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Legal services for individuals, families and businesses in Melbourne

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Migration Law

Australia’s visa system is technical, and a small error or a missed deadline can cost a person their place in the country. Dev Legal acts on visa applications, refusals and cancellations for clients in Melbourne and across Australia. Where a decision has gone the wrong way, we assess your appeal rights to the Administrative Review Tribunal quickly, because the deadlines are short and they do not move. 

What is included: 

  • Partner, skilled, student, visitor and employer-sponsored visa applications
  • Advice on visa conditions and obligations
  • Responses to requests for further information from the Department
  • Visa refusal and cancellation matters
  • Appeals to the Administrative Review Tribunal
  • Advice on your options after an unfavourable decision

Family Law

Family matters are rarely only about the law. They are about children, homes, money and the shape of the years ahead. Dev Legal works to resolve separation and parenting matters by agreement where that is realistic, because it is usually faster, cheaper and less painful than court. Where agreement is not possible, or where the other side will not deal fairly, we are prepared to litigate properly. 

What is included:   

  • Separation and divorce applications
  • Parenting arrangements and parenting orders
  • Property settlements
  • Consent orders and binding financial agreements
  • Spousal maintenance
  • Advice on your entitlements before you commit to anything

Conveyancing

Buying or selling property is, for most people, the largest transaction of their lives, and the contract is signed early, before most buyers have read the fine print. Dev Legal reviews the contract and the Section 32 vendor statement before you sign, handles the searches and the settlement, and explains in plain terms what you are actually taking on. Residential and business conveyancing, quoted as a fixed fee so the cost is known from the start. 

What is included:  

  • Contract and Section 32 review before you sign
  • Advice on special conditions, finance and cooling-off rights
  • Property and title searches
  • Liaison with your lender, the agent and the other side
  • Preparation and settlement of the transfer
  • Business sale and purchase conveyancing

Property Law

Property disputes and commercial property dealings need more than a standard transfer. Dev Legal advises on leases, developments and the disputes that arise when ownership or boundaries are contested. Whether you are a landlord, a tenant, a buyer off the plan or a co-owner whose arrangement has broken down, we set out your position and the realistic ways forward. 

What is included:    

  • Commercial and retail lease preparation, review and negotiation
  • Off-the-plan purchase advice
  • Easements, covenants and caveats
  • Boundary and fencing disputes
  • Co-ownership disputes and applications for sale of property
  • Advice on developer and owners corporation issues

Criminal Law

Being charged with an offence is frightening, and what you do in the first days matters. Dev Legal acts for people facing drug, assault, dishonesty, driving and public order charges in Melbourne’s courts. We advise you on your options, prepare your matter properly, and speak for you when it counts, whether that is a bail application, a plea, or a defended hearing. Available for urgent matters. 

What is included: 

  • Advice on charges and your options from the outset
  • Bail applications
  • Plea negotiations with police and prosecutors
  • Pleas in mitigation to reduce penalty
  • Contested and defended hearings
  • Representation in the Magistrates' Court and beyond

Wills and Power of Attorney

A clear will and a valid power of attorney spare the people you love a great deal of difficulty later. Dev Legal prepares wills and estate documents, advises executors administering an estate, and acts where someone has been unfairly left out of a will. It is straightforward work that is easy to keep putting off, and far harder to fix once it is too late. 

What is included: 

  • Wills, from simple to complex
  • Enduring powers of attorney
  • Appointments of medical treatment decision makers and guardians
  • Estate administration and probate for executors
  • Advice on and claims against an estate (family provision claims)
  • Reviews and updates to existing documents

Debt Recovery

An unpaid invoice is money already earned and not yet collected, and the longer it sits, the harder it is to recover. Dev Legal pursues debts for businesses and individuals in a way that stays commercial: firm, unemotional, and priced so that chasing the debt remains worth doing. We start with a properly drafted demand and escalate through the courts only as far as the debt justifies. 

What is included:

  • Letters of demand
  • Statutory demands on companies
  • Court proceedings to recover a debt
  • Enforcement of judgments
  • Advice on prospects and cost before you commit
  • Recovery strategy for businesses with ongoing bad debt

Traffic Matters

For most people caught up in a traffic matter, the real worry is not the fine, it is the licence and what losing it would mean for work and family. Dev Legal acts on drink and drug driving, excessive speed, suspensions and licence appeals in Melbourne’s courts. We look at whether the charge can be contested, and where it cannot, at how to protect your licence and keep the penalty as low as possible. 

What is included: 

  • Drink driving and drug driving charges
  • Excessive speed and careless or dangerous driving
  • Appointments of medical treatment decision makers and guardians
  • Estate administration and probate for executors
  • Advice on and claims against an estate (family provision claims)
  • Reviews and updates to existing documents

Commercial Matters

Good legal groundwork keeps a business out of trouble, and sound advice gets it out of trouble when something goes wrong. Dev Legal acts for small and medium businesses across their commercial dealings, from the documents that set a venture up to the disputes that occasionally follow. Practical, commercial advice aimed at protecting the business rather than running up fees. 

What is included:

  • Business sales and purchases
  • Shareholder and partnership agreements
  • Driving while suspended or disqualified
  • Demerit point suspensions
  • Licence suspension and disqualification appeals
  • Pleas to minimise penalty and protect your licence

FAQs

A conveyancer can handle a straightforward transfer. A lawyer can also advise you on the contract terms, the tax consequences, any dispute, and anything unusual on the title. If your purchase has a complication, use a lawyer.

Appeal windows to the Administrative Review Tribunal are strict and can be as short as seven days, depending on the visa and where you were when the decision was made. Ring us the day the decision arrives.

Any documents that relate to the matter. A contract, a court notice, a letter from the other side, a decision from the Department. If you are unsure whether something is relevant, bring it anyway.
Most conveyancing matters settle between thirty and ninety days after the contract is signed, depending on what the parties agree. We will tell you what your contract commits you to before you sign it.
Yes. Migration matters can be handled from anywhere in Australia, largely by phone and email. For matters that require an appearance in a Victorian court, we will explain what attendance is needed and when.
Often, no. Many family, debt and commercial matters resolve through negotiation. Where a court appearance is required, we will tell you early, so it is never a surprise.
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