About

Who is behind this website

My Civil Lawyer is an informational website about civil disputes in New South Wales. This page sets out what it is, how a law practice is regulated here, and how to check all of it for yourself.

General information, not legal advice. This page sets out how the law generally applies. It does not take account of your circumstances, and you should get advice about your own situation before acting on it. The official sources this page is written from are listed on it; where they differ from anything here, they are the authority.

Last updated: 23 September 2026

There is a great deal of legal information online and much of it does not say who wrote it or where it came from. This page says. It is deliberately short on adjectives, because the things worth knowing are checkable facts rather than claims.

My Civil Lawyer is an informational website about civil disputes in New South Wales. Legal services offered through this website are provided by Jameson Law.

What this website covers

Civil disputes: the arguments between people, businesses and organisations that are resolved by a court or a tribunal awarding money or making an order, rather than by the State prosecuting anybody.

The pages here describe how those disputes work in New South Wales — what has to be proved, which court or tribunal decides them, and how long you have — and where a statement rests on legislation or a court’s own page, they link it.

Contract disputes, including breach, termination and unpaid work
Debt recovery, and defending claims where the debt is disputed
Consumer claims under the Australian Consumer Law
Property disputes about land, leases and co-ownership
Negligence claims under the Civil Liability Act 2002 (NSW)
Defamation, for both the person defamed and the publisher

If a limitation period may be close, say so at the first opportunity. Section 14 of the Limitation Act 1969 (NSW) sets six years for most contract and tort claims, running from when the cause of action first accrues, and several kinds of claim run on much shorter periods.

How a law practice is regulated in New South Wales

Solicitors in New South Wales practise under the Legal Profession Uniform Law, applied in this State by the Legal Profession Uniform Law Application Act 2014 (NSW). A solicitor may only practise while holding a current practising certificate, and the Law Society of NSW issues and enforces those certificates.

A practising certificate is not simply permission to trade. It carries obligations that run to you as the client: the conduct rules for solicitors, the duty of confidentiality, the duty of honesty to the court, costs disclosure rules, rules about how client money is held, and the requirement to be covered by professional indemnity insurance.

Complaints about a lawyer in New South Wales go to the Office of the NSW Legal Services Commissioner, which receives all complaints about lawyers in this State and deals with them under the Uniform Law. It is independent of any firm. Our complaints page explains how to raise something first and where to take it if that does not settle the matter.

How to check a practising certificate

You do not have to take any of this on trust. The Law Society of NSW publishes a Register of Solicitors, an online directory of New South Wales practices and solicitors who hold a current practising certificate. Search a name and you can see whether the certificate is current.

One thing is worth knowing about the register: the type of practising certificate a solicitor holds does not necessarily reflect the position that solicitor occupies at their principal place of practice, so it is not a guide to seniority or role.

Do this for any lawyer you are considering, including anyone you reach through this website.

What the liability limitation means

The line Liability limited by a scheme approved under Professional Standards Legislation appears in the footer of this site, and it means something specific.

A professional standards scheme is approved under the Professional Standards Act 1994 (NSW). Where a participating solicitor is sued over their professional work, the scheme caps the damages a court may award, provided the requirements in the scheme instrument are met. The Law Society of NSW administers the scheme for its solicitor members in private practice and publishes the scheme instrument.

The limitation does not reduce the duties a solicitor owes you, and it does not affect your right to complain to the Legal Services Commissioner or to dispute a bill. It limits the amount of civil damages recoverable in the circumstances the scheme covers.

What this website is, and what it is not

Everything here is general information about civil law and procedure in New South Wales. It is not legal advice and it cannot be, because it knows nothing about your dispute. Reading it does not make you a client, and sending an enquiry does not either: a firm acts for you once a conflict check is done and the scope of the work and what it will cost have been agreed in writing. How we work sets out that sequence step by step.

Some things are missing from this site on purpose.

Fees. No figures, not even a range. What a matter costs depends on what is in dispute and on how the other side behaves, so a number published here would mislead you. Where the law requires costs disclosure, you get it in writing when, or as soon as practicable after, you give instructions. See costs.
Court monetary limits and filing fees. These are set by the courts and revised from time to time. We link to the court's own page rather than printing a figure that goes out of date quietly.
Outcomes. No success rates, no case studies, no guarantees. The decision belongs to the court or the tribunal.
Reviews and testimonials. None are published here.
Your solicitor. The Jameson Law team is shown below. Ask which solicitor would have carriage of your matter before you engage the firm.

Where a page here shows the date it was last updated, that date is the limit of what it tells you, and the pages that rely on official sources list them. If a page here and an official source disagree, the official source is right — and we would like to know, so the page can be corrected.

Privacy, terms and accessibility

Our privacy policy sets out what personal information is collected through this site and how it is handled, under the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) and the Australian Privacy Principles. The terms of use cover the website itself.

Our accessibility page sets out the standard this site is built to, and how to ask for the same information in another format if any part of it is hard for you to use.

How to reach us

Use the enquiry form on the contact page. Keep a first message short: what the dispute is about, who it is with, and any date that may be running against you.

Enquiries

Through the form on our contact page.

Who you are contacting

My Civil Lawyer is an informational website about civil disputes in New South Wales. Legal services are provided by Jameson Law.

Professional standards

Liability limited by a scheme approved under Professional Standards Legislation.