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LEVEL 7, NO.1 CHANDOS ST |
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ABOUT US
In this section you will find information on:
• Our clients.
• Our staff (their experience and interests, both in and outside law).
• Our history.
• Other information, including our accredited specialists.
• How to find us.
Our team of solicitors have experience acting for a broad range of businesses and organisations, including private and public companies, councils, hospitals, insurers, accountants, liquidators, co-operatives, IT companies, industry associations, financial institutions, building and construction companies, engineers and property developers.
Our individual clients have diverse backgrounds, including builders, barristers, bishops, bus drivers, bank managers, shop owners, judges, adventurers, politicians, photographers, doctors, dentists, directors, mechanics, media personalities and "mums and dads".
This section contains the curriculum vitae of our solicitors.
Richard Schmidt is the Senior Partner and now specialises in Business Law. In his 28 years of practice he has been closely involved with a wide range of clients and their problems - from partnerships in good times and bad to expanding companies and those in financial difficulties. His client base includes everything from sandwich shops with turnovers of a few thousand dollars to airlines with turnovers of millions of dollars.
Richard's interests in matters other than law have helped him develop a practical and commercial approach to legal problems. He has been in community activities taking part in the running of school councils, women's refuges, hospital ethics committees (Royal North Shore Hospital for 20 years) and Rotary Club of St Leonards of which he was President some 20 years ago. He has been involved on Law Society committees and has been President of the North Metropolitan Law Society.
He takes a particular interest in technology and its use in delivering legal services in our changing world. In 1998 he co-authored a book published by Allen & Unwin on "Your Business and the Law". He is happily married with two children. He has a keen interest in boating and discussing world problems with friends.
Born 1 April 1961, Chris went to Normanhurst Boys High School and graduated with degrees in Science and Law from Sydney University. His science training was particularly useful in giving a practical problem solving ability.
During university years he lived in various inner city suburbs, working five nights a week cleaning factories and working summer holidays on a range of jobs (including painting boats, driving trucks, coaching swimming, labouring, landscaping and buying/selling convertible VWs).
Chris is happily married with three children and a dog (a Kelpie X German Shepherd X something).
He has been involved in a range of community activities from children's sport (soccer, rugby, cricket, gymnastics and netball, plus roles as coach and manager) to Rotary (member of Wollstonecraft Rotary Club since 1994) to various aspects of school involvement. Over the past few years he made a "comeback" to over 35's soccer and even taking up some refereeing. Favourite pastimes include family and friends, the beach, food and wine and all types of sport.
In recent years Chris became a notary public and attained accreditation as a mediator. This was done to develop his skills in alternate dispute resolution processes and to better assist clients wanting a practical alternative to the court system (which at times can be frustrating). Chris currently practices in a broad range of areas including litigation (with emphasis on liability issues), property and general practice. He has acted as honorary solicitor for a community based scheme aimed at keeping elderly citizens in their home environment, been secretary of the North Metropolitan Law Society (representing lawyers from North Sydney to Hornsby and Palm Beach to Ryde) and the honorary solicitor on the Royal North Shore Hospital Ethics Committee for 7½ years from 1991 to 1998.
Chris' strengths as a lawyer lie in his ability to find practical solutions to problems, understanding people and getting things done. He has a strong work ethic and doesn't like losing.
Daniel went to school at St Patrick's College Strathfield and then attended Sydney University where he graduated with degrees in Economics and Law (Honours).
Daniel joined the firm in 1992 and is one of three partners in the firm (including Richard Schmidt and Chris Quilter).
Daniel has had the opportunity of practising in various areas of law including:
1. Business law (advising on sale of businesses, sale of shares and general corporate and partnership matters)
2. Litigation with the emphasis on corporate disputes, trade practices and contractual matters
3. Employment law including acting on unfair dismissal and unfair contract claims for both employers and employees
4. Commercial property including leasing, sale, purchase and financing of office buildings, factories, shops and commercial type premises
Daniel is also an associate of the Australian Society of Certified Practising Accountants.
Daniel has been involved in community activities from presenting seminars to Rotary and other community groups, acting as a duty solicitor at Royal North Shore Hospital on a pro bono basis and a member on the panel of review at the College of Law and like most members of the firm has acted as Secretary of the North Metropolitan Law Society
Daniel enjoys an active family life and is involved in his child's sporting activities including soccer, baseball and little athletics with roles as coach and manager.
Daniel enjoys most sports and can be found regularly attempting to reduce his large handicap on a suburban or country golf course.
Daniel acts for a variety of clients and concentrates on providing practical and efficient solutions to what are usually complex legal problems.
Mark joined Bull Son and Schmidt in May 1999 after working in CBD firms for the previous three years. He is able to help you with your commercial, property, litigation debt recovery and IT needs. Mark has a wide range of legal experience. He has recently completed a Masters of Arts in Media Technology and the Law, which enables him to provide practical commercial legal advice to IT clients and clients with IT issues that need to be addressed.
