Tim Houweling – Partner

Tim holds a Bachelor of Laws as well as a Masters of Laws, and Bachelor of Arts.  Tim has extensive experience in all issues involving the land and its ownership.  From the outset of his career, he has acted primarily for land owners and corporations in matters involving Town Planning, Environmental Law, Native Title and Land Compensation Matters.

Tim has also acted for major corporations providing Company and Commercial advice.  Tim is internationally recognised in the field of corporate governance by industry and academia.  From 2000 - 2002 Tim headed up an international project together with industry partners the ASIC, PricewaterhouseCoopers and Edith Cowan University working to develop practice in corporate governance in Asia and Africa.

Tim continues to act for clients at all levels, in various matters in the Supreme Court, District Court and Town Planning Appeals Tribunal.

Warnar Spyker - Partner

Warnar is a member of the Law Society of WA and the Australian Insurance Law Association.  He holds a Bachelor of Laws and Bachelor of Science (Physics) from the University of Western Australia.

Warnar has a thorough knowledge of the Workers’ Compensation and Rehabilitation Act 1981 and regularly advises insurers regarding liability under the Act and exposure to common law under the threshold provisions.

Major clients at present include Alcoa of Australia Ltd in respect of its self-insurance matters, a regional local government and a corporate franchisor.

Warnar is an experienced practitioner with experience in a wide range of individual and corporate litigation.  The jurisdictions in which he has practiced comprise primarily the District and Supreme Courts of WA and the Conciliation & Review Directorate of WorkCover WA.

Various major matters that Warnar has been involved in include:

·                     Representing an insured in litigation that ultimately proceeded to a High Court appeal against an insurer who declined to indemnify by reason of late notification of a claim (Moltoni v QBE Insurance [2001] HCA 73).

·                     Representing the insurer of a principal in seeking to enforce both a contractual indemnity and claim contribution under “double insurance” principles.

·                     Recovery of $300,000 in fire damage for a group of insurers against the manufacturer of a defective spontaneously combustible product.

John Steenhof – Partner

John leads the corporate and commercial practice at Cornerstone Legal, with a particular focus on business sale and purchases, property, business structuring, commercial contracts, fundraising, industrial environmental compliance and native title.  He acts for a wide variety of clients including large publicly listed companies, local small medium enterprises and sole traders.

John was admitted to practice as a barrister and solicitor in New Zealand in 2000, and worked for five years at New Zealand's largest law firm, Chapman Tripp.  During that time, he was actively involved in energy and resources as a corporate advisor to many large companies in that sector.  He also was involved in some of New Zealand's largest M&A deals, including the 2003 sale by Lloyds TSB of its shareholding in the National Bank of New Zealand to the National Australia Bank and the 2003 sale by Independent Newspapers Limited of its nationwide newspaper and magazine publishing business to Fairfax Australia.

In early 2006, John made the decision to move to WA and change career focus by working at a small boutique firm.  Since taking up practice in Australia, John has expanded his practice to include a variety of areas including native title, environmental compliance and fundraising.

John acts for the Pastoralists and Graziers Association of Western Australia (Inc.) in a variety of Federal Court native title matters throughout the State of Western Australia, acting for pastoralists who own large stations in areas affected by native title claims.  John has successfully negotiated the indigenous land use agreements (ILUAs) in WA on behalf of pastoralists with the Ngarla native title holders in the Port Hedland area of the Pilbara, as well as with the Eastern Guruma native title holders near Tom Price in the Pilbara.  These ILUAs are an historic first for the pastoral industry in Western Australia.  John has also acted in a variety of small to medium business sale and purchase transactions, and assists a variety of industrial clients with advice on environmental compliance and WA environmental legislation, including the Contaminated Sites Act 2003.

Simon Steenhof - Associate

Simon first joined Cornerstone Legal in February 2005, and was admitted to the bar in Perth in February 2007. Prior to being admitted, Simon studied at the Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand, where he earned a Bachelor of Laws degree and a Bachelor of Arts Degree (Art History).

Simon’s main practice areas are as follows:

·                     Property Law: residential and commercial property conveyancing, all aspects of leasing work, adverse possession claims, subdivisions and property development;

·                     Development Issues: running planning appeals and review proceedings through the State Administrative Tribunal, acting on behalf of local councils and landowners in relation to prosecutions for unlawful development;

Simon is a very keen musician and sportsman and thoroughly enjoys assisting and interacting with clients.