Civil Lawyers in Melbourne

Civil law in plain English

Civil law is the set of rules that decides who owes whom money, who gets to keep what, and who has to stop doing something. It is not criminal law (the state versus an accused person) and it is not personal injury compensation (a separate insurance-driven system). If two people, two businesses, or a person and a business have a fight that ends in a payment, a refund, a court order, a takedown, or an apology, you are in civil territory.

When you call MK Law you get a lawyer on the phone rather than a call centre operator taking a message, and you can read about the firm before you ring so you know who you are dealing with. The first call on 1800 130 120 is free, including evenings and weekends for time-critical matters.

Who we act for

We act for individuals and businesses, on both sides of the ledger. In the same week we might run a family provision claim for a left-out adult child, defend a small builder against a homeowner’s VCAT claim, send a statutory demand for a Melbourne software company, and act for an employee inside her 21 days to file unfair dismissal. The discipline is the same: get the facts, fix the deadline, write the letter, settle if we can, fight if we must.

Signs you need a civil lawyer now

People often wait a fortnight too long because they were not sure they had a “real” matter. You have one if any of this has happened recently:

• You have received a letter of demand, a statement of claim, a writ, or a statutory demand.
• A supplier, builder, tenant or customer owes you money and will not pay.
• A business partner, shareholder or director has frozen you out or moved money you cannot account for.
• You have been sacked, stood down, bullied or underpaid, and the 21-day Fair Work Commission window is running.
• Someone has posted or reviewed something about you that is causing real harm, and the one-year defamation clock is running.

Waiting is usually the most expensive thing you can do. Call 1800 130 120.

The 15 areas we cover

Business and commercial disputes

Most calls into the office on a Monday are commercial. Our commercial litigation lawyers run the big-picture disputes. Tighter matters sit with our contract lawyers (breach, repudiation, termination, damages) and our shareholder dispute lawyers for oppression actions, deadlocks and partnership exits. We also act for franchisees and franchisors under the Franchising Code, and step in when a company or its directors face insolvency and bankruptcy issues, including statutory demands and DPNs from the ATO.

Property, leasing and construction

Property fights are document-heavy and timeline-driven. Our property dispute lawyers act on caveats, commercial and retail leases, body corporate fights, fencing and boundary issues, and co-owner sales. If the dispute is about defective work, payment claims or a builder walking off site, our building and construction lawyers handle it, mostly at VCAT but also in the County and Supreme Courts.

Money, debts and consumer claims

If someone owes you money, our debt recovery lawyers start with the letter of demand and escalate to statutory demands, court enforcement or insolvency, whichever is cheapest first. On the other side of the same coin, our consumer law lawyers act on unfair contract terms, misleading conduct and consumer guarantee failures under the Australian Consumer Law.

People, work and reputation

The most personal claims sit here. Our employment lawyers act on unfair dismissal, discrimination, bullying, sexual harassment and underpayments, with sharp focus on the 21-day Fair Work Commission deadline. Our defamation lawyers act on social media defamation, Google reviews, print and broadcast, working to the one-year limitation under the Defamation Act 2005 (Vic). When a professional has let you down (a solicitor, an accountant, a financial adviser), our professional negligence lawyers bring claims under the Wrongs Act 1958 (Vic).

Estates and family

Our wills and estate dispute lawyers act on family provision claims under Part IV of the Administration and Probate Act 1958, executor disputes, contested probate and estate litigation in the Supreme Court of Victoria. For separation, parenting and family violence intervention orders, our family lawyers run matters in the Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia and the Magistrates Court of Victoria.

Tribunal matters

A large share of Victorian civil disputes are heard at VCAT, not in a courtroom. Our VCAT lawyers appear in the Domestic Building List, the Civil Claims List, the Residential Tenancies List and the Owners Corporations List. VCAT looks informal until you get there, and the wrong forms or a missed direction can sink an otherwise winnable case.

How civil disputes actually get resolved

The path is usually shorter than people expect. It starts with a letter of demand setting out the claim, the amount and a deadline, and a surprising share of matters end right there. If the demand gets ignored, the next step is negotiation, usually solicitor to solicitor with a without-prejudice offer.

If negotiation stalls, the matter goes to mediation: a confidential settlement meeting run by an independent mediator, which resolves the majority of files that reach it. What survives mediation goes to VCAT for leasing, building, consumer and tenancy claims, or to court for everything else. Fewer than five percent of filed civil claims actually run to a contested judgment.

The courts and tribunals we appear in

We act at the Magistrates Court at 233 William Street (claims up to $100,000), the County Court at 250 William Street (most claims above that), the Supreme Court of Victoria at 210 William Street (large or complex matters and the inherent equity jurisdiction), and VCAT at 55 King Street. Federal matters under the Fair Work Act, the Corporations Act and the Family Law Act go to the Commonwealth Law Courts at 305 William Street. We also act in private arbitration and in regulatory matters before bodies like the Victorian Building Authority and ASIC.

What does it actually cost?

The first call is free. A lawyer listens to what has happened, tells you whether you have a case, and works out the realistic next step, which might be a letter of demand, a concerns notice, a contract review or an unfair dismissal application. How much work a matter takes after that depends on how far the dispute has already run, how quickly you act, and whether the other side digs in. And if the sum in dispute is smaller than what it would take to recover it, we will tell you on that first call rather than three months in. The questions people ask us most often before they ring are answered in our frequently asked questions.

Talk to a Melbourne civil lawyer today

Call 1800 130 120 or use the form on this page. We answer evenings and weekends for time-critical matters, because Victorian civil law has a lot of deadlines and most of them do not wait for office hours.

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