Professional knowledgeable. "The lawyer is really trying to understand the situation and give me the best advice for every possible way to protect my rights. The lawyer also gives advice on things I didn't request initially but definitely need in the future."
"James is an experienced lawyer who I had the pleasure of working with previously. I highly recommend James."
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James Ford has received 12 LawTap Verified Reviews with an average 4.96 rating to date. Most recent verified review from a client remarked "Really appreciate having your advice and guidance throughout this. Particularly being able to turn around the agreement in such a short time over the past couple of days. Thank you for your timely responses and being available to rush through everything at the end."
"Fabulous lawyer, professional, sincere and genuine...highly recommended. Other lawyers shied away from our tough case but James took it on with verve and vigor. With a highly qualified support team, James has paved the way to settle our case. James has keen attention to detail and a good ability to problem solve. The client has to make the final decisions on matters and quality advice is essential if the correct decisions are to be made, that's what you get from James. I cannot recommend James and Blue Ocean Law Group enough, they are pinnacles in the profession!" [Note: the dispute did not involve Craterpot which is a startup venture Blue Ocean Law Group™ are assisting Rod to bring to market].
blueocean.law's website is an incredible treasure trove of information! The depth and clarity of the content provided are truly impressive. It's evident that a lot of effort and expertise has gone into curating such a valuable resource. Thank you for creating a platform that’s engaging and very informative. Highly recommended.
A Form 4 – Summons can be filed using either of the following forms:
⚖️ Form 4A - Summons - filing party legally represented [this form is the one lawyers use when they have been engaged to represent a Client/s & they have been instructed to commence legal proceedings]; or
⚖️ Form 4B - Summons - filing party acting in person [Self-Represented, Authorised Company Officer or Employee, Debt Collectors & Real Estate / Strata Managing Agent / On-Site Residential Property Manager].
See the Uniform Civil Procedures Rules (NSW) 2005 (UCPR) Parts 6 and 7 for more information.
The Summons is one type of ‘Originating Process’ (i.e. a document used to start proceedings), whilst an alternative is a NSW UCPR [Form 3] Statement of Claim.
✅ Suitable for the NSW Courts under the Uniform Civil Procedure Rules (NSW) 2005;
✅ ONLY for use by legal professionals;
✅ For use in all NSW Court registries for all NSW Courts including Local (General & Small Claims), District (All Lists^), Supreme (Common Law & Equity Divisions);
✅ Saves time by listing all of the relevant available options within the process, so that you can complete the form in less time.
Embedded Lawyer-Logic™ dynamically adapts to your answers to provide valuable guidance and help you avoid errors.
This Summons (assumes you have Legal Representation) to assist you to file with the NSW Courts.
Your lawyer will determine whether a specific NSW Courts Practice Note will apply, and the details of your dispute will assist to determine which Originating Application is to be filed, and what documents are required to be filed in support.
In short, due to the complexities involved in both determining which forms to use, together with the crucial importance of getting your summons application details right to the success of your summons:
➲ We recommend you use this form and contact our legal team to obtain legal advice and guidance regarding which:
⚖️ Forms are required due to the type of claim being made; and which
⚖️ NSW Courts Practice Note (if any) applies; and accordingly which
⚖️ Documents MUST or may be filed in support of your Originating Application; as well as
✅ To ensure you have the best chance of getting your "all-important" summons application details right; and
✅ To ensure you claim has reasonable prospects of success and is within the relevant application's applicable NSW Limitation Period.
(cf SCR Part 4, rule 2)
Proceedings of the following kinds MUST be commenced by statement of claim--
(a) proceedings on a claim for relief in relation to a debt or other liquidated claim,
(b) proceedings on a claim for relief in relation to a tort,
(c) proceedings on a claim based on an allegation of fraud,
(d) proceedings on a claim for damages for breach of duty (however arising) and the damages claimed consist of or include--
(i) damages in respect of the death of any person, or
(ii) damages in respect of personal injuries to any person, or
(iii) damages in respect of damage to any property,
(e) proceedings on a claim for relief in relation to a trust, other than an express trust wholly in writing,
(f) proceedings on a claim for possession of land,
(g) proceedings on a claim for relief under the Property (Relationships) Act 1984 ,
(h) proceedings on a claim for relief in relation to the publication of defamatory matter,
(i) proceedings for an order under section 106 of the Industrial Relations Act 1996 that a contract is unfair,
(j) proceedings on a claim for a civil penalty under section 357 of the Industrial Relations Act 1996 ,
(k) proceedings on a claim for remuneration or other amounts under Part 2 of Chapter 7 of the Industrial Relations Act 1996 .
