Talk to us

What to bring to a first appointment

Half an hour with the right paperwork is worth three phone calls without it. Bring what you have, even if it is incomplete.

• Your notice to appear, bail undertaking, complaint and summons, or any court document with a date on it.
• Any letter from police, a prosecutor, a department, or the other side's lawyer.
• Photo identification, usually a driver licence or passport.
• Your traffic history if the matter involves driving. You can request one from Transport and Main Roads.
• Any contract, agreement or correspondence at the centre of a commercial or property matter.
• For a family matter, a rough list of assets, debts and who holds what, plus any parenting arrangement already in place.
• A written timeline of what happened, in your own words, in date order.

Do not bring anything you have obtained unlawfully, and do not record a conversation with another person without advice first. Tell us if you have already spoken to police, and tell us exactly what you said. It changes the advice.

If you have court this week

Say so when you call. Tell the person who answers the court, the date and the charge, and your call gets prioritised.

Do not simply fail to appear. A warrant can issue for your arrest, and a fresh charge of failing to appear can be laid. If you genuinely cannot get there, call us and call the court registry before the listing time, not after it.

If you cannot get a lawyer in time, go anyway, ask for the duty lawyer at the courthouse, and ask the magistrate for an adjournment to obtain legal advice. That request is routinely granted for a first appearance. Entering a plea before anyone has read the brief of evidence is the decision people most often regret.

If police have called you

Being asked to come in for an interview is not the same as being charged, and it is not an obligation to explain yourself.

In Queensland you must give police your correct name and address, and in traffic matters you may have to provide a specimen of breath or saliva when lawfully required. Beyond that, you are generally not obliged to answer questions about an alleged offence. A record of interview is evidence, and it is very hard to take back.

Be polite, do not obstruct, and say that you want to speak to a lawyer first. Then call us. That call takes ten minutes and it is free.

After hours and urgent matters

Both offices are open Monday to Friday, 8:30am to 5:00pm. Messages left outside those hours are picked up the next business morning.

If someone is in a watch house or has been arrested overnight, leave a message with the person's full name, date of birth and the station or watch house holding them, and we will act on it first thing. If there is immediate danger, call 000. Anyone in custody can ask police to contact a lawyer, and that request should be made before any interview begins.

Is my enquiry confidential?

Yes. What you tell a solicitor when seeking legal advice is confidential, and communications for the dominant purpose of legal advice are protected by legal professional privilege. That protection applies to an initial enquiry even if you never engage us.

There are narrow limits. Privilege does not cover a communication made for the purpose of committing an offence, and a solicitor cannot help you mislead a court. We also carry out a conflict check before giving advice, because if we already act for someone on the other side we have to tell you and decline.

One practical caution. Email and web forms are convenient but they are not the right place for the detail of a criminal matter. Send us enough to identify the issue and the urgency, then talk to us on the phone or in person.