About Us
Karen Schwede LLB is the Legal Practitioner Director of the firm. Karen was admitted as a Solicitor in 1988 and as an Australian Legal Practitioner she is qualified to practice in any state. She has extensive experience as a Solicitor within Australia and Internationally having worked for large law firms, Barklays Bank, and the Queensland State Government.  Karen is a current member of the Queensland Law Society Construction and Infrastructure Committee.

Karen's experience as a Legal Officer for the Queensland Government gives her a unique insight into the workings of State Agencies such as the Building Services Authority (BSA) and the Office of Fair Trading. This experience can be invaluable when representing clients against those agencies.

Karen's broad experience base includes being a qualified Solicitor in England, Wales and Hong Kong. She has worked for large law firms in London and was the Asia region in-house legal counsel for Barklays Bank.

Lawyers Qld services Brisbane, Gold Coast and Northern NSW and can appear for you at the Commercial and Consumer Tribunal in Brisbane or Consumer Trader and Tenancy Tribunal in Sydney.

To see a lawyer in Brisbane CBD phone 07 3036 5233 or at Southport on the Gold Coast phone 07 56770533.

Commercial and Consumer Tribunal Matters
We are experienced in appearing before the Commercial and Consumer Tribunal in QLD and the Consumer Trader and Tenancy Tribunal in NSW. In Queensland the Commercial and Consumer Tribunal deals with such matters as Building Disputes, Building Services Authority Reviews,and Office of Fair trading matters. The Commercial and Consumer Tribunal replaced the former Queensland Building tribunal. The Commercial and Consumer Tribunal is located at 259 Queen Street, Brisbane. The legislative power for he Commercial and Consumer Tribunal is the Commercial and Consumer Tribunal Act 2003 and the Commercial and Consumer Tribunal regulations 2003. The most recent versions of the legislation can be viewed at www.legislation.qld.gov.au. The Tribunal describe themselves as "The Tribunal is an independent decision-making body for resolving consumer and industry related disputes and reviewing administrative decisions fairly, quickly, economically and informally." The Tribunal functions differently from the Courts and as such many law firms are not familiar with the special processes involved. Information on the Tribunal is available at www.tribunals.qld.gov.au . Solicitors and Barristers regularly appear at the Commercial and Consumer Tribunal.


Building Industry Debt recovery
Those involved in the building industry are aware that often the most difficult part of the project is getting paid. There are special laws in Queensland and New South Wales to ensure that contractors and suppliers get paid quickly and fairly. In Queensland the legislation is called the Building and Construction Industry Payments Act 2004 which can be viewed at www.legislation.qld.gov.au. The government agency responsible for the administration of the legislation is the Building & Construction Industry Payments Agency the address of their website is www.bcipa.qld.gov.au . See the Debt recovery page of our website for more information. Sometimes it is essential to have a Solicitor help you enforce your right to be paid.

In New South Wales the legislation is named the Building and Construction Security of Payment Act 1999 and the government agency responsible for administering the legislation is the New South Wales Department of Commerce. See our debt recovery page for more details.

To see a lawyer in Brisbane CBD phone 07 3036 5233 or at Southport on the Gold Coast phone 07 56770533.

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