Our Brisbane office, North Quay

Where we are and how to get here

North Quay runs along the river at the top of the CBD, between the William Jolly Bridge and the Victoria Bridge. Number 95 is a short walk from George Street.

Do not drive into the CBD for a court date if you can avoid it. There is no public parking at any of the George Street courts, commercial parking in that block is expensive, and early bird rates require you to arrive long before your matter is called. Roma Street and Central stations both put you within a short walk, and the King George Square and Queen Street busway stations are close.

If you are coming up from the Gold Coast, the train from Helensvale or Nerang to Roma Street will get you closer to the court than the M1 will at 8:00am on a Monday.

The courts we appear in from North Quay

Three separate courthouses sit within a couple of blocks, and they are easy to confuse. Getting the right building matters, because turning up at 415 George Street when you are listed at 363 George Street can put you into the afternoon list.

• Brisbane Magistrates Court, 363 George Street. Twenty six courtrooms. Almost every Brisbane criminal and traffic matter starts here. See the Brisbane Magistrates Court guide.
• Brisbane District Court, in the Queen Elizabeth II Courts of Law at 415 George Street, along with the Supreme Court and the Court of Appeal. Indictable sentences, jury trials and appeals from the Magistrates Court. See the Brisbane District Court guide.
• Federal Circuit and Family Court, in the Harry Gibbs Commonwealth Law Courts at 119 North Quay. Parenting, property and divorce.
• Holland Park Magistrates Court at 8 Marshall Road and Richlands Magistrates Court on the corner of Old Progress and Archerfield Roads, which take a large slice of southside and western suburbs work.

We also appear at Beenleigh, Wynnum, Cleveland, Ipswich, Caboolture and Redcliffe, and at QCAT for tribunal matters.

How Brisbane work differs from the coast

Brisbane lists are bigger and the practice is more compressed. The Magistrates Court at 363 George Street runs an arrest court for people brought from the watchhouse, a domestic violence list, a Murri Court, coroners courts and small claims rooms in the same building, which is why the foyer at 9:00am is not a calm place.

The charge mix skews toward the entertainment precincts and the transport corridors. Brisbane CBD, Fortitude Valley and Inner West Brisbane, which takes in Caxton Street, are all declared safe night precincts. Public nuisance, assault, obstruct police and serious assault of a police officer come out of those blocks most weekends and every Origin night.

Traffic work is different too. Because Brisbane actually has public transport, the extreme hardship argument that supports a work licence under section 87 of the Transport Operations (Road Use Management) Act 1995 (Qld) is harder to run here than on the Gold Coast. A prosecutor will point at the train line. We deal with that by putting real evidence in front of the court rather than an assertion.

On the family law side, Brisbane brings a lot of superannuation heavy matters. State government, health, education and defence employment produces property pools where the super is the largest single asset, and splitting it properly is the whole job.

Booking a first appointment in Brisbane

Start with a free 15 minute phone call, available on every matter except family law. A longer first appointment in the office, by phone or by video is $440 including GST. Bring the paperwork. For a criminal or traffic matter that means the notice to appear or bail undertaking and the QP9 if you have it. For family law it means the application and affidavit if proceedings have started, and a rough list of assets and debts if they have not.

We quote a fixed fee range in writing before any work starts, and we tell you what is not in the fee. Barrister fees, expert reports and filing fees sit outside it, and you should hear that at the first appointment rather than read it in an invoice.

If police have asked you to attend a station for an interview, call before you go. That conversation is short and it is often the single most useful thing we do on a file.