Current NSW and VIC Court Arrangement

The pandemic affects almost everything and the legal industry is one of them.

Attending court is certainly a people-gathering activity so it has been banned during the pandemic period.

Different courts have their different approaches to deal with the situation.

Below is the useful information:

NSW: 

The NSW law society has a list for all  updates of the court and tribunals in NSW and Federal level which also have a list of the webpages of the relevant courts and tribunals.

A law firm, named as Fourtree Lawyers located Central Coast of NSW, has its opinion here.

VIC: 

The Judicial College of Victoria has created one page to list the coronavirus and the courts which is quite comprehensive and also has link to the courts and tribunals. The page includes almost all jurisdiction in Australia.

General: 

LexisNexis has discussed this issue here.
Justice Connect has its suggestions here.


Fei Wang
2/5/2020

Witness and VOID electronically - Pandemic Measure

The COVID-19 Legislation Amendment (Emergency Measures) Act 2020 (NSW) was passed on 25 March 2020 and Part 4 of this Act enables the regulation maker to make altered arrangements for witness signatures, including requirements for certification of certain matters by witness and verification of identity, provided for by an Act or another law.

More information, see here.

Following above NSW legislation, VIC may pass similar legislation soon. See here.

As the relevant law/Acts have not been altered yet, but the trend is clear: for the limited time period, due to the difficulties of the face to face meeting, the special arrangement may be made to witness affidavits, declaration and other documents which need to be witnessed through electronic method.

Generally speaking, online or web VOID is permitted if the solicitor is satisfied while online or web witness documents would be absolutely prohibited. But during the pandemic time, the ongoing concerns for the health and safety of clients and lawyers have been given to the law maker so that alternative options including electronic systems for witnessing documents and verifying identity have been introduced or temporally accepted.

Prudentia Legal will keep a close eye on this alternative arrangement and every solicitor should make him/herself familiar with the changes.

Fei Wang
Prudentia Legal
20 April 2020

Our Letter Head

Dear all

Please note that whenever you are writing one letter to any party outside our firm, you should use the updated Letter Head.

We are trying best to keep our Letter Head updated.

Please find out our current updated Letter Head here.

Any issues, please contact the management.

Fei Wang
Prudentia Legal
20 April 2020

Coronavirus Information

IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT - CORONAVIRUS --

1. If you have a runny nose and sputum, you have a common cold
2. Coronavirus pneumonia is a dry cough with no runny nose.
3. This new virus is not heat-resistant and will be killed by a temperature of just 26/27 degrees. It hates the Sun.
4. If someone sneezes with it, it takes about 10 feet before it drops to the ground and is no longer airborne.
5. If it drops on a metal surface it will live for at least 12 hours - so if you come into contact with any metal surface - wash your hands as soon as you can with a bacterial soap.
6. On fabric, it can survive for 6-12 hours. normal laundry detergent will kill it.
7. Drinking warm water is effective for all viruses. Try not to drink liquids with ice.
8. Wash your hands frequently as the virus can only live on your hands for 5-10 minutes, but - a lot can happen during that time - you can rub your eyes, pick your nose unwittingly and so on.
9. You should also gargle as prevention. A simple solution of salt in warm water will suffice.
10. Can't emphasis enough - drink plenty of water!

THE SYMPTOMS

1. It will first infect the throat, so you'll have a sore throat lasting 3/4 days
2. The virus then blends into a nasal fluid that enters the trachea and then the lungs, causing pneumonia. This takes about 5/6 days further.
3. With pneumonia comes high fever and difficulty in breathing.
4. The nasal congestion is not like the normal kind. You feel like you're drowning. It's imperative you then seek immediate attention.

Serious advice by Japanese doctors treating COVID-19 cases: Everyone should ensure your mouth & throat are moist, never dry. Take a few sips of water every 15 minutes at least. Why? Even if the virus gets into your mouth, drinking water or other liquids will wash them down through your throat and into the stomach. Once there, your stomach acid will kill all the virus. If you don't drink enough water regularly, the virus can enter your windpipe and into the lungs. That's very dangerous. Please send and share this with family and friends. Take care of everyone.

The new Coronavirus may not show sign of infection for many days. How can one know if he/she is infected? By the time they have a fever and/or cough and go to the hospital, the lung is usually 50% Fibrosis and it's too late (Fibrosis is not reversible). Taiwan experts provide a simple self-check that we can do every morning. Take a deep breath and hold your breath for more than 10 seconds. If you complete it successfully without coughing, without discomfort, stiffness or tightness, etc., it proves there is no Fibrosis in the lungs, basically indicates no infection. In critical times, please self-check every morning in an environment with clean air.

Information shared

How to fight against perfectonism

Perfectionism can be a curse and a blessing. On one hand, it can motivate you to perform at a high level and deliver top-quality work. But it can also cause you unnecessary anxiety and slow you down.

How can you harness the positives of perfectionism while mitigating the negatives? Here are some ways.

1. View the big picture

Attention to detail can be incredibly time-consuming. So it pays to keep the big picture in view and see the cost-benefit of the time and energy you apply to a project.

For example, you might spend an extra three hours making a presentation perfect, but does that improve the impact for the client or your organisation? There is a point of diminishing returns when it comes to sweating the small stuff.

