Civil law lawyer

The situations that bring people here

Most people who write to me are not looking for an area of law. They are looking for what to do about a specific situation, often with a deadline already running. These are the ones that come up most.

• You found a problem after buying a house — infiltration, foundation, roof. The first question is the deadline to give notice: exactly what is it?
• Your insurer denied a claim, or valued it well below what you expected. What a denial has to contain to hold up.
• You received a repossession notice and do not know whether you must leave. You can refuse, and silence does not commit you the way it does on a rent increase.
• A rent increase looks excessive. Here, saying nothing counts as acceptance — the opposite of repossession.
• An estate has been stalled for months and the liquidator has stopped replying. What you can demand, and in what order.
• A will seems contrary to what the deceased wanted. The recognised grounds and the evidence they require.
• You hesitate to accept an estate for fear of debts. A rule of the Code already protects you — unless you sign it away without realising.
• A client or partner is not paying. A formal notice resolves a good share of these without any court hearing about them.
• You signed a contract you now dispute. Error, fraud, fear: what the law recognises, and what it refuses.
• A neighbour is causing you a problem — a tree, a misplaced fence, a party wall. What the Code lets you require, and above what threshold.
• Your landlord refuses to make repairs. A dwelling must be habitable, and no lease clause can change that.
• You need to leave a dwelling before the lease ends. Assignment of lease — and the fifteen days after which a landlord's silence means consent.
• The vehicle you bought is defective, or the garage botched the repair. The legal warranty covers vehicles too.
• A decision of your co-ownership syndicate is costing you. You have 90 days to have it annulled.
• You are wondering whether it is too late. The limitation period depends less on the number than on when it started.

If your situation is not on this list but falls within civil law, write anyway. The 30-minute initial call, at $150 plus taxes, exists precisely to work out whether there is something to act on.