About helene

I have met some amazing people in my time in Regional Qld, and Paul Kelly from Gladstone Legal is just one of them. In this chat with Paul we get to know just a little bit more about him and a day in the life of a busy business owner.   I know you have a couple of furry workmates in the office, how important is it for your dogs to be a part of office life? It used to be really important for all of us. The furry friends have been “banished” from the workplace however!!! They had become soo acclimatised to clients that they thought the clients were coming to see them (i.e. the furry friends”)?. Upshot was that when a client came in there was a race between them and us as who could meet and greet the client first!!! Then they would insist on coming into meeting room/s so they could be petted!!! All got out of hand so they were banished. We are all happy now as client’s don’t have “fur balls” sitting on their feet and licking there ankles … I am happy cause I don’t have the competition between who is cuter (the fluffy white dog/s or a grumpy old lawyer)!!!   Who has been a big influence in your life? Professionally it would have to been a guy called Alex Freeleagus who was one of those larger than life lawyers in the 60-80’s who passed away about 8-10 years ago. He was president of every legal organisation in Brisbane and Qld at one time or another. He was a mentor in the true sense of the word. He taught me the “old school” ways of ethics, client management, professional respect, integrity etc   What is your favourite part of the day and why? I come to work early normally around 5-6am. The Post Office doesn’t normally doesn’t finish sorting Express Post mail until 7.30 am.  Highlight of the day is that I elect to to drive down and collect morning mail at 7.30 so I can get the cup of coffee on way back to office by 8.00am! Two or three hours at work without real caffeine is about all I can take before having a “hissy fit” about one thing or another !!. Running a very busy business, what keeps you motivated? I like the “people” side of things… I love a chat and the social interaction!! If I had a career change it would be to be a Barista for the same reason ……social interaction…need to talk!! (mostly rubbish ?) ... View more

Here is another little snippet of one of my Regional Qld firms on life in RQ. Amelia is one of the Principal Lawyers at Miller Street Law in Bargara (Bundaberg) who is always on the go with a young family and a business to run. Here is a little bit about Amelia.   How important is work life flow for you? Very important. With two young children it is important to be able to spend quality time with my family as well as continuing to provide quality legal services to our clients in an efficient manner What do you believe is your superpower? Multitasking! Being able to juggle running the business, legal work and 2 young children under the age of 3 Bundaberg and Bargara is a wonderful region, what is the perfect weekend for you? A beautiful weekend at the beach with my family and then getting fish & chips and ice-cream after the beach. Home or office and why? At the moment, Home because it means I can put my 2 month old to sleep and get an hour of work in while he sleeps But eventually it will be office, because I can concentrate solely on my work with limited distractions ... View more

This blog celebrates those law firms in October who are helping lead the industry’s digitisation, showing leadership in their regions and collaborating strongly with their peers. It has been an incredibly busy month and our members have been hitting milestones left right and centre, whether it be their first settlement, 50 th or 100 th .  Without further ado we announce the following: -   Duncan Solicitors, Pathway Legal, Frigo Adamson Legal Group, Chris Trevor & Associates, Gun Lawyers, Enterprise Legal, Marland Law, Clifford Gouldson, Geldard Sherrington Lawyers, Neilson Stanton & Parkinson, Charltons Lawyers, Finch Legal, Kenny & Partners Lawyers, & Range Lawyers. Well done to all these firms on making the change and here to many many more to come!       ... View more

Leesa from Finch Legal gives a little insight of her story living and working in a country community of Toowoomba.   Leesa, you’ve been a lawyer for 5 years now, what has that journey been like for you?   I love being a lawyer and am grateful I found a career path that I enjoy so much. There have been times when the journey has been a little shaky but I have always been surrounded by supportive people.   Living and working in a regional town like Toowoomba must have many benefits, can you tell me a few?   Absolutely, I have found the larger percentage of the community want to provide support, and see other businesses succeed. This has led to a lot of opportunity for collaboration, which has really been highlighted to me in starting my own business with the relationships I have formed and the people I have met over the last 15 months.   What’s one thing you think Toowoomba has over any other place in QLD and one thing you wish it had? I grew up in Yeppoon – so can I say I wish it had a beach and some islands? The thing I find Toowoomba has is a lot of opportunity and diversity, and despite being a larger town – there is still a strong community feel.   What is the one piece of advice you would give to your 18 year old self? Don’t sweat it if you don’t have it figured out. You are still young and you never know where life will take you. At 18, I never would even have imagined being a lawyer, and look where we are!   Thanks Leesa for a little snippet of your story. ... View more