(cf SCR Part 4, rules 2, 2A and 3)
(1) Proceedings of the following kinds MUST be commenced by summons--
(a) proceedings in which there is no defendant,
(b) proceedings on an appeal or application for leave to appeal, other than proceedings assigned to the Court of Appeal,
(b1) proceedings before the Supreme Court in the exercise of its jurisdiction under section 69 of the Supreme Court Act 1970 ,
(c) proceedings for preliminary discovery or inspection under Part 5,
(d) proceedings on a stated case,
(e) proceedings on an application for approval under section 75 of the Civil Procedure Act 2005 of an agreement for the compromise or settlement of a claim,
(f) proceedings on an application for a transfer order under Part 9 of the Civil Procedure Act 2005 ,
(g) proceedings on an application for the removal or transfer of proceedings to the court under any Act, other than an application for a transfer order under Part 9 of the Civil Procedure Act 2005 ,
(h) proceedings (other than proceedings on a claim for damages) on any application made under any Act (other than the Civil Procedure Act 2005 ),
(h1) proceedings on an application under Chapter 5 of the Industrial Relations Act 1996 ,
(i) proceedings on an application to the court under any Act, other than--
(i) proceedings on an application under the Supreme Court Act 1970 , the District Court Act 1973 or the Local Court Act 2007 , and
(ii) proceedings on an application that may properly be made in existing proceedings,
(j) any other proceedings that, pursuant to these rules or any other rules of court, are required to be commenced by summons.
(2) Proceedings of the following kinds MAY be commenced by summons, except where the application is made in proceedings that have been commenced in the court--
(a) proceedings on an application for a writ of habeas corpus ad subjiciendum,
(b) proceedings on an application for an order for the custody of a minor,
(c) proceedings on an application for an order for the appointment of a tutor of a person under legal incapacity,
(d) proceedings on an application for a declaration of right,
(e) proceedings on an application for an injunction,
(f) proceedings on an application for the appointment of a receiver,
(g) proceedings on an application for an order for the detention, custody or preservation of property,
(h) proceedings on a claim for relief for trespass to land.
If proceedings have already been commenced, the application should be made by motion: see rule 18.1.
(3) Proceedings in the Supreme Court that the plaintiff intends to be entered in the Commercial List or the Technology & Construction List are to be commenced by summons.
(4) Proceedings--
(a) in which the sole or principal question at issue is, or is likely to be, one of--
(i) the construction of an Act or a Commonwealth Act, or
(ii) the construction of an instrument made under an Act or a Commonwealth Act, or
(iii) the construction of a deed, will, contract or other document, or
(iv) some other question of law, or
(b) in which there is unlikely to be a substantial dispute of fact,
are amongst those which are appropriate to be commenced by summons unless the plaintiff considers the proceedings more appropriate to be commenced by Statement of Claim.
(cf SCR Part 58, rule 1, Part 70, rule 11, Part 73, rule 4 and Schedule J)
Unless the court otherwise orders, proceedings that may be commenced without joining any person as a defendant include the following--
(a) proceedings under the Adoption Act 2000 ,
(b) proceedings under section 33 of the Evidence on Commission Act 1995 ,
(c) proceedings under the Jury Act 1977 ,
(d) proceedings under section 17 of the Witness Protection Act 1995 ,
(e) proceedings under rule 55.9.
(cf SCR Part 63, rules 2 and 3(2); DCR Part 45, rules 2 and 3; LCR Part 34, rules 3 and 4)
(1) A person under legal incapacity may not commence or carry on proceedings except by his or her tutor.
(2) Unless the court orders otherwise, the tutor of a person under legal incapacity may not commence or carry on proceedings except by a solicitor.
This form uses Embedded Lawyer-Logic to dynamically change the contents of relevant Court Lists based on which NSW Court & Court Division is selected.
Court List Example:
1️⃣ If you select the Supreme Court Equity Division, the Court List options presented to you consists of the following:
⚖️ Admiralty, Adoptions, Commercial Arbitration, Commercial, Corporations, Corporations Registrar's, Equity General (Family Provision), Equity General (Other), Probate, Probate (Uncontested), Protective, Revenue & the Technology & Construction List.
