17 October

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A look back: Bill Potts featured as guest columnist on Gold Coast Bulletin

We recently discovered this article from our Founding Director, Bill Potts, while trawling through our archives. Article Transcription Prisoners of Past - by Bill Potts A CONVERSATION I recently had at a dinner party caused me to rethink how to approach my daily grind. The lot of a criminal lawyer is often that of a professional apologist. Every day, having read the police brief and trawled through my client's often incoherent and sometimes incredible instructions, I have to stand in front of a judge and explain the impossible. Saying sorry for the criminal sins of clients requires attention to detail, a liberal dose of under- standing,...

25 September

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Bill Potts comments on overcrowded prisons

Posted by Potts Lawyers

in Criminal Law & Offences, General Law News

Our Founding Director, Bill Potts, was interviewed by the Courier Mail on the issue of overcrowded prisons in Queensland. The article is available here, with an extract below: FRIEND IN THE COURTS Another critic who says community debate has to quickly move beyond punishment and retribution towards crime prevention and rehabilitation is Queensland Law Society deputy president Bill Potts. “Only the very hardened and perhaps cynical people think the current solutions are working,’’ Potts says. “Armchair critics and Monday morning quarterbacks, who decry how soft judges are, don’t know how the system works and don’t see the endless parade of mental illness and...

21 June

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Bill Potts comments on homicides involving balconies, cliffs and other heights

Posted by Potts Lawyers

in Criminal Law & Offences, General Law News

Extract from News.com.au, click here to view the original article. CHILLING new Queensland research has revealed there could be a “dark figure” of people who have gotten away with murder after falls from a height were dismissed as accidents. QUT school of justice senior lecturer Claire Ferguson found the numbers of homicides involving balconies, cliffs or other heights could be higher than reported because determining if a fatal fall was an accident, suicide or homicide was often impossible based solely on medical evidence. The forensic criminologist also found that in a number of cases the death was originally misclassified as an accident before...

30 May

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Bill Potts comments on funding issues in Queensland’s justice system

Posted by Potts Lawyers

in Criminal Law & Offences, General Law News

Our Founding Director and current Queensland Law Society Deputy President, Bill Potts, was interviewed by Sherele Moody of the Daily Mercury: The State Government needed to invest more money in community and low-cost legal services, said Bill Potts, whose firm represents clients in our region. "We build bridges, we build roads, we build tunnels but why don't we spend that kind of money on the justice system?" the deputy president of the Queensland Law Society said. "We have people being denied justice - they are being convicted or they can't appeal properly because they are being denied access to a system...

30 May

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Bill Potts comments on domestic violence issues in Queensland

Posted by Potts Lawyers

in Criminal Law & Offences, Domestic Violence, General Law News

Our Founding Director and current Queensland Law Society Deputy President, Bill Potts, was interviewed by the Gold Coast Sun on the funding issues exacerbating domestic violence in Queensland. Although he said the Queensland Government had managed some great results and he was aware funding only went so far, former head of the Queensland Law Society and leading criminal lawyer Bill Potts said a lack of focus on DV perpetrators could be exacerbating the issue. “Within that DV area, while a lot of focus is on victim support and specialist courts there is a massive need for diversion programs for perpetrators,” he said. “The...

18 May

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Bill Potts comments on Aussie Rules player Daniel Lock’s penalty

Posted by Potts Lawyers

in Criminal Law & Offences

Our Founding Director and current Queensland Law Society Deputy President, Bill Potts, was interviewed by Janessa Ekert of the Cairns Post. He commented on the penalty imposed by the Queensland District Court at Cairns on Aussie Rules veteran, Daniel Lock, who plead guilty to causing grievous bodily harm. Former Queensland Law Society president & criminal lawyer Bill Potts said the result was unsurprising and it would have taken extreme gratuitous violence completely outside the play to result in a custodial sentence. He said the precedent for this type of case was set during the '80s and involved former Brisbane Lions coash...

30 April

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Bill Potts speaks to A Current Affair on vexatious litigants

Posted by Potts Lawyers

in Criminal Law & Offences

Our Founding Director Bill Potts features in A Current Affair's story on a former prisoner who has allegedly taken five of his ten housing complex neighbours to court over neighbourhood or quasi-criminal disputes. The video and associated article can be viewed on 9News' website by clicking here....

27 April

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Changes to the Mental Health Act

Posted by Danielle Hanson

in Criminal Law & Offences

There were changes to the Queensland laws surrounding mental health in March 2017 when the Mental Health Act 2016 commenced, replacing the Mental Health Act 2000. Changes to the way charges in the Magistrates Court are dealt with under the Mental Health Act Perhaps one of the biggest changes to new Mental Health Act is the express powers provided to the Magistrates Court to deal with people charged with simple offences (offences punishable in the Magistrates Court). Previously, the Magistrates Court had little power to make orders for matters where the defendant may have been of unsound mind at the time of an offence or...

27 April

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Are our Courts too lenient on Domestic Violence Offenders?

Posted by Danielle Hanson

in Criminal Law & Offences

The presence of domestic violence in Australia has never been so topical and news-worthy. Victims of domestic violence, focus groups, the community, the government, and the courts have all made it very clear that domestic violence will not be tolerated in Australia. A recent sentence handed down by the Queensland Court of Appeal (the highest court in Queensland) has generated a large amount of public attention and questions have been raised as to whether our courts are being too lenient on perpetrators of domestic violence. In the matter of R v Kelley, Mr Kelley came before the court charged with Assault Occasioning...

27 April

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What should I wear to court?

Posted by Cameron Browne

in Criminal Law & Offences

This is a question that can often cause people to feel a great deal of anxiety. This worry is often increased by the fact that the question often fails to arise until the very night before a person is required to attend court. So we have a situation where a person may already be stressed about the morning’s court appearance and suddenly they are struck with the query “what do I wear?” The good news is that the answer comes down to a single word “respect.” Carry yourself with dignity & show respect to the Court A Judge or Magistrate is required by law...

A look back: Bill Potts featured as guest columnist on Gold Coast Bulletin

Bill Potts comments on overcrowded prisons

Bill Potts comments on homicides involving balconies, cliffs and other heights

Bill Potts comments on funding issues in Queensland’s justice system

Bill Potts comments on domestic violence issues in Queensland

Bill Potts comments on Aussie Rules player Daniel Lock’s penalty

Bill Potts speaks to A Current Affair on vexatious litigants

Changes to the Mental Health Act

Are our Courts too lenient on Domestic Violence Offenders?

What should I wear to court?

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