Articles

A Lawyer Is a Problem Solver
by John Bottoms

People often say to me that being a lawyer must be very boring. I think they imagine that you are bound up in a sea of paper. It is certainly true that you do have to write things down and also read things – and of course it always helps if you are an advocate to have detailed notes about the points you intend to make. But being a lawyer involves much more than just paperwork. The reality is that, whilst you might be called a lawyer, you are really a “problem solver”.

One thing which has come to concern me very much is how we all make provision for our ultimate demise. I once went to an estate planning conference where one of the practitioners expert in the field read out a series of advertisements from local suburban newspapers by local solicitors and pointed out their ineffectiveness. “They are trying to sell death” he said “Who is interested in that”. They should be trying to sell and encourage provision for “life”.

I suspect a lot of the problems associated with organising Wills and estate planning relate to the problem we all have in communicating the issues involved to the community.

Lawyers can help in three ways:

Before you sign the contract

Your lawyer can look at the contract the agent gives you and check it to make sure your interests are protected and explain what action you must take. They will also advise you about what it will cost you for stamp duty and other fees.

After you sign the contract

From the stark, red desert escarpments of the MacDonnell Ranges in Central Australia and the Ayers Rock (Uluru) land claim of 1978 to the palm fringed tropical sands and rainforest of Far North Queensland, from prosecutor to defence lawyer, author John Bottoms covers a fascinating diversity of the law as it is practised in the deep North.

As instructing solicitor in the “Wik” Native Title case dealing with the extinguishment of pastoral leases, for the Thayorre speaking Peoples of Pormpuraaw, the Second Applicants, he gives an inside view of that landmark case.

As the lawyer for the hapless skipper charged with manslaughter after the loss of American divers, Tom and Eileen Lonaghan off Port Douglas on Australia Day 1998, he is able to give a fascinating insight based on his interview with “E” entertainment channel, into the what and why of what really happened. Paw Paw Lawyer is the story of a legal professional who decided to change his lifestyle almost as soon as he left law school, and who has found peace, tranquillity and fulfilling legal work in Australia’s deep North.

John Bottoms travels between his home at Lake Tinaroo and Yorkeys Knob, a northern beachside suburb of Cairns and continues to work at the law firm in Cairns he helped found 30 years ago.

By Anne English

R v Ben Ali Nona & Anor (“Nona’s case”)

In the week between the 7 and the 16 February, 2001 the letters to the Editor in the local Cairns Newspaper were running riot over a recent decision of a District Court jury to acquit two Torres Strait Islanders who had taken fish from a commercial fisherman. The jury found them not guilty of armed robbery.

When Magistrate Pirie was first appointed a Magistrate she was the first Torres Strait Islander to receive such an accolade. Cairns Women Lawyers welcomed Magistrate Pirie at a lunchon and this was penned as a tribute.

Our New Stipendiary Magistrate

By Anne English

Your Worship is our guest of honour,
This gathering of lawyers of female flavour
Who come together to welcome a newcomer to our ranks,

Ode to the Trawlerman

By Eta Scallopi

Woe is the Trawlerman who climbs up the Hill; Only to taste at its crest a bitter pill;