Compulsory Acquisition of Land

What is a tax-gross up? What is the justification for it in damages or compensation? The danger for forensic accountants in making assumptions on tax with little knowledge of tax law and compulsory acquisition lesson learned.

This article addresses the considerations of an expert, tasked with quantifying claims for loss of profit, as part of claim for damages or compensation, as it relates to a ‘but-for’ scenario. This article also addresses the key documents that instructing plaintiff lawyers would likely need to help procure from its client to assist the expert to quantify damages.

The assessment date in the context of damages represents the point in time all of the losses, typically which may have accrued and continue to accrue over a period of time, are converted to a single number representing a ‘once-and-for-all’ lump sum amount as part of damages. This article focuses on the technical and thorny issues concerning the assessment date in damages and compensation.

Rather than hope that the court will prefer your expert’s opinions, over your adversary’s expert opinion, on the relevant capitalisation rate or discount rate that should be applied, we have provided a comprehensive presentation to arm lawyers with the relevant need to know information on this vexed and technical topic.

The Trustee for Whitcurt Unit Trust v Transport for NSW [2021] NSWLEC 82 On 30 July 2021, Pain J delivered her judgment in the above matter making it very plain that the nature and scope of the ‘interest in land’ are of fundamental importance for lawyers advising their clients on the quantum of compensation, including claims for loss of profit under the Land Acquisition (Just Terms) Compensation Act 1991 (NSW) (“Act”). The effective outcome for the applicant was that it received no compensation.

What is the Property Law services sector?  The ‘Property Law’ services sector of the Australian Legal Services Industry, according to IBISWorld, accounts for 15.5% of the total industry’s revenue (which in 2019 was estimated to be AUD $20.8 billion).

According to IBISWorld[1], Administrative, Constitutional & Other services accounts for 16.3% of the Australian Legal Services Industry. What is the Administrative, Constitutional & Other services sector? This segment includes work related to government administration, the constitution, tribunals and other fields of law, such as environmental law. The main market for these services is corporate clients dealing with government departments and agencies. Some larger industry firms also provide advisory services to government departments, agencies and statutory authorities regarding forming and implementing government regulations. What drives demand for Administrative, Constitutional & Other services? Finance and insurance companies require a range of legal advice including advice related to regulatory compliance, as government authorities heavily regulate financial and insurance services firms. Demand from financial and insurance services is expected to slightly decrease over 2018-19. What is the current performance of the Administrative, Constitutional & Other services sector? This segment has slightly declined as a share of industry revenue over the past five years, as government departments have increasingly been using in-house legal teams. [1] The information is reproduced from an IBISWorld Industry Report M6931 Legal Services in Australia released in February 2019 and authored by Kim Do.