Hi my name is Helen, I have been at PEXA for nearly four years as a Practitioner Specialist, and being a rural girl myself I am so passionate about regional firms. It is my absolute pleasure to virtually service all Regional QLD. Before COVID I would visit them every few months or so.  I miss catching up with them face to face, but love supporting them virtually as they transition to digital.  Over the next month I will be bringing you a series of Q & A’s with some of the firms that make up my portfolio.  I hope you love getting to know them as much as I have.   Maddie is a lawyer at Paul Watts and Co a family run operation based in beautiful Yeppoon.   Maddie, you not only run a law firm, but you run it with your family? What is that like!? It can be challenging at times but it is also very rewarding. I am lucky to be able to do something I love and be doing it with my family and for my family.  It’s my father’s legacy so it means so much more doing it all together.   You’ve got a young family, what is your best tip for people who like you juggle both? Don’t be too hard on yourself.  You are only one person. Prioritise, keeping calm and having good protocols in place are key for me. I have to be super organised.   What’s your favourite thing about property law? I am a very routine and structured person and that’s what I like about property law.  As much as it can be the same it can also be so different.  No day is the same.   Fast forward 10 years, where will you be? Hopefully still running our little practice in our beautiful, buzzing coastal town and offering people quality legal service with my beautiful family behind me. The team at Paul Watts & Co ... View more

I recently had a chat to Josephine from Range Lawyers about PEXA Key and whats the experience been like for their clients.   What is your experience with PEXA Key? Simple to set up and use as part of the initial set up of the transaction.  Good knowing the account details are being securely shared and saves phone calls to and from client to verbally verify account details. What has been the feedback from your clients around their experience? Clients love having the app to look at.  Helps them feel “involved” and a part of the settlement process.   PEXA Key is a secure alternative to email for communicating bank account details (vendor's account, your trust account, PEXA source account). Find out more information at https://www.pexa.com.au/pexa-key ... View more

What a fabulous way to round out the financial year! To bring our Practitioners together apart and to say thank you we ran a few virtual wine tastings with Tractorless Vineyard. We sampled some lovely Australian wine with a very enthusiastic and experienced winemaker. Jeff Aston was very engaging and made the experience enjoyable and very educational. Thank you to all who were involved in these events, it was very much enjoyed by all. Pink Conveyancing, JMV Law, Cronin Shearer Lawyers, Harmony Lawyers, Hughes Lawyers, AJT Legal, Robert Harris, Rivett Lawyers, Cam Schroder Lawyers, Suthers George, Miller Street Law,Life Law Solutions, Butler McDermott, Kruger Law, Pacific Law, McColm Matsinger & Bradley & Bray #togetherapart #thankyou #staysafe   ... View more

So proud of Katie & the team at Clewett Lawyers who have surpassed 50 settlements! This team are consistently looking to streamline their process and using PEXA is a great advantage. Well done team.     ... View more

Power & Cartwright Solicitors is a well known name in the Gympie Queensland area, having been serving the community since 1875. From their very first settlement in January 2020 to their 82nd yesterday, John, Onika, Nathan, Julie and the team have surged ahead and are loving the change. The team are always there to offer support to other firms just starting their PEXA journey. Well done on your certification!   Julie, Nathan & Onika ... View more

