining your options in a language that you can understand.

We have lawyers that can discreetly and ethically deal with criminal matters. At all times, we provide you with clear guidance throughout the criminal law process. Our criminal law team is astute, supportive and highly sophisticated, and skill in providing strategic, sensible and practical criminal law advice.

Our Criminal Law team has particular experience in:

• Arrest, bail, and police interview matters
• Domestic and Family Violence
• Dangerous/reckless driving offences
• Drink driving and speeding offences
• Restricted License Applications
• Social security fraud (including offences involving Centrelink)
• Assault and violence matters
• Worksafe Investigations

Litigation & Dispute Resolution

Disputes are sometimes unavoidable, but it is how they are resolved that makes the difference to our clients.

We understand that there is no single right way to deal with a dispute in any given case, and our disputes team tailors their advice to each individual client’s circumstances. Our disputes team are both experienced litigators, and pragmatic conciliators.

We know that disputes are not a usual part of our client’s lives or businesses, so we aim where appropriate to provide flexibility and quick resolutions through negotiation, mediation and arbitration.

Our lawyers offer pragmatic solutions to disputes, always emphasising early and commercially sound resolutions, rather than protracted and expensive litigation.

Our disputes team specialises in:

• Building & Construction Adjudication
• Commercial and Corporate Disputes
• Competition Law
• Estate Litigation
• Insurance Litigation
• Intellectual Property Disputes
• Trade Practices Disputes

Our disputes team regularly appear in the Tasmanian Courts and Tribunals, the Federal Court of Australia, the Administrative Appeals Tribunal, and Fair Work Commission, amongst other tribunals and forums.

Our Family Law team also includes experienced LEADR and AIFLAM (Australian Institute of Family Law Arbitrators and Mediators) accredited mediators who regularly mediate in Family Law disputes.

Employment Law

We are incredibly proud of our experience in employment law. We have built an excellent reputation over the years for providing straight forward solutions to both employees and employers when a dispute arises.

The law in this area is continually changing and both employees and employers need to be aware of the potential effects of the law, or their rights when threatened or where the employment relationship is terminated.

Our employment law team advises and represents employees on a range of employment and workplace related issues. We work with you to fully understand your situation so that we can provide informed advice to achieve the best possible outcome.

Our employment law team can appear for employees and employers in Fair Work Commission hearings, conciliation conferences, Magistrate Court and Federal Court proceedings.

We have particular experience in providing advice for the following areas of law:

• Pay, leave and redundancy entitlements
• Modern award compliance, and individual and collective agreements
• Unfair or unlawful dismissal and termination
• Redundancy and redeployment situations
• Racial and sex discrimination
• Bullying and harassment
• Occupational health and safety issues
• Independent contractor advice
• Workers compensation claims