Mar 6

Mar 6 Resolving a Strata Dispute via Conciliation

Whether it’s ‘mediation’, ‘conciliation’, ‘arbitration’, - just getting around the table and getting a resolution that way will generally be far preferable to ‘lawyering up’ or going for formal Dispute Resolution at the Office of the Commissioner.

The Office of Commissioner of Body Corporate Management calls it ‘Dispute Resolution’, but in truth, that is probably rarely the outcome of an Adjudication. What it is, is a formal legal process, that yes, will usually commence with a compulsory conciliation attempt, but if that is unsuccessful will then progress to formal Adjudication. The end result of that will be a ‘winner’ and a ‘loser’ i.e. the Adjudicator will side with the Applicant or the Respondent on a point of law or an interpretation of a point of law. So, battle won (or lost), but you can be sure, back at the strata ‘compound’ the war will likely rage on - anew. But there is a better, more enlightened way.

Until February this year, Chris Irons was the Commissioner for Body Corporate Management in Qld. - but in February, after nearly five years in that role, he accepted a position with Hynes Legal, and moved to the ‘private side’.

The ramifications of this for Hynes and the Strata industry will likely be significant.

So what are the plans? How will Hynes utilise Chris - what are the aims and challenges.

In this wide-ranging conversation, specialist strata lawyer Amanda Farmer talks to Frank Higginson - managing partner at Hynes. Frank shares the thinking behind this unusual appointment, including his thoughts on why we must start trying to resolve Strata and Body Corporate disputes in a different way.