2️⃣ However, if you select the Supreme Court Common Law Division, the Court List options are different and consists of the following:
⚖️ Administrative Law, Certificates, Common Law General, Defamation, Mutual Recognition, Other, Possession, Proceeds of Crime, & Professional Negligence.
This form uses Embedded Lawyer-Logic to dynamically change the contents of relevant Claim Types based on which NSW Court, Court Division & Court List is selected.
Claim Type Example:
1️⃣ If you select the Admiralty List within the Supreme Court Equity Division, the Claim Type options presented to you consist of the following:
⚖️ Cargo Damage, Caveat Against Arrest, Caveat Against Release of Property (Admiralty List), Money Claim Against Ship, Money Claim Against Owner, Money Claim (Admiralty List), Ownership of Vessel, Personal Injury/Death (other than collision), Possession of Vessel, Ship Collision, Ship Collision (Personal Injury/Death); Ship Collision (Property Damage).
2️⃣However, if you select the Commercial List within the Supreme Court Equity Division, the Claim Type options presented to you consist of the following:
⚖️ Banking, Claims under Contract Review Act 1980, Commercial Contractual Disputes, Commercially Misleading Conduct, Guarantee, Insurance, Sale of Business, Shipping/Carraige of Goods.
Claim Types are collected by the courts for statistical purposes only and DO NOT IMPACT on how the legal proceedings will be dealt with by the Court.
FYI: A complete list of Types of Claims can be obtained at this link.
If there is no type of claim listed that matches your claim, select 'Other' when completing this automated form generation process and it will be left blank so that it can be completed by the court.
See UCPR 6.12 for more information.
Information MUST be included about the relief that you are claiming (Relief Claimed), and what orders you are asking the court to make.
You MUST include the street address, postal address and telephone number of the court registry of the place where you want the proceedings to be heard.
You can find out the street address, postal address and telephone number of your nominated court registry from the court’s website.
If your proceedings are to be entered in the Probate list of the Supreme Court, you MUST substitute theinformation in the hearing details section with the following statement:
The proceedings will be dealt with in the absence of the parties.
See UCPR 10.3 and 10.4.
A Summons can be served on a defendant who is in Australia, but outside New South Wales, under the Service and Execution of Process Act 1992 (Cth) (“SEPA”) or the UCPR (if your proceedings are in the Supreme Court).
To effect 'out of state' service under SEPA you MUST include a statement to the following effect in your Summons:
A convenient location for this statement is after the NOTICE TO DEFENDANT section of the form.
⚖️ If you intend to proceed under the SEPA, you MUST attach a copy of SEPA [Form 1] ‘Notice to Defendant’ to your Summons.
➲ See Service and Execution of Process Regulations 1993 (Cth) at www.comlaw.gov.au/.
⚖️ You can only proceed to effect service in Australia but outside New South Wales, under the UCPR, if your proceedings are in the Supreme Court.
See UCPR Part 11 for more information.
A Summons can be served on a defendant outside Australia:
⚖️ If your proceedings are in the Supreme Court, and
⚖️ In the circumstances referred to in UCPR Schedule 6.
You MUST also serve the other party with a copy of [Form 161] at the time of serving the Originating Process.
Important Notes:
Pricing does not include Court filing fees.
The party filing this Form is required to serve a copy of the filed Form together with all other filed documents on all other parties to the proceeding.
Enter the code WHen you pay full price to Purchase one of the following Self Service documents:
Re-Enter the code at checkout each time you buy the following documents to get a discount:
The book “Pleadings without Tears: A Guide to Legal Drafting Under the Civil Procedure Rules” by William Rose [revised & updated by Roger Eastman] we have in our law firm library in its 9th edition when it was published in 2017.
More editions of this highly valued & trusted guide will no doubt ensue.
The book was originally written back in 1990 specifically to address the problem of tears being shed over mistakes being made in Pleadings.
Trust me when I say that despite all the warnings, mistakes in Pleadings continue to this day.
There are good reasons why you don't want to be the party left crying over what could have been!
Whether you are a self-represented litigant in a Tribunal or represent by a Solicitor or a Barrister in a Court or Tribunal the "Pleadings" will be the sum total of all of the documents containing the application or claim, the defence and counterclaim, the reply or answer, and any requests for and responses to further and better particulars.
