Phillip Leaman
Phillip specialises in Owners Corporations law, adverse possession and compulsory acquisition. He understands the unique nature of strata living and disputes and provides clients with a practical approach which is results driven.
Phillip Leaman has been recognised on the Best Lawyers List for 4 year (2020 – 2023) in the category of Real Property Law.
Phillip has extensive expert knowledge and experience in:
Owners Corporations Law including acting in domestic building disputes for Owners Corporations
Phillip understands that most disputes involve lot owners who must live together after the dispute is over. Phillip provides practical and strategic advice to Owners Corporations in respect to all types of disputes concerning the Owners Corporations Act 2006, defect claims arising from original building works under the Domestic Building Contracts Act 1995 and disputes between lot owners, contractors and managers. He also assists Owners Corporations in governance and other property law advice required such as interpreting plans of subdivisions, leasing and licensing, adverse possession and dealing with managers and contractors. He acts for Owners Corporations in Victoria and the Australian Capital Territory.
Adverse possession and fence disputes
Phillip Leaman acted for the successful party in the leading adverse possession case in Victoria Abbatangelo v Whittlesea City Council (in seeking adverse possession) and the leading adverse possession case in Victoria Laming v Jennings (in defending a claim for adverse possession and lost modern grant easement) and has been involved in a substantial number of claims (acting on both sides of the fence) and claims at Land Use Victoria, Magistrates’ Court, County Court, Supreme Court, Court of Appeal and the High Court of Australia.
Compulsory acquisition
Phillip Leaman has acted for a substantial amount of compulsory acquisition matters on projects such as North East Link, East West Link, Level Crossing Removal Project, Sky rail, Melbourne Metro Rail Project, Dandenong to Caulfield Voluntary Purchase Scheme, council acquisitions for public open space, easements and other projects.
Acting for property developers on:
Structuring advice;
Documenting shareholder, unitholder, joint venture and partnership relationships;
Option deeds;
Development agreements;
Project Management Agreements;
VCAT planning permit applications;
Title issues;
Plans of Subdivision issues;
Loan facilities, mortgages and security interests on the Personal Property Securities Act Register;
Restrictive covenant issues;
Easement issues;
Caveat issues;
Service provider agreements;
Advising real estate agents on Estate Agent Act compliance. See our full list of real estate agent services.
Phillip Leaman was an active member of Scouting for over 15 years as a leader. He is a Queens Scout and Baden Powell Awardee and was an Assistant Scout Leader of the 1st Hoppers Crossing Scout Troop and a member of the Victorian branch Air Activities Team. Phillip’s other interests include scuba diving, golf, flying light aircraft and he has obtained his private pilot’s licence.
The way to get started is to quit talking and begin doing
Qualifications & Industry Memberships
- Bachelor of Commerce- Major in Economic Commerce Management (Deakin)
- Bachelor of Laws (Hons) (Deakin)
- Member of Law Institute of Victoria
- Chair of the Law Institute of Victoria Accredited Specialisation Advisory Committee for Commercial Law Specialisation
- Former chair and member of the Business Law and Corporate Law Committee of the Law Institute of Victoria
- Law Institute of Victoria Accredited Commercial Law Specialist (since 2012)
- Selected for Real Property Law, Best Lawyers List 2019/2020, 2020/2021, 2021/2022 and 2021/2023
