A legal tradition dating from 1941, with a longstanding Hawthorn chapter.

Origins and the Hawthorn chapter

Blakie + Britt traces its origins to the legal practice established by Geoffrey Noel Blakie (1906–1955) in Melbourne in 1941. Geoffrey was admitted on 1 May 1941 and opened his practice at 118 Queen Street on 12 May 1941; in 1945 the practice relocated to 150 Queen Street. Following Geoffrey's death on 27 Oct 1955, his wife Conradina Edith Joyce Blakie (née Taylor) (1915–1985), known as Joy, continued the practice. By around 1963, Joy was practising at 150 Queen Street as a partner in Haines, Blakie & Polites with Ken Haines and Peter Polites.

Joy retired from the partnership on 31 Jan 1973, and Haines and Polites continued the Queen Street practice. In Feb 1973, Joy established the Hawthorn practice, which developed longstanding connections with clients throughout Hawthorn, Boroondara and Melbourne's eastern suburbs. Michael Britt subsequently joined Joy and later acquired the practice from her, operating for many years from 785 Glenferrie Road, Hawthorn, until his retirement in 2011. On 11 May 2012, Blakie + Britt merged with Parke Lawyers, and the Blakie + Britt name and its longstanding client relationships continue through Parke Lawyers.

Over the decades the practice developed a steady base of clients across Hawthorn, Kew, Camberwell, Balwyn, Canterbury, Glen Iris and the surrounding parts of the City of Boroondara — much of it the kind of legal work that matters most to households and small businesses: buying and selling homes, preparing wills, administering estates, drafting commercial contracts and leases, and buying and selling businesses.

Where the practice is today

The practice continues through Parke Lawyers. The current office is:

• Level 1, 480 Collins Street
• Melbourne VIC 3000

Blakie + Britt does not currently maintain a staffed office in Hawthorn. Legal work for clients in Hawthorn and Boroondara is carried out from the Collins Street office, and — where convenient — by telephone, secure video and, for property settlements, through the mandatory electronic settlement system (PEXA).

How eastern-suburbs clients are assisted

Since electronic conveyancing became mandatory in Victoria, settlement no longer requires a physical exchange of documents. The practical effect is that a Hawthorn or Boroondara client can now retain a lawyer with a Collins Street office as easily as one down the road, without any disadvantage at settlement.

For matters that benefit from a face-to-face meeting — a will, a power of attorney, the taking of instructions from an older client or an executor, the signing of a business sale contract — appointments are ordinarily arranged at Collins Street, and by prior arrangement at other locations where reasonably required. There is no drop-in Hawthorn office; suggesting otherwise would be misleading.

The kinds of matters we see from Boroondara clients

• Residential conveyancing on family homes, upsizes, downsizes and investment properties across the eastern suburbs — see residential conveyancing.
• Contract reviews before signing at auction or private sale — see contract reviews.
• Preparation and periodic review of wills and powers of attorney.
• Applications for probate and letters of administration and the practical work of administering an estate.
• Commercial contracts, business sales and leasing for owners of small and mid-sized businesses in Boroondara and the surrounding suburbs — see commercial law.

Areas served

The practice regularly acts for clients in Hawthorn, Hawthorn East, Kew, Kew East, Camberwell, Canterbury, Balwyn, Balwyn North, Surrey Hills, Glen Iris and Ashburton, as well as the Melbourne CBD, inner-city and eastern suburbs generally. There is no restriction: the practice acts for clients throughout Victoria.