Your first court date
What to expect at your first appearance in the Local Court, and how to prepare for it.
Read the guide →Good Legal Lawyers · Guides
Guides to civil claims, mediation, the workplace, and criminal litigation.
Plain-English guides to the areas people search most: recovering money and defending claims in the NSW Local Court, resolving disputes through mediation, the NSW Industrial Relations Commission and workplace rights, and how criminal litigation runs from charge to appeal. Every guide answers the questions people actually ask, cites the primary law, and links to the next step. General information, written by Aaron Kernaghan.
If you have just been charged · Local Court civil claims · Mediation and dispute resolution · Workplace and the NSW IRC · Criminal litigation
If you have just been charged
Short, practical guides for the first hours and days after an arrest, interview or charge.
What to do if police want to interview you
Your rights when police ask to interview you, and why advice comes before answers.
Read the guide →After-hours arrest checklist
What to do, and what not to do, if you or someone you know is arrested after hours.
Read the guide →Bail conditions survival guide
How to understand and comply with bail conditions so you do not breach and lose your bail.
Read the guide →Local Court civil claims
Small claims, statements of claim, default judgment, enforcement, debt recovery and costs in the NSW Local Court.
How to make a small claim in the NSW Local Court
How the Small Claims Division of the NSW Local Court works: filing a statement of claim, the $20,000 limit, what it costs, and how a small claim is decided.
Read the guide →The statement of claim: how to start a civil case in NSW
What a statement of claim is, what it must contain, how to file and serve it in the NSW Local Court, and the common mistakes that get a claim struck out.
Read the guide →You have been served with a statement of claim. What now?
What to do if you are served with a statement of claim in NSW: the 28-day deadline, filing a defence, admitting or disputing the debt, and avoiding default judgment.
Read the guide →Default judgment: how it happens and how to set it aside
How default judgment is entered in the NSW Local Court, what it means for a debtor, and how to apply to set it aside under the Uniform Civil Procedure Rules.
Read the guide →Enforcing a judgment debt in NSW: getting paid after you win
How to enforce a NSW court judgment: examination notices, garnishee orders against wages and bank accounts, writs against property, and bankruptcy or winding up.
Read the guide →Debt recovery in NSW: suing for unpaid invoices
How to recover an unpaid invoice or debt in NSW: the letter of demand, filing a statement of claim, the Local Court divisions, interest, and enforcing the judgment.
Read the guide →General Division claims: civil disputes from $20,000 to $100,000
How the General Division of the NSW Local Court handles civil claims from $20,000 to $100,000: procedure, evidence, costs, and how it differs from small claims.
Read the guide →Costs in Local Court civil claims: who pays and how much
How legal costs work in NSW Local Court civil claims: the small claims restriction, costs following the event in the General Division, and how offers change the risk.
Read the guide →Mediation and dispute resolution
How mediation works, free Community Justice Centre mediation, binding settlements, confidentiality and neighbour disputes.
What is mediation and how does it work in NSW?
What mediation is, how a mediation works in NSW, who the mediator is, what it costs, and how it compares to going to court. A plain-English guide.
Read the guide →Mediation, arbitration and conciliation: the differences
The difference between mediation, arbitration and conciliation in NSW: who decides, whether the outcome is binding, how formal each is, and when each is used.
Read the guide →Community Justice Centres: free mediation in NSW
How free mediation through NSW Community Justice Centres works: the disputes they handle, neighbour and fencing matters, how to arrange it, and whether it is binding.
Read the guide →Do you have to go to mediation before court in NSW?
Whether you must try mediation before court in NSW: court-ordered mediation, genuine steps to resolve, the cost consequences of refusing, and where it is compulsory.
Read the guide →How to prepare for mediation and what happens on the day
How to prepare for a mediation in NSW: knowing your best and worst outcomes, your bottom line, the documents to bring, and what happens on the day.
Read the guide →Are mediation agreements legally binding in NSW?
Whether a mediation agreement is legally binding in NSW: terms of settlement as a contract, what makes it enforceable, consent orders, and what happens if it is broken.
