Recent Cases

Successful Outcome for Client Facing Driving Charge

Our criminal law solicitor, Samuel Oakley, recently appeared before Gosford Local Court for a client charged with driving while their licence was cancelled. The offence carries a maximum penalty of 6 months imprisonment or a fine of $3,300 or both. There is also an automatic licence disqualification of…

Dad Keeps Family Home: A Mediation Success Story

At Conditsis Lawyers, we celebrate the impactful victories our team achieves for clients. Recently, Holly Pitt Senior Associate and Nationally Accredited Mediator played a pivotal role in resolving a challenging property dispute for our client, Tom Perce*. Tom faced an ongoing conflict involving a substantial asset portfolio with…

Achieving a Positive Outcome Through a Tailored Binding Financial Agreement

At Conditsis Lawyers, we take pride in our commitment to our clients’ success. One recent case exemplifies this dedication. Our client, Sarah Smith*, approached us seeking a binding financial agreement after separating from her long-term de facto partner while still living in the same home. The emotional complexity…

Terrigal Night Out Gone Wrong: Three Co-Offenders Let Off Without Conviction

Our Mr Francis Caesar Devine, Associate, represented three young co-defendants charged with possessing small quantities of cocaine on a night out in Terrigal. Each of them pleaded guilty and were sentenced in the Local Court at Gosford. Mr Devine put together strong subjective cases on behalf of each…

Murder charge dropped in Victorian cold case

Manny Conditsis, Senior Trial Advocate and Accredited Specialist in Criminal Law, assisted by Kayla Nielsen lawyer, achieved another extraordinary result in the Victorian cold case murder charge of Peter Wetzler. In September 2023, Mr Wetzler was arrested at his Newcastle home and charged with the murder of Debra…

Client charged with supply large commercial quantity of MDMA granted bail 

Michal Mantaj, Trial Advocate and Accredited Specialist in Criminal Law, recently appeared for a client charged with supplying a large commercial quantity of a prohibited drug, namely MDMA. It is very unusual for an individual charged with supplying a commercial quantity of drugs to be granted bail as…

Serious criminal charges against a minor dismissed

Manny Conditsis, Senior Trial Advocate and Accredited Specialist in Criminal Law, and Francis Caesar Devine, Associate, achieved a phenomenal result for their client in a judge and jury trial at Gosford District Court last week. The trial began on Monday last week in relation to a number of…

No apprehended violence order following a guilty plea to common assault

Our Ms Magro, Criminal Law Solicitor, appeared for a client charged with one count of common assault (domestic violence related) which was accompanied by an associated apprehended violence order. The client admitted to police that he did commit the offence, there was therefore no option other than to…

Client charged with murder granted bail at the Victorian Supreme Court

On 6 September 2023 our client was charged with murdering his fiancee almost 40 years ago in Victoria, and Victorian police applied for his extradition and for him to be remanded in custody. Senior Trial Advocate Manny Conditsis successfully resisted the extradition on the basis that the case…

Client charged with 12 counts of sexual abuse found not guilty.

Recently, Michal Mantaj, one of the trial advocates from our criminal defence team, successfully represented a client who was charged with 12 offences related to allegations that he sexually abused his stepdaughter and another female family member. Our client maintained his innocence and entered pleas of not guilty…

No Criminal Record, Licence Disqualification or Fine for Dangerous Driving

Criminal Law Solicitor, Ms Kayla Nielsen, has successfully persuaded Toronto Local Court to discharge a client from criminal charges on mental health grounds. Our client was charged with Dangerous Driving and reported that, at the time of driving, he had an episode of extreme anxiety and panic. It…

From no time to equal time – a father’s successful parenting mediation

Our Family Law solicitor, Natalie Russell, recently represented our client, a father of a five-year-old child, at a parenting mediation. Our client had initially started court proceedings in December 2022 in circumstances where the mother had not agreed to the child spending any time with him for six…

Non-conviction for client charged with mid-range PCA

Our Mr Francis Caesar Devine, Criminal Law Solicitor, recently achieved a non-conviction for a client charged with mid-range PCA (also known as drink driving or DUI). Whilst our client did have a strong subjective case, it is important to remember that Courts do not take drink driving offences…

No Body – No Eyewitnesses – But Murder Charge

Senior Trial Advocate: Manny Conditsis A young woman disappeared in 2012 and the Crown case was the last person to have seen her alive was the accused – our client. It involved a tangled and complicated factual matrix, including that the woman was the accused’s lover for about…

Elderly client charged with serious Centrelink fraud avoids gaol

Senior Trial Advocate and Accredited Specialist in Criminal Law, Manny Conditsis represented an elderly woman who was in her late 80’s for having committed serious Centrelink fraud committed over a period of about 10 years totalling approximately $180,000. Notwithstanding that our elderly client was in ill health, the…

Charges dismissed – Wound with Intent to Cause Grievous Bodily Harm

Senior Trial Advocate and Accredited Specialist in Criminal Law, Manny Conditsis appeared for our client who was charged with the very serious charges of Wound with Intent to Cause Grievous Bodily Harm [GBH] [carries a maximum term of imprisonment of 25 years], and as an alternative to the…