So if you’re tempted to tinker on an assignment that most others would consider complete, try to accept that just getting it done is a decent goal.

Ask a colleague for their opinion. They may be able to reassure you that your efforts are good enough or help you to make the improvements that count.

2. Create a checklist

Rather than labouring in search of the elusive goal of perfection, creating a checklist for each task. The checklist outlines a clear process with discrete and measurable goals.

If you are preparing a written report, for example, you may fret over the font choice and sweat every semi-colon. But a checklist can remind you to cover important tasks such as confirming you’ve spelled things correctly and eliminated basic editing errors.

Once you’ve ticked off the items on your list, you’re done.

3. Break the worry cycle

Many perfectionists keep mulling over a problem without ever coming to a resolution. To break free from this destructive cycle, use the following strategies.

• Identify your triggers. First figure out what sets you worrying. Note the setting: location, the time of day, and who’s around. Once you find a consistent pattern, think about ways you might steer clear of or control those factors.
• Control your emotions. Try hard to get perspective and give yourself time and distance before taking action. You might be blowing the problem out of proportion.
• Seek a diversion. When your mind is twisting and turning, seek out distractions to break the cycle. Often spending just 10 minutes on a mundane but practical task like can break give your mind a break and keep you from “spinning your wheels.”
• Think positive. True, you might not get everything perfect, but your work is still valuable. Discipline your mind to focus on the potential good that can come from your conscientious efforts. And ask someone—a trusted colleague, friend, or mentor—for perspective and support.

You may not be able to completely break free from perfectionist traits, but you may be able to ease your burden—and live happier as a result.

Conclusion

Perfectionists can be helped to kerb their affliction by keeping the big picture in view, using simple checklists, and using several strategies to help break the worry cycle.

article by Karstens blog 

FIRB Notice -- Residential Property Related

Dear all

As you are aware, the Treasury of Australia just announced new FIRB policy last Sunday.

Regarding the FIRB new policy, Edmund and I are working on it.

FIRB new policy will have a big impact on foreign investment.

For Residential Property purchase-related, the policy has not been changed but the time frame has been changed from 30 days to 6 months.

If we have a recent exchange contract (especially our shanghai office), please review the relevant FIRB clause and ensure our purchaser client will comply with the clause and if necessary we have to seek to make a variation with the vendor solicitor regarding Subject to FIRB clause.

Fei Wang
Prudentia Legal
31 March 2020

Working From Home Notice

Dear Sydney and Melbourne colleagues

The novel coronavirus outbreak in Australia becomes more and more serious.

In order to protect our staff, we have decided to make arrangements for working-from-home, details as follows:

It is not compulsory to do so for everyone but we encourage you to do so.

We will try to make an arrangement for one person in each office during office hours.

Commencement: 18 March 2020


Working from home Time: AUS EAST Time from 9 AM to 6 PM with a one-hour lunch break and your standard morning and afternoon tea breaks.

Hardware requirements at home:

1. Computer - Windows or Mac -- with a mic and camera.
2. Mobile Phone (by the company or your own ONLY IF you are not given a company phone) -- WeChat and Leap shall have been installed on your work phone.
   Please get used to the conference call/call waiting/call forwarding function on your mobile phone.
3. Internet connection

Software: Teamview/Skype/Zoom/WeChat/LEAP/Google Drive

You should ensure that your working station and your home computer should have Teamview installed. Teamviewer 

As a backup, please also download the Anydesk at your work station and home computer. Any Desk

Then you can remotely access your working station by Teamview or Anydesk at home when you can use Outlook and Leap on your working station.

If you do not know how to do it, please contact Ada or one of the partners.

You should have Skype installed on your home computer, and please log in with your assigned office username and password for Skype. Install Skype click here

You shall have Zoom installed on your home computer and registered Zoom with your work email address. Zoom Website. 

You should have wechat installed on your computer if you have a work WeChat account.

We may use Google Drive and LEAP to share documents.

Procedure:

1. In the morning, at 9 am, please log on Skype and notify your attendance in your office group. During lunchtime, you may notify your office skype group when you are away from the desk and should notify your office skype group when you are back. When you finish your work, please notify in the group.
2. You should remain online throughout the business hours and communicate via Skype, or mobile phone. Everyone should provide the contactable mobile number including working phone and personal phone numbers (for urgent / emergency contact). You are required to reply instant message and telephone phone calls no less than 2 hours during working days.
3. Check your emails as if you are working normally. It is required that you should reply emails within 24 hours during business days.
4. If there is a meeting and/or court attendance, you will need to attend. Please make your personal arrangement. Working from home would not stop meeting if it is necessary. We DO NOT encourage meeting clients during this period and suggest that using alternative meeting methods such as a teleconference or video conference.
5. We may have online meeting/training; which you will be required to log into Zoom to join the meeting. We may require a video conference so please ensure you have a mic and a camera with your computer.

Work Report:

You may be required to provide a daily work report using google sheet sharing with the management.

Your work may be monitored through the LEAP report system. So please record all your work time on LEAP and also save all documents/correspondence to the LEAP.

We are not able to determine the time when we will resume normal work back to the office. But we will keep you updated and once it is safe, we will require your guys back to the office.

This platform will be the main platform to give notice to our staff, so please check it regularly.

Yours sincerely,


Prudentia Legal Partners
17 March 2020