NSW’s leading local government law firm

Lindsay Taylor Lawyers specialises in advising and representing metropolitan, regional and rural local government authorities across NSW.

Our work covers the governance, regulatory, service, asset management, and commercial aspects of our local government clients’ operations.

Experience working in local government and for local government

LTL is proud to act in local government law and is proud of the complex and challenging work we have done with our local government clients since the firm was formed in 2004.

One of our great strengths is our understanding of how local government works. As we should. Most of our senior lawyers have worked for local government clients their entire careers, including substantial experience in house in local government organisations on either a permanent or secondment basis.

We understand the legislative framework which governs your activities. We understand the cost shifting that you continually have to bear. We understand the competing stakeholders of residents, ratepayers, developers and other tiers of government with whom you have to engage. We understand the risk profile within which you operate.

Today we work with over 45 local and county councils across NSW, either as a member of their legal services panel or providing specialist advice on an as needs basis.

A multi-faceted approach

What sets us apart from other law firms operating in this space is our ability to provide clients with clear and focussed solutions, even in the most sophisticated and complicated legal matters.

Importantly, we pride ourselves on delivering advice that includes concrete next steps and outlines the risks associated with a given scenario and not simply a legal opinion. That means our clients always know where they stand and have a blueprint for achieving the best legal outcome.

Broad experience in the legal framework of  local government

We deliberately limit our focus to government, planning and environment law so that we can be true leaders in our fields of expertise.

Within those areas, the breadth of our experience and expertise is unsurpassed.

We can represent local government clients in the full range of advisory, litigious and transactional matters across the broad areas of planning, environment and local government and administrative law.

Local government experience

Recent local government matters we have acted in include:

  • successfully representing a metropolitan council in resisting the imposition of a ministerial improvement order by the Office of Local Government
  • drafting, negotiating and advising on a VPA on behalf of a metropolitan council associated with a brownfield development that will yield 5,000 residential lots
  • representing a regional council in a Land & Environment Court Class 5 prosecution of  a landowner for illegal clearing works
  • delivery of Code of Conduct and Code of Meeting training sessions for a number of metropolitan and regional councils
  • assisting a regional council in an investigation by the OEH into clearing of national park land during road works, including negotiating an enforceable undertaking
  • advising various regional and metropolitan councils on the management and development of Crown land reserves under the Crown Land Management Act 2016, with particular focus on native title obligations
  • representing a metropolitan council  in the NSW Civil &  Administrative Tribunal regarding numerous information access requests by a resident action group under the Government Information (Public Access) Act 2009
  • reviewing and advising on a software agreement for a human resources IT system

Local Government expertise

Planning & development   |   Development contributions, planning agreements & value capture   |   Land & Environment Court litigation   |   Environment, climate change & natural resources   |   Enforcement & compliance   |   Local Government & administrative law   |   Governance & probity   |   Public information & privacy   |   Tendering & procurement   |   Crown land management & native title   |   Public sector property   |   Waste management, sewer & water supply   |   Public asset management   |   Public sector training & workshops