When he is not in the office Mark prefers the great outdoors, whether he is catching a wave on the northern beaches, hacking around a golf course, crying into his beer at the SFS as the Waratahs play in the Super 12 or diving into the sand at Beach Volleyball venues around Sydney. He can also be found late at night cheering madly for any Australian team from the comfort of his couch.
Janine completed her Arts/Law Degree at the University of New South Wales in 1986, and obtained her Master of Laws in 1995. After 12 months of practising in the area of domestic conveyancing during the late 1980's Sydney property boom, Janine decided she preferred Family Law, in which she has practiced ever since. Janine became an accredited specialist in family law in 1994. After a stint in some city firms, she went solo for 7 years before joining BSS in 2002.
Janine has extensive experience in most areas of Family Law including parenting arrangements, property and child support disputes, and de facto settlements. She was associated with Redfern Legal Centre as a voluntary Family Law adviser over a period of 7 years, and has also advised other community groups from time to time. Janine is skilled at resolving emotionally fraught and contentious disputes by way of negotiation and conciliation and when litigating, facilitates cost-effective and smooth proceedings.
In 2007 Janine undertook the basic Collaborative Law training and she is now able to assist divorcing couples to resolve their disputes using this non-contentious process.
As well as being a lawyer, Janine is the mother of two young children, and has been actively involved in fundraising at pre-school level, and the P & C at school level. In her occasional minute of free time Janine enjoys travelling and hiking up mountains, art house movies and music. She also repeats annually her new year's resolution to learn to cook but hopes her children will be cooking for her before too long.
Albert completed his Law Degree at UTS in 2000 and was admitted as a solicitor in 2001. Whilst studying for his law degree, he worked in a number of law firms in Sydney to gain experience as a law clerk, then as a paralegal for two years in a mid-sized firm in the City. He then spent 5 years in the CBD working as a commercial disputes lawyer before joining Bull Son & Schmidt in 2005.
At BSS, Albert practises in a wide range of matters. He is able to assist you with resolving commercial, corporate and contractual disputes, smaller claims in the Local and District Courts, more complex matters in the Supreme Court, and insolvency matters involving company winding up applications and personal bankruptcy in Federal Courts. He is also able to advise on business transactions, including the purchase and sale of businesses, drafting commercial contracts and agreements and advising on pre-emptive measures to minimise commercial disputes by drawing on his expertise in litigation. Albert's diverge practice also includes residential or commercial conveyancing. Albert is fluent in Cantonese and Mandarin Chinese.
Outside of the office, Albert loves travelling off the beaten track, both within Australia and around the world. He is a keen fisherman and recently took up photography as a hobby. He loves spending time with his friends talking about anything and is an avid sports fan.
Kate joined BSS at the beginning of 2007, after two years working with a busy sole practitioner in Sydney's CBD, during which time she acted for a wide range of private and corporate clients, in diverse areas of the law including commercial litigation, family provisions act matters and commercial transactional law. Prior to entering the legal world Kate was heavily emeshed in the entertainment sector as the Business Administration Manager for a busy events management company, which gave her a solid grounding and certain know-how regarding the operations and practicalities of the business world, skills she now applies when assisting clients.
Kate comes from a show business family and outside the law she can be found feeding her love of music and the arts. Otherwise you might find her at any local café day or night in pursuit of the perfect latte and a good yarn with friends.
Our firm was established in 1878 by Sidney John Bull and has been providing over 120 years of quality service. Our current team is dedicated to continuing and further improving that high level of service utilising state of the art technology.
We pride ourselves on being "lawyers you can understand".
Business Law
Richard Schmidt became a business law specialist accredited by the Law Society in 1995.
To obtain specialist accreditation, the Law Society sets an exacting exam and practical tests and requires significant experience in the particular field. There are only a handful of business law specialists practising on the North Shore of Sydney.
Richard was involved as co-author of a book titled "Your Business and The Law". The book was launched on 11 March 1998 at Parliament House by Peter Collins, then Leader of the Opposition and John Hannaford, the then Shadow Minister for Small Business. The book is a plain language overview aimed at the proprietors of small businesses - it will alert you to possible problems, show you what to look out for and enable you to make professional advice more cost effective. According to Peter Collins, the book should be "compulsory reading" for everyone in business.
Family Law Specialists
Janine De Saxe was accredited by the Law Society as a family law specialist when the accreditation scheme was first introduced in 1994.
Public Notary
Chris Quilter is a Public Notary. His appointment was approved by the Supreme Court in early 1994. Public Notaries are involved in international affairs, witnessing signatures and verifying and certifying documents required for overseas business transactions.
Mediation - an alternative to litigation
Chris Quilter became a LEADR accredited mediator in 1997. LEADR is an Australasian non-profit organisation which serves the community by promoting the use of mediation as an alternative dispute resolution technique. Mediation is a co-operative problem solving process which is designed to help parties find constructive solutions to a dispute. Mediation will not work in all dispute situations, but it can provide a quick, cheap and commercially sensible resolution to many problem disputes.
IT
In 1998 Mark Whowell completed his Masters of Arts in Media Technology and the Law. Mark is able to provide our clients with practical advice on both IT and commercial legal issues.
See our Contact Us page (for information on our contact numbers and how to get to our office).