Legal News - Go To Court Lawyers Legal Articles

2016 has seen the longest election campaign ever held for a federal election in Australia. Though it pales into comparison with the rather painful United States process, by now many voters will be well and truly over the advertising, telephone polling and general electioneering. While the blackout on political advertising commenced at midnight, it is…

Go To Court Lawyers has been named winner of the 2016 Australian Legal Reference Website of the Year by Global Law Experts (GLE). GLE is the world’s premier online resource by which to locate specialist legal practitioners. Their business is to research and profile legal practitioners and law firms across the globe and across all…

Melbourne woman, Michelle Chaffey, 32, has achieved the dubious distinction of being possibly Australia’s worst driver. Dubbed the ‘demerit queen’ by Channel 9, Chaffey appeared in Ringwood Magistrates’ Court on 14 June 2016 after having accrued 157 driver demerit points and additional charges for having been driving while her licence was suspended. The offences related…

The ACT government has introduced a new offence aimed at improving road safety for all road users. Introduced by Part 1.10 of the Justice and Community Safety Legislation Amendment Bill 2016, the new provision, s 28A in the Crimes Act 1900, makes it an offence to: deliberately throw an object at a vehicle deliberately drop…

On 1 June 2016, new legislation came into effect in Victoria which is designed to ‘protect the community further from sexual offenders including those serious sex offenders who may be, or may become, violent’. The Serious Sex Offenders (Detention and Supervision) Amendment (Community Safety) Act 2016 (‘the amending Act’) alters a number of existing pieces…

It is now less than a month until the updated Australian Department of Immigration and Border Protection Skilled Occupations List will take effect. The new list becomes operable as of 1 July 2016. This list governs who is eligible for certain kinds of working visas, such as the Skilled – Independent visa (subclass 885), the…

A charge of drink driving has reportedly been laid against a Queensland Member of Parliament after police stopped him for a random breath test on Wednesday night. It was claimed that Billy Gordon, the Member for Cook, had been watching the State of Origin match in Kuranda and was driving back to Cairns along the…

Go To Court Lawyers have been retained to act on behalf of one of a number of people arrested following multiple drug raids across the NSW Central Coast and Sydney on Wednesday. The raids are alleged to have resulted in a drugs haul valued at more than $1.5 million, including 30,000 ecstasy pills, cocaine, cannabis,…

On Friday night, Go To Court Lawyers from our Queensland offices stepped out in their finery to help raise money for the R U OK? organisation at the 2016 Queensland Law Society Annual Ball. As the grand finale to Law Week, the evening called for lawyers to ‘shape up for the geometric experience of the…

BADEN-CLAY APPEAL TO BE HEARD BY THE HIGH COURT The High Court of Australia has today handed down its decision as to whether to grant special leave to appeal in relation to the downgrading of the murder conviction of Gerard Baden-Clay. Baden-Clay was convicted on 15 July 2014 of murdering his wife Alison. The case…

GTC stars put in a stellar effort at the QLS Touch Football Tournament 2016 Go to Court Lawyers has fielded a talented team in the 2016 QLS Touch Football Tournament held at JF O’Grady Memorial Park in Fairfield, Brisbane, on Saturday 7 May. Although having never played together as a team before, the GTC Assailants…

Music legend, Prince (born Prince Rogers Nelson), has passed away at the age of 57. Most will remember him as a creative genius, able to capture the heart and soul across a range of musical genres. He was a talented singer, songwriter, instrumentalist, and even actor. Throughout the course of his career, beginning at age…

Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk has announced her intention to repeal the state’s ‘anti-bikie’ legislation and replace it with a new regime. The announcement follows the submission of a 471-page report by the Taskforce on Organised Crime Legislation, headed by ‘one of Queensland’s finest legal minds’, former Supreme Court Judge Alan Wilson. The report, commissioned by…

Go To Court Lawyers has today celebrated the opening of their new Pitt St office in Sydney, taking yet another stride towards ensuring every Australian has the same access to expert legal advice and strong representation for which the firm is renowned. Situated near the Bathurst St intersection, just a block or two from the…

While statistics are still being collated, as a result of the Easter Road Safety Campaigns across Australia, over the Easter long weekend, preliminary figures suggest that the number of drivers caught with drugs in their system was markedly higher than in previous years. In part, this may be due to an increase in roadside testing.…

As we head into the long weekend, Easter road safety campaigns for 2016 are now in full swing right across Australia. In New South Wales, Operation Tortoise began at 12:01am this morning and ends at 11:59pm on Monday 28 March. Over this period, double demerit points apply to traffic offences including speeding, using your mobile…

Late last year, a woman from Queensland’s Gold Coast was awarded the dubious title of Australia’s most intoxicated drink driver having recorded a blood alcohol content (BAC) reading of 0.48, nearly 10 times the legal BAC limit. Her record has, unfortunately, now been broken with a New South Wales woman recording a BAC of 0.486. The…

Principles of sentencing the key in traffic law and drugs case Outstanding advocacy on the part of one of Go To Court Lawyers’ expert solicitors has resulted in another successful – and unexpectedly favourable – outcome for his client. Sebastian Jennings, associate solicitor from the Woolloongabba office, was representing a client in a sentencing hearing…