WOW to say thanks to all the wonderful volunteers that make up the SES (State Emergency Service). As a new SES volunteer in my small town of Chiltern North East Victoria, i am in awe of what SES volunteers actually do. Here is a small part of what SES crews do...... WHAT IS THE STATE EMERGENCY SERVICE? The SES is a not-for-profit,   community based, volunteer, emergency service   enabled by both State and Local Governments. The SES is the primary responder for storm and flood events. They also provide support to other agencies such as Police Service through performing additional functions including search and rescue, emergency traffic management, and road crash rescue. The SES becomes involved in preparing for, and responding to, many different types of disasters and emergencies, by performing:   CYCLONES & STORMS Performing temporary, emergency repairs Removal of fallen trees that are a threat to life.   ​VERTICAL RESCUE ​Rescuing people from heights and depths such as cliffs or ravines.   ​FLOOD BOAT RESPONSE Assisting in emergency flood boat operations including: evacuations emergency supplies to flooded communities and search in flood waters.   ​ROAD CRASH RESCUE Rescuing people from crashed vehicles and performing vehicle extractions.   ​SEARCHES Supporting the Police Service in undertaking urban, rural, forensic and evacuations searches.   ​EMERGENCY TRAFFIC MANAGEMENT ​Supporting the Police Service in incident site traffic control, road closure and diversions.   ​URBAN SEARCH & RESCUE ​​Supporting the Fire Service in response to structural collapse.   ​AGENCY SUPPORT Supporting other services in communications, welfare, lighting, air observation and resupply.   ​INCIDENT MANAGEMENT ​​Coordinating the responses of teams in the field and incident control   ​COMMUNITY EDUCATION ​​Working with the media and public to communicate safety messages and warnings. Helping the community to be more resilient to prepare for and respond to inevitable disasters.   I know for our small community who don't have a full time Police Officer, seeing an orange SES outfit coming to help with sandbagging to stop your house being flooded, or getting up in the middle of the night to cut a tree up that has either fallen on your roof or across a dark road, can be a relief.  The training provided to all SES volunteers is amazing and great skills for everybody to know. Thanks for reading to the end and i know that's you way of saying thanks to all the volunteers  Here are a couple of photos of my wonderful PEXA team supporting WOW day and some of the wonderful things we do in the Chiltern SES.   PEXA QLD Team supporting WOW day Me in my outfit Big trees in the country And another tree down ... View more

Davidson & Sullivan Solicitors was established by Lionel Davidson & Tom Sullivan on the 1st day of August 1979. Since then the firm has built its reputation on providing quality and practical legal advice to a variety of valued clients. The firm is highly experienced in multiple areas of law with a focus on commercial, conveyancing, leasing, property development, civil litigation, elder law, wills and estates.   The team at Davidson & Sullivan have only recently joined PEXA and wanted to start just doing a couple here and there. Since they completed their first couple, they realised how much easier it is to complete matters via PEXA rather than attend a paper settlement, they haven't looked back. Well done team!   ... View more

Well done to Bjorn of Marland Law Bundaberg for being a part of a 3 way linked settlement. This was also his very first PEXA settlement.....Kudos to you for jumping right in there.   ... View more

Well done to Paul & the team for surpassing 100 settlements on PEXA! They jumped on board early and were always happy to help other firms with any questions and encouragement. Well done guys super proud of you    ... View more

  As we navigate this unknown territory, it is important now more than ever that your client’s interests are protected. Utilising PEXA to lodge Priority Notices is a fast, effective and secure way to ensure the priority of the transactions are noted.   When recorded on title, a Priority Notice has a twofold effect: Reserve priority for the transaction set out in the Priority Notice, and Notify parties searching the title that a transaction to be lodged against title is imminent.   With the Land Registry announcing that from today the DNRME business centres are being closed and to avoid densely populated areas we are encouraging all QLD practitioners to lodge their Priority Notices electronically to ensure instant registration.   Currently in QLD, the Better Together campaign means that lodging a Priority Notice via PEXA is $4.60.   For more information on how to lodge a Priority Notice please see here.   ... View more

Trevor and his team at Ferrier & Co completed their first PEXA settlements and the first for Roma QLD! I was very happy to support this team as they eagerly jumped in to assist in a simultaneous linked settlement. What fantastic team work with all Practitioners involved and a great outcome for all their clients. Well done Trevor. Trevor of Ferrier & Co                         ... View more