In the case of an appeal, think of the pleadings as your stated grounds of appeal within your Notice of Appeal, etc. if you get these wrong then your appeal is likely to be dismissed or struck out before you have had the chance to actually submit the details of your appeal to the appeal court.
When you hear the member/judge say the words "the problem is in the Pleadings" or words to that effect you might need to have your tissues on hand.
A great analogy is baking a cake and discovering too late that you left out a key ingredient.
There is no guarantee you will be able to amend the Pleadings to fix the problem at the last minute.
You are generally prevented from making the same claim more than once.
Your missed claim may now be subject to the statute of limitations preventing it from being commenced as it is out of time.
An error in the Pleadings can be irreversibly fatal to the outcome of the civil litigation, or substantially impact on the result or the award of costs once the legal proceedings have completed.
A failure to state valid grounds grounds of appeal within a Notice of Appeal may cause your appeal to be dismissed or stuck out, with the potential for cost orders to be made against you for the other parties legal costs (if any) incurred in responding to your incompetent or deficient Notice of Appeal.
Credits:
This FAQ was written by James D. Ford GAICD | Principal Solicitor, Blue Ocean Law Group℠.
Important Notice:
This FAQ is intended for general interest + information only.
It is not legal advice, nor should it be relied upon or used as such.
We recommend you always consult a lawyer for legal advice specifically tailored to your needs & circumstances.
The identity of the Debtor and their address for service (incl. email +/or fax) should already be clearly specified in the agreement, or provided by the Debtor as part of your standard business processes.
We also assume that the terms of your agreement will provide permission to serve notices via email or fax (if required).
You will need to consider whether you already know the actual identity of the Debtor/Defendant and their address for notices/Service.
The Debtor/Defendant may not be the person with whom you made the original agreement, or the person who actually published the defamatory statement.
The person you might consider is the Debtor/Defendant may have been acting/dealing as an agent or employee of another person, the actual owner/s of the business, a sole trader, partnership, unincorporated association, company, etc.
If you only have the name of the business, you can start by conducting a free ASIC business names index + business names holder organisation/person searches to determine the owner of the business name, followed by a paid ASIC search to determine a valid + current address for Service.
Before sending a Letter of Demand/Statutory Demand/Concerns Notice to a Debtor company, we strongly recommend you conduct a paid current ASIC Company Search (min. cost $9) to confirm that:
✅ The Debtor/Defendant company is not currently under administration/in liquidation; and to
✅ Ascertain the companies current registered office address for service.
If you have any questions regarding the above please contact our legal team to discuss.
Credits:
This FAQ was written by James D. Ford GAICD | Principal Solicitor, Blue Ocean Law Group℠.
Important Notice:
This FAQ is intended for general interest + information only.
It is not legal advice, nor should it be relied upon or used as such.
We recommend you always consult a lawyer for legal advice specifically tailored to your needs & circumstances.
By the time you approach a lawyer to assist with your civil legal dispute you may have already discussed the matter in detail or sent text messages/emails to the other party, their agent, insurance company or lawyers.
Whilst you might think you are progressing the matter:
➲ This is generally a mistake!
Most people [unless they are experienced in litigation or legal dispute resolution] will unknowingly proceed to make these communications with the other side on an "open” basis.
This means that everything that is said or written might be capable of being used by the other parties in any subsequent legal proceedings.
It is generally known that in any criminal matter, you have the “right to remain silent …” as this is well-covered territory on TV/Movie Legal Dramas and in the media.
When it comes to civil disputes we recommend you adopt the same position.
Our advice may be spot on when it comes to large $$ civil disputes.
When the matter is only a minor one, you may not want to go to the time and/or expense of engaging legal advice specific to your situation.
Q: How then can you proceed?
A: Very carefully, and with the assistance of some very specific legal phraseology which you may or may not have seen before.
Please refer to our blog article “How to cast a magic legal spell? The protection afforded by Without Prejudice Settlement Negotiations." for more information.
Credits:
This FAQ was written by James D. Ford GAICD | Principal Solicitor, Blue Ocean Law Group℠.
Important Notice:
This FAQ is intended for general interest + information only.
It is not legal advice, nor should it be relied upon or used as such.
We recommend you always consult a lawyer for legal advice specifically tailored to your needs & circumstances.
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