Read the guide →Confidentiality and without prejudice in mediation
How confidentiality and the without prejudice rule protect mediation in NSW: what cannot be used in court, the limits of the protection, and why it lets parties speak freely.
Read the guide →Fencing and tree disputes between neighbours in NSW
How to resolve neighbour disputes in NSW: dividing fences under the Dividing Fences Act, tree disputes under the Trees Act, mediation, and the tribunals that decide them.
Read the guide →Workplace and the NSW IRC
The NSW Industrial Relations Commission, unfair dismissal, bullying and sexual harassment, unpaid wages and award disputes.
What is the NSW Industrial Relations Commission and what does it do?
What the NSW Industrial Relations Commission is, who it covers, what it decides, and how recent reforms expanded its role in bullying, harassment and unpaid wages.
Read the guide →Fair Work or the NSW IRC: which system covers you?
How to tell whether you are in the national Fair Work system or the NSW state industrial system: the corporations test, who is covered, and why it matters for a claim.
Read the guide →Unfair dismissal in the NSW state system
How unfair dismissal works in the NSW state system: what makes a dismissal harsh, unreasonable or unjust, who can claim, the time limit, and the remedies the IRC can order.
Read the guide →Stop-bullying and stop-sexual-harassment orders in NSW
How stop-bullying and stop-sexual-harassment orders work in NSW: what counts as workplace bullying, the new IRC jurisdiction, who can apply, and what the orders do.
Read the guide →Recovering unpaid wages in NSW
How to recover unpaid wages, entitlements and underpayments in NSW: the small claims wage process, the raised cap, which forum to use, and the time limits.
Read the guide →Making an unfair dismissal application: time limits and process
How to make an unfair dismissal application in NSW: the strict time limit, how to lodge, conciliation, arbitration, and what to do if you are running out of time.
Read the guide →Workplace sexual harassment: the law and the remedies in NSW
What workplace sexual harassment is in NSW, the positive duty on employers, the forums that hear complaints, and the remedies available, including stop orders and compensation.
Read the guide →Award and enterprise agreement disputes
What awards and enterprise agreements are, common disputes over pay, classification and conditions, and how the IRC and Fair Work resolve them by conciliation and arbitration.
Read the guide →Criminal litigation
Committal, judge-alone trials, the brief of evidence, defended hearings, sentencing, appeals, subpoenas and the right to silence.
What is committal in the NSW Local Court?
How committal works in NSW for indictable offences: the charge certificate, the mandatory case conference, what the magistrate decides, and how the modern process differs from the old one.
Read the guide →Trial by jury or judge alone in NSW?
How the choice between a jury trial and a judge-alone trial works in NSW: who decides, when the prosecution's consent is needed, and the reasons for and against each.
Read the guide →The brief of evidence: what it is and when you get it
What a brief of evidence is in a NSW criminal case, what it contains, when the prosecution must serve it, and why reading it carefully shapes the defence.
Read the guide →Pleading not guilty: the defended hearing in the Local Court
How a defended hearing works in the NSW Local Court: the not-guilty plea, the onus and standard of proof, how the hearing runs, and what happens after the verdict.
Read the guide →Sentencing options in NSW: from section 10 to imprisonment
The sentencing options in NSW, from a section 10 dismissal without conviction through conditional release orders, community correction orders and intensive correction orders to full-time imprisonment.
Read the guide →Appeals from the Local Court to the District Court
How to appeal from the NSW Local Court to the District Court: severity and conviction appeals, the 28-day time limit, how the appeal is heard, and the risk of a heavier sentence.
Read the guide →Subpoenas in criminal cases: getting the documents you need
How subpoenas work in NSW criminal cases: subpoenas to produce documents and to give evidence, the legitimate forensic purpose test, objections, and access to the documents.
Read the guide →The right to silence in NSW
What the right to silence means in NSW, the police caution, the special caution and when silence can count against you, and why getting advice before you answer questions matters.
Read the guide →Need advice on your matter?
0421 717 019
These guides are general information written by Aaron Kernaghan, Special Counsel at Good Legal Lawyers. They are not legal advice and do not purport to be accurate or complete. For advice on a specific matter, contact Aaron Kernaghan on 0421 717 019.