Lawyers Start Northern Venture

Tindall Gask Bentley has opened in the Northern Territory with a bang, writes TGB managing partner Morry Bailes.

The sense of welcome from the Northern Territory to TGB has been very warm indeed. It has taken us until our 45th year to venture north. Although we have acted for Territorians in the past we had ‘bitten the bullet’ and opened a permanent office, with the support and considerable assistance of the Northern Territory Police Association to whom we express our thanks.

Victoria Bell, Tom Mead and I are heading up the new office. I practice in the areas of criminal law, associations law and appear in courts of inquiry. Victoria practices in workers compensation and personal injury law, and Tom practices in the Wills and Estate planning area and advises on commercial transactions.

[Tom Mead, Victoria Bell and Morry Bailes at the Northern Territory Police Association]

Things have gotten off to a flying start. New clients have been pouring through the door particularly for wills and estate planning advice, workers compensation and motor vehicle injury claims advice.

Whilst the NTPA deals internally with police disciplinary matters, TGB is also able to help with criminal and coronial matters should members require private representation. TGB is also a family law powerhouse and will provide family law advice to Territorians who experience marital and relationship breakdown. Often getting early advice in such circumstances can limit a great deal of the later difficulty experienced by many separating couples.

[Morry Bailes in Darwin]

Visiting the regions is an important priority for TGB so we travelled to Katherine to visit the Katherine Police Station and its members. We met the commander and supervising officers before giving wills and estate advice to quite a number of the local members. We will shortly visit both Tennant Creek and Alice Springs and intend on regularly returning to these regional centres.

TGB is certainly not limited to advising only members of the NTPA. Firstly, there is a competitive fee offering to all NTPA family members. Secondly, we are also working with members of the Communication Workers Union. Thirdly, we are assisting defence force members (of which there are many in Darwin) with injury compensation matters and disputes. Finally TGB is open to private clients so long as their interests are not at odds with those of our Union clients.

The Northern Territory is an exciting place to be doing business. Business and consumer confidence is palpably higher than in many other parts of Australia, the population is young and energetic and the Territory is open to anyone who is willing to have a go. TGB is certainly up to the challenge and we are excited to have started our Territory venture with such a positive response.

If you have a legal issue in Darwin, please contact us to arrange an appointment.