Out and About
As active community members, Warren McKeon Dickson Lawyers regularly present at various forums. Some of our recent activities we have been involved with include:
Legal Issues for Small Business Seminar
Craig Pryor, a principal in our Corporate and Commercial Group and our Commercial Litigation Group, presented a seminar to members of the Wollongong Small Business Club about issues that affect small businesses, including those with an on-line presence, and in particular, about having appropriate terms and conditions of trade and arrangements with employees and contractors in place to prevent disputes and protect the business.
Craig also provided a paper on Risk Management for Small Business, which can be downloaded here.
Oz Tag 2012 Season
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For the last 6 months Warren McKeon Dickson Lawyers have been represented by a self proclaimed ‘elite’ group of athletes in the Sutherland Shire Oztag 2011/12 summer competition.
The mixed team comprised WMD lawyers and staff (and a few selected ‘friends of WMD’) and played each Monday night in the very best and worst of Sydney’s recent ‘summer’ weather.
The concept of Oztag is essentially a game of Rugby League with each player wearing a pair of specially designed shorts with velcro patches so that tags can be worn on either hip and then ripped off to effect a tackle or ‘tag’. The other essential difference is that Oztag is meant to be non-contact, a concept which some teams (and possibly some team members) had difficulty with at times.
Each Tuesday became an opportunity to share war stories with other staff members and over the 14 rounds of the competition the WMD team managed to be beaten only by rain and one opposing team.
A tough semi-final opponent, and a puddle resembling a lake down one sideline, didn’t stop the WMD team from reaching its maiden Grand Final which was to be played the following week (in what turned out to be somewhat tropical conditions).
After conceding an early try, the WMD team managed to get some points on the board and went into half time with a 4-1 lead. Following half time our team surged to a 6-1 lead before a lapse in concentration (rivalling that of the Captain of the Concordia) which saw the opposition run in 4 unanswered tries in almost as many minutes. After pulling ourselves off the reef WMD managed to put the game out of reach with a late try, coming out Grand Final victors 7-5.
Sadly there is no Premiers trophy to show off in reception however each player received a wet-weather jacket for the win which may come in handy next summer comp!
Barefoot Bowls Day
On a beautiful afternoon in late February our staff headed out for a Barefoot Bowls event held at the South Cronulla Bowling Club. All attendees broke up into teams and along with some great instruction from Reg we set about playing – some of us for the first time.
Everyone had a great time and we finished our afternoon with a BBQ thanks to our General Manager, Barrie! We hope to organise another one in November. We would like to say a big “thank you” to all staff at the South Cronulla Bowling Club who made us feel most welcome and assisted with making this afternoon a great success.
Anniversaries
Lyn Holthouse, a paralegal in our Property Group, celebrated a milestone in February of 15 years of service to Warren McKeon Dickson Lawyers. We thank Lyn for all her hard work over those years and look forward to the next 15 years to come!
What do Lawyers do over the Christmas Break?
We thought you may be interested in how our offices celebrate our Christmas break!
Peter Tierney who is based in our Merimbula office sent us this note entitled "After the festivities, work it off with a little light exercise". Peter also added "hospitalisation not required, worst injury was the bruised ego!"
Rebecca Flynn, a Principal in our Miranda office, sent through this lovely family photo taken at SantaFest (a Darling Harbour event at the end of November). Rebecca said that Christmas is always a magical time of year for her family. This year, they went to SantaFest at Darling Harbour. At the very beginning of December, they set up the Christmas Tree with 2 Christmas train sets - a large one around the bottom of the tree and a smaller one which actually circles around the middle of tree through the branches. On Christmas Eve, they put out some carrots covered in honey and water for the reindeer and this year we made Caramel Reindeer tarts for Santa. Her kids are usually up early on Christmas morning, although this year it was Rebecca who couldn’t wait to open the presents and she walked around the house ringing the Santa Bell to wake everyone up. The first order of business is to see if the reindeer and Santa have eaten their treats and then to check the stockings as Rudolph always buys everyone a new Christmas t-shirt. After changing into their new t-shirts, they opened the presents and then after breakfast, they opened the rest of the trinkets left in each of our stockings by the reindeer. Christmas lunch was a feast of barramundi, prawns, smoked salmon, ham and turkey with all the trimmings.
Aleish Willis, a Para-Legal & Justice of the Peace based in our Bega office, says a big part of her Christmas is catching up with friends who are home for Christmas at the Boxing Day Races – which she says is a big event in the region.
Nadine Ayers, our Business Development Manager in our Miranda office, celebrates Christmas with her twins and husband. Every 2nd Christmas she holds a Christmas Lunch celebration with all family members. The feast normally starts off with seared butter & garlic scallops, followed by a minimum of 2 kilos of fresh oysters and 2 kilos of prawns. Her family assist in the cooking duties by cooking pork, turkey along with a cold ham. We normally pass out with too much food by around 3pm after a lively match of back-yard cricket or soccer!
Anika Fleet celebrated her Christmas and the beginning of 2012 by travelling to Bangkok, Phuket, Koh Samui and Singapore where she rode an elephant, visited Buddha temples, enjoyed cocktails by the pool, spent the day snorkelling at the beautiful Phi Phi island beaches, shopped in the street markets, saw a Thai boxing match and explored Universal Studios – sounds like she was really busy. She is pictured here with a baby elephant.
Amanda Doring celebrated her Christmas Day with her family. As there are only 13 people in her family (on her side) including grandparents and cousins, they are all able to meet together at one place each year. Before lunch they have a gift giving ceremony where “Santa's helper” (nominated family member) will hand out all of the gifts. No one is allowed to unwrap their presents until all gifts have been handed out. After that they have a lunch that includes all of the Christmas meats, ham, turkey, pork and beef along with salads. The day is finished off with grandma’s traditional home made pudding and custard and a nap.
PPSA – Personal Property Securities Act – Breakfast Briefing
Dean Groundwater, a Principal in our Miranda office, recently hosted a breakfast briefing on Tuesday 7 February. At this event Dean provided insights of what this new Act would mean for your business.
For a full copy of this presentation please follow the link below.
What You Need to Know About Leasing Your Business Premises - BEC Sutherland Shire/St George Business Breakfast
Rebecca Flynn, a Principal in our Miranda office, presented on 1st February at the Sutherland Shire BEC and was invited to present again on 16 February at the St George Business Breakfast on the Top 10 things you need to know when leasing your business premises.
For the full article please follow the link below.
5 legal considerations for starting an online business – Department of Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy
Craig Pryor, a Principal in our Miranda office, was asked to write a blog on the top 5 considerations for starting an on-line business.
For the full article please follow the link below.
http://www.digitalbusiness.gov.au/2012/01/17/5-legal-considerations-for-starting-an-online-business/
Legal issues for running an On-line Business – St George & Sutherland Shire Business Enterprise Centre
Craig Pryor, a Principal in our Miranda office, was also asked by the BEC to present on this topic twice in 2011.
For a full copy of Craig's presentation please follow the link below.
Finance, Property and Professional Business Services Workshop – Regional Development Australia Sydney
In November last year our CEO, Greg Dickson, was asked to present a case study on “Attracting Talent”. In this presentation Greg provide insight on the strategies WMD have developed with community groups/local Universities to develop relationships with school leavers and those who are embarking on legal studies in the hope of attracting talent from the regions.
For a copy of Greg's presentation please follow the link below.
Evidence Act presentation
In September last year Kevin Dwyer, a principal at our Miranda office, was asked to present at the Miranda Local Area Command Investigators Course.