Our Team

Helen Kow­al

Partner
Prop­er­ty, Plan­ning & Projects, Stra­ta & Construction

I pride myself on lis­ten­ing to the client, think­ing out­side the square and find­ing a solu­tion that meets the client’s needs. I con­duct pro­ceed­ings in the NSW Civ­il and Admin­is­tra­tive Tri­bunal, Supreme Court of New South Wales, Local Court of New South Wales and in the Land and Envi­ron­ment Court of New South Wales.

Exper­tise

  • Stra­ta, Build­ing & Construction
  • Prop­er­ty
  • Local gov­ern­ment law
  • Envi­ron­ment and planning
  • Com­mer­cial
  • Lit­i­ga­tion and Dis­pute resolution

Practice & Industry Sector

  • Real Estate & Construction

Experience

With a legal career spanning over 25 years in general practice, for the past decade I have specialised in building, construction, strata and property. I have worked for many owners corporations, developers and builders in all facets of building and construction law in all jurisdictions

  • Acting for owners corporations, owners and builders in building defect claims under the Home Building Act 1989 in NCAT and Supreme Court of NSW
  • Acting for developers, owners corporations and lot owners at the forefront of strata renewal legislation introduced in November 2016 including all steps required under Part 10, preparation of strata renewal proposals, strata renewal plans, necessary meeting agendas, support notices, Court applications, collaborative agreements, bloc deeds and conduct of mediations
  • Acting for owners corporations and owners in strata disputes arising under the Strata Schemes Management Act 2015 including s237 applications and s106 claims
  • Acting for owners corporations drafting motions for general meetings and providing advice as to technical compliance with the Strata Schemes Management Act 2015, attending general meetings, attending to preparation of proxy forms, company nominee forms
  • Negotiation and drafting of building contracts, project management and superintendent agreements, call option deeds and contracts for sale
  • Acting in boundary and development matters including easements, crane and ground anchor licence deeds, boundary, tree and fencing disputes and planning issues

Roles, memberships and education

  • Master of Laws (University of Sydney) 2000
  • Diploma of Law (LPAB) 1994
  • Member of Law Society of NSW

Publications

NSW Con­struc­tion Update

Roberts v Good­win Street Devel­op­ments Pty Ltd [2023] NSW­CA 5 In a recent deci­sion hand­ed down by the NSW Court of Appeal it…
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Stra­ta Reme­di­al Update: Emer­gency Reme­di­al Build­ing Works

The NSW Depart­ment of Cus­tomer Ser­vice has released a Fact Sheet: Emer­gency Reme­di­al Build­ing Work: https://​www​.fair​trad​ing​.nsw​.gov​.au/​t​r​a​d​e​s​-​a​n​d​-​b​u​s​i​n​e​s​s​e​s​/​c​o​n​s​t​r​u​c​t​i​o​n​-​a​n​d​-​t​r​a​d​e​-​e​s​s​e​n​t​i​a​l​s​/​w​o​r​k​i​n​g​-​o​n​-​c​l​a​s​s​-​2​-​b​u​i​l​d​i​n​g​s​/​b​u​i​l​d​i​n​g​-​p​r​a​c​t​i​t​i​o​n​e​r​-​o​b​l​i​g​a​t​i​o​n​s​/​e​m​e​r​g​e​n​c​y​-​r​e​m​e​d​i​a​l​-​b​u​i​l​d​i​n​g​-work This Fact Sheet has been…
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In the News

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