B. Juris. LL.B ASM. ACCAL.
Professional Biography
Leslie obtained his Bachelor of Jurisprudence at Monash University in 1969 and his Bachelor of Laws in 1970. He was admitted to practise as a barrister and solicitor of the Supreme Court of Victoria on 1 April 1971 and has since practised continuously in Victoria as a solicitor.
Clements & Co was established by Leslie Clements in 1989 as a small practice concentrating on the areas of property law including conveyancing transactions, contractual agreements, leases, licences and subdivisions; property litigation and dispute resolution; wills and estates. The practice has a particular orientation to the increasingly important area of owners corporations law covering company share, stratum and strata properties.
Leslie has been closely involved with the reform of owners corporations law for many years, has delivered many papers to professional forums on owners corporations law and is recognised as one of the foremost experts in this area of the law in Victoria. He is a Fellow of the Australian College of Strata Lawyers, a member of the National Community Titles Institute Inc and an associate member of Owners Corporations Victoria as well as being a member of the Law Institute of Victoria.
Type of Work Undertaken:
Non-Contentious
• Conveyancing for off the plan sales
• Broadacre Subdivisions
• Changing existing plans of subdivision
• Sale/purchase of company share, stratum, strata, cluster and other properties with owners corporations
• Drawing Wills and Powers of Attorney
• Administration of deceased estates
Owners Corporations
• Leases and licences of common property
• Plans of subdivision for new developments
• Inclusion of parts of common property within lots
• Excision of common property and lots
• Changing lot entitlement and lot liability
• Updating company share and stratum title schemes to a subdivision with an owners corporation
• Agreements concerning property rights
Contentious
• Exercise of easement and other implied rights
• Adverse possession claims
Owners Corporations
• Disputes about lot entitlement and lot liability
• Breach/enforcement of rules
• Breach of Subdivision Act, Owners Corporations Act and Regulations
• Applications to VCAT in the Owners Corporation List
• Attending general meetings as advising solicitor or proxy;
• Advising as to correct meetings procedure;
• Drafting agreements including instruments of delegation;
• Drafting additional rules;
• Advice as to the interpretation and application of the provisions of relevant legislation including the Subdivision Act 1988 and Subdivision (Procedures) Regulations 2000, the Owners Corporations Act 2006 and Owners Corporations Regulations 2007.
Publications
• “Converting a Stratum Title to a Strata Title” – Law Institute Journal, August 1984.
• Paper on Body Corporate Law in The Consulting Surveyor, November 1995.
• Notes relating to plans of subdivision providing for one or more bodies corporate and to the organisation of the body corporate: Updated for Law Institute of Victoria.
• Contributor to Chapter concerning stratum and company share conversions in Subdivisions with the Lot by Simon Libbis and Rebecca Leshinksy (Lawcrest).
• Adviser to Leo Cussen Institute for the publication Paul Cooper’s Stratum Conveyancing by Marina Albert.
Papers Presented
• “Conversion of Stratum and Company Share Titles” for the Leo Cussen Institute, 2 December 1988.
• “Bodies Corporate” for the Second Annual Property Law Conference of the Law Institute of Victoria, 1991.
• “The Body Corporate Certificate” for the Institute of Body Corporate Managers, 21 May 1993.
• “Body Corporate Law: Where to Draw the Line on Boundaries” for Body Corporate Managers at the Real Estate Institute of Victoria, 17 August 1993.
• “Improving the Subdivision (Body Corporate) Regulations 1989″ for the Institute of Body Corporate Managers (Vic), 22 October 1994.
• “Body Corporate Management” for the Leo Cussen Institute, September 1996.
• “Cathedral or Bear Pit: which best describes your general meetings?” for the Institute of Body Corporate Managers (Vic), 1997 Residential Seminar.
• “Determining Lot Liability: is there an acceptable formula?” for the Institute of Body Corporate Managers (Vic),11 November 2000.
• “Body Corporate Regulations Review” for State of the Law Session 2 Property Law Leo Cussen Institute and Law Institute of Victoria, 5 February 2001.
• “The Body Corporate and the Management Agreement – Developer versus Purchaser” for the Leo Cussen Institute, 10 May 2004.
• “The Power to Act” for the Institute of Body Corporate Managers (Vic), 22 October 2004 and 26 November 2004.
• “Debt Recovery from a Lawyer’s Perspective” for the Institute of Body Corporate Managers (Vic), 28 October 2005.
• “Current Issues in Body Corporate Regulation” for Legalwise Seminars, 24 February 2006.
• “The Power to Act in the context of the Owners Corporations Act 2006″ for the Institute of Body Corporate Managers (Vic), 21 October 2006.
• “Functions and Powers of Owners Corporations” for CHU IBCMV Symposium – Regulatory Change, 31 August and 1 September 2007.
• “Owners Corporations: A New World” for Annual Conference of Melbourne Body Corporate Management, 15 September 2007.
• “An Overview of Owners Corporations Act 2006 for Residents of Retirement Villages Victoria” for Melbourne P C Club, 13 March 2008.
• “Law Lost and Found: Secrets of Owners Corporations Act 2006″ for The Southern Solicitors Group, 27 May 2008.
• “An Overview of the Owners Corporation Act” for Australian Institute of Conveyancers (Vic Div), 14 November 2008.
•”Dispute Resolution for Owners Corporations – Clearing the Fog” for Owners Corporations Victoria, May 2009 Seminar.
Contribution to Law Reform
• Member Strata Titles Act Review Committee under the auspices of The Law Institute of Victoria reconvened October 1981 to consider the report on resolution of certain disputes arising in relation to strata title property being a report of the Attorney General dated May 1981. The committee met regularly until a report was finalised in September 1984.
• Member Subdivision Act Working Party established under the auspices of The Law Institute of Victoria from 29 April 1991 to consider a bill amending the Subdivision Act 1988. The working group was originally appointed through the property law section to consider the Subdivision (Miscellaneous Amendments) Act 1991.
• Member Body Corporate Regulations Review Committee which was established in December 1992 to consider amendments to the Subdivision (Body Corporate) Regulations 1989. The Committee was established on the recommendation of the Subdivision Act Consultative Group to the Minister and Department of Planning and Development that a specialist committee be appointed to bring together a small group of body corporate experts, each of whom had experience with numerous bodies corporate.
• Member of Law Institute of Victoria working group responsible for submission of The Property & Environmental Law Section dated 21 July 2004 to Ms Helen Buckingham MLC in response to Future Directions Paper – Bodies Corporate.