Man charged with child sexual offences acquitted

Senior Trial Advocate and Accredited Specialist in Criminal Law, Manny Conditsis represented our client who was indicted in the District Court on historical sexual offences alleged against his two biological children, a boy and a girl aged variously between 8-12 years. It was a Judge alone trial. The…

Woman charged with a federal offence relating to false marriages gets Bond

Manny Conditsis, Senior Trial Advocate and Accredited Specialist in Criminal Law, represented our client, a young woman was prosecuted in the District Court by the Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions [CDPP] with four (4) Commonwealth offences relating to participation in a false marriage and enticing other females to…

Dean Waters Trial

In 1997, the public’s national attention focused on the firm as a result of a successful verdict given in the highly publicized “Dean Waters Case”. The accused, Dean Waters, was one of three brothers who were all famous boxers in their own right and who were trained by…

Employer Charged with Indecent Assault

Trial Advocate – Manny Conditsis Solicitor – Natasha Konic Employer Charged with Indecently Assaulting One of His Female Staff An employer was charged with indecently assaulting one of his female staff. At the trial, there were many problems with the credibility of the female staff member. After she…

Council Against Land Owner

Mr Rodney Dawson acted to defend a prosecution brought by the Council against a land owner for demolishing a building without consent. If convicted, the land owner could have faced substantial fines. The defence to the prosecution was that the act of demolishing a building was not development…

Council Development Refusal Overturned

Rodney Dawson Mr Dawson appeared for a land owner of rural land who wished to build a dwelling house upon that land. The land was heavily treed and subject to a Development Control Plan which placed restrictions on where a house could be built. The Council refused development…

Objectors Against Development

Rodney Dawson Mr Dawson has appeared for a number of objectors against substantial residential development in coastal areas on the Central Coast. In the main; these cases involve the loss of views by residents and a loss of amenity through overshadowing, noise and other issues related to high…

Man Charged with Murder and Maliciously Wounding

Trial Advocate – Manny Conditsis Man Charged with Murder and Maliciously Wound after wild brawl Numerous Co-Accused faced a 5 month trial in the Supreme Court and whilst they were acquitted of murder they were all found guilty of manslaughter and are serving lengthy sentences of imprisonment. Our…

Dazed Stranger Found in House with Drugs

Senior Trial Advocate: Manny Conditsis A bizarre case where our client was found dazed and confused in a stranger’s house, having a shower in the early hours of the morning. Can you imagine? Not surprisingly our client was asked to leave the premises and he did so. The…

Dangerous Driving Causing Death

Senior Trial Advocate: Manny Conditsis Solicitor Assisting: Natasha Konic A young man was charged with dangerous driving causing the death of a motorcyclist, when the collision occurred with his car being on the wrong side of the road. If he had been convicted he would have gone to…

Family Law Appeal Won

Manny Conditsis The firm took over a Family Law case after the man had appeared for himself at a hearing in front of a Judge of the Family Court, when the Judge made unfavourable orders against the man. An appeal was lodged on behalf of the man to…

Conspiracy to Import Methamphetamine

Senior Trial Advocate:  Manny Conditsis The Australian Federal Police (AFP) charged 5 co-accused with conspiring to import 40kg of methylamphetamine powder into Australia by ship from Europe. Manny Conditsis represented one of the accused, who was a 60 year old Port Botany wharf worker. Each of the other…

Battered Spouse Murder Defence

Senior Trial Advocate: Manny Conditsis  A young woman was charged with the stabbing murder of her husband, although there was no real dispute that she had been a battered spouse at the hands of the deceased, since she started to live with him when she was aged 14, and…

Possession and Intended Manufacture of Drugs

Senior Trial Advocate:  Manny Conditsis Solicitor Assisting: Natasha Konic A very difficult 2-month trial won against all odds! A significant quantity of pseudoephedrine powder and precursors such as Hypophosphorous Acid was allegedly found on our client’s premises by police. Manny Conditsis and Natasha Konic spent many hours pouring…

Indecent Assault and Rape

Senior Trial Advocate: Manny Conditsis Solicitor Assisting: Natasha Konic An elderly man was charged with alleged sexual offences. Manny Conditsis persuaded the Jury that the complainant had ulterior motives in making the complaints. Manny Conditsis and Natasha Konic spent many hours pouring over loads of documents subpoenaed by…

Man Charged with the Rape of a Woman

Senior Trial Advocate: Manny Conditsis Solicitor Assisting: Natasha Konic A man was charged with the rape of a woman. The man said that the sex was consensual. After Manny Conditsis’ cross examination of the woman, he persuaded the Judge to invite the Jury to acquit our client without…

Wild Gang Brawl Leads to Killing

Senior Trial Advocate: Manny Conditsis Solicitor Assisting: Natasha Konic A man was charged with the malicious wounding of another man causing him grievous bodily harm. If the man had been convicted he would have gone to jail for a long time. The man was found on the victim’s…