David Edwards
Lawyer Director
Practice Areas
- Commercial Litigation
- Contract Disputes
- Construction Litigation
- Debt Recovery
- Insolvency
- Insurance Disputes
- Mediation and Arbitration
- Negligence Claims
- Strata and community title disputes including disputes between lot owners, caretakers, strata managers, developers, builders and Local Government authorities
About David
David is a founding lawyer director of DEA Lawyers.
David has more than 15 years experience in commercial litigation and property litigation. Since 2001 he has specialised in providing legal services and advice to the strata and community title sector with a particular focus on disputes. Before establishing DEA Lawyers in 2009 he was a senior associate for many years at a boutique law firm in the Sydney CBD specialising in the area of strata and community title law.
David is a recognised expert in litigation and in 2008 was accredited by the Law Society of NSW in commercial litigation. Currently there are only approximately 100 lawyers that are accredited by the Law Society of NSW in commercial litigation and therefore you can feel comfortable that he is a leading expert in his field and has the experience and knowledge to assist you with your legal issues.
David is always keen to continue to develop his knowledge and skills and was awarded a Master of Laws by the University of Sydney in 2002.
David is admitted to practice in Supreme Court of NSW, the High Court of Australia and also in England and Wales. He spent two years in London where he practised as a lawyer in the areas of property, insurance and construction litigation.
David has practised in most jurisdictions in NSW including the Local Courts, District Court, Supreme Court of NSW, NSW Court of Appeal, Land & Environment Court and the Consumer, Trader and Tenancy Tribunal.
David has presented various papers to the Australian College of Community Association Lawyers and at continuing legal education seminars to other lawyers. He has also presented papers and training sessions for strata managers (both in NSW and VIC) and fellow lawyers.
David is a member of the Law Society of NSW, the Australian College of Community Association Lawyers, the Institute of Strata Title Management and the National Community Titles Institute.
Examples of work
David has been involved in a range of matters and a number of the leading decisions in NSW in the strata and community title areas including:
- The leading case determined by the NSW Court of Appeal about an owners corporations right to sue in relation to defects in the common property (The Owners - Strata Plan No. 43551 v Walter Construction Group Limited [2004] NSWCA 429 (23 November 2004)).
- The first and leading case determined by the NSW Court of Appeal under the Strata Schemes Management Act 1996 relating to whether or not a caretaker agreement was void for illegality (The Owners – Strata Plan No. 56443 v Regis Towers Real Estate Pty Ltd [2003] 58 NSWLR 78; [2003] NSWCA 274).
- The leading case determined by the Supreme Court of NSW about a community associations right to recover from the developer, as a promoter of the association, the amount paid to the developer by the caretaker appointed by it and compensation for the difference between the cost of the caretaker services and the market value of the caretaking services (Community Association DP 270180 v Arrow Asset Management Pty Ltd and Ors [2007] NSWSC 527 (30 May 2007)).
- The leading case determined by the NSW Court of Appeal about the power to make by-laws giving lot owners a right to use and occupy part of another lot owner's lot (White v Betalli and Anor (2007) 71 NSWLR 381: [2007] NSWCA 243).
- The leading case determined by the NSW Court of Appeal about the proper construction of a by-law giving exclusive use to common property and how the Court is to approach the interpretation of by-laws (The Owners – Strata Plan No. 3397 v Tate (2007) 70 NSWLR 344 [2007] NSWCA 207).
- Land and Environment Court proceedings against a Council in relation to the validity of orders issued pursuant to item 6 of Section 121B of the Environmental Planning and Assessment Act 1979 (The Owners – Strata Plan No. 74664, 74662, 74667, 74670, 74668 v Auburn Council [2008] NSWLEC 230 (5 August 2008)).
- Various disputes acting for owners corporations and lot owners for breach of the statutory duty to maintain and repair common property under section 62 of the Strata Schemes Management Act 1996.
- The leading case in relation to the power to compel an owners corporation to affix its seal to a development application and related litigation regarding illegal works and reinstatement of the common property (The Owners – Strata Plan No. 37762 v Pham and Ors [2007] (various proceedings in the Supreme Court, Land & Environment Court and Consumer, Trader and Tenancy Tribunal).