About Us

Cornerstone Legal

Cornerstone Legal was established in 2004 by Timothy Houweling and Warnar Spyker as a specialist commercial litigation firm based in the commercial centre of Canning Vale, south of Perth. Cornerstone Legal has since expanded to a team of more than 10 lawyers and support staff and provides quality legal advice to corporate clients, local government, small business and private clients in the Perth metropolitan and surrounding areas.

Our lawyers provide a broad range of professional legal services while maintaining and enhancing friendly, personal and pro-active client relationships. Every member of our legal team is both experienced and knowledgeable within their respective fields of practice.

Our People

• 

  Timothy Houweling - Partner

  Profile

  Tim holds a Bachelor of Laws as well as a Masters of Laws, and Bachelor of Arts.

  Practice Areas

  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.

  Recent Transactions

  Tim is currently working on a number of property litigation matters for private landowners who have had land resumed from them for public purposes. These matters are extremely important, long-running cases, the outcome of which will have a significant impact on the legal rights of private landowners in Western Australia.

• 

  Warnar Spyker - Partner

  Profile

  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.

  Practice Areas

  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.

  Recent Transactions

  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

  Profile

  John leads the corporate and commercial practice at Cornerstone Legal and acts for a wide variety of clients including large publicly listed companies, local small to medium enterprises and sole traders.

  John previously worked 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 and was involved in some of New Zealand’s largest commercial transactions.

  Since moving to Cornerstonal Legal in early 2006, John has expanded his practice to include a variety of new corporate areas including property, native title, environmental compliance and fundraising.

  Practice Areas

  ●  General corporate and commercial advisory
  ●  Commercial contracting
  ●  Business sales and purchases
  ●  Property leasing
  ●  Native title
  ●  Environmental compliance
  ●  Fundraising
  ●  Estate planning

  Recent Transactions

  ●  Advising West Coast Sheds on the acquisition of Shed King’s total South Australian
     retail shed business in 2010.

  ●  Acting for prominent commercial property manager on all leasing and commercial
     drafting matters since 2009.

  ●  Acting for pastoralists and graziers represented by Pastoralists and Graziers
     Association of Western Australia (Inc.) in a variety of Federal Court native title
     matters throughout the State of Western Australia.

  ●  Advising vendor on the sale of Office National business to commercial party in
     2008/2009.

  ●  Advising publicly listed mining services company on environmental issues at various
     industrial sites in WA from 2006.

• 

  Simon Steenhof - Senior Associate

  Profile

  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 was awarded a Bachelor of Laws and a Bachelor of Arts (Art History).

  Outside of the practice of law, Simon is a keen musician and a confident sportsman.

  Practice Areas

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

  ●  Development Issues: 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.

  ●  Litigation: debt recovery, civil commercial property disputes in the Magistrates
     Court, District Court and Supreme Court of Western Australia

  ●  Building Disputes: Acting on behalf of builders and landowners to resolve building
     disputes, including proceeding in the Building Disputes Tribunal.

• 

  James Graham - Associate

  Profile

  James has undergraduate and postgraduate legal qualifications from the University of Western Australia, and was admitted to practice in both the State and Federal jurisdictions in March 2010.

  James specialises in corporate and commercial matters, but also acts in a wide variety of litigious and non-litigious matters in areas as diverse as land acquisition, native title and unfair dismissal.

  James is also heavily involved in local government work, and has acted as counsel in local government prosecutions under both local and State laws.

  After graduating with a combined BA/LLB from the University of Western Australia in 2008, James returned to part time study completing a Graduate Diploma of Commercial and Resources Law in 2009 and a Master of Laws with Distinction in 2010.

  Currently, James is working towards attaining his Doctorate in Juridical Science from the University of Western Australia.

  Practice Areas

  ●  General corporate and commercial advisory
  ●  Commercial litigation
  ●  Business sales and purchases
  ●  Local government
  ●  Employment law
  ●  Native title
  ●  Environmental compliance
  ●  Estate planning

  Recent Transactions

  ●  Acting for pastoralists and graziers represented by Pastoralists and Graziers
     Association of Western Australia (Inc.) in a variety of Federal Court native
     title matters throughout the State of Western Australia.

  ●  Acted for one of Australia's largest food and agribusiness diversified companies in
     Supreme Court action seeking relief by way of Writ of Certiorari.

  ●  Advising publicly listed mining services company on environmental issues at various
     industrial sites in WA.

  ●  Acting for Local Government in a number of criminal prosecutions under both State
     and Local Laws. 

  ●  Ongoing litigation in the Supreme Court of Western Australia, Court of Appeal and
     Federal Court of Australia. 

• 

  Jacqui See - Lawyer

  Profile

  Jacqui joined Cornerstone Legal in February 2009 and was admitted to the bar in March 2010. Jacqui brings to Cornerstone Legal a unique level of corporate experience having successfully pursued a management career with the National Australia Bank.

  Prior to being admitted, Jacqui earned a Bachelor of Law and a Bachelor of Commerce (Finance Major) at Murdoch University, a Graduate Diploma in Financial Advising at The Securities Institute of Australia and was published in the Murdoch University Electronic Journal of Law.

  Jacqui is a fitness and well-being enthusiast, having successfully completed the BRW Triathlon and the City to Surf. She brings an enthusiastic feminine legal perspective to the team at Cornerstone Legal.

  Practice Areas

  From the outset of her career, she has assisted primarily in matters of:

  ●  Land Compensation
  ●  Local Government
  ●  Residential Property Conveyancing
  ●  Animal Welfare Law
  ●  Wills & Estate Planning 

  Recent Experience

  ●  Assisting partner in litigation involving compensation for the compulsory acquisition
     of land.

  ●  Acting for a local government in Tribunal proceedings challenging a decision made
     by a local government.

  ●  Various property transactions.

• 

  Alyce Gamble - Lawyer

  Profile

  Alyce was awarded her LLB in 2009, and was admitted as a solicitor of the Supreme Court of Western Australia in late 2010.

  Alyce competed in numerous competitions whilst at University which gave her the opportunity to develop her client interviewing and alternative dispute resolution skills. She is now actively putting these skills into practice to the benefit of Cornerstone Legal clients in a variety of practice areas.

  Outside of the law, Alyce has a passion for live and local music and photography.

  Practice Areas

  Alyce assists all of the legal staff at Cornerstone Legal and practices primarily in matters of:

  ●  Land Compensation
  ●  Local Government
  ●  Planning and Environmental Law
  ●  Wills and Estate Planning

  Recent Experience

  ●  Assisting partner in litigation involving compensation for the compulsory acquisition
     of land.
  ●  Assisting solicitor in large commercial arbitration involving a multi-million dollar
     contractual dispute.

• 

  Andrew Carr - Consultant

  Profile

  Andrew is an experienced lawyer who enjoys providing advice and appearing in Court or Tribunals. He is a longstanding member of the Law Society’s Environment, Town Planning and Local Government Committee. Andrew has served as a board member of Soccer West Coast. Andrew has also acted as counsel assisting the Western Australian Turf Club and the Royal Agricultural Society in inquiries conducted by those organisations

  Practice Areas

  Andrew practises in the areas of town planning, land compensation, heritage and environmental law. Andrew has presented lectures in these areas to post graduate law students.

  Recent Transactions

  ●  Seeking compensation for people whose land has been taken by the government.
  ●  Providing advice on heritage issues to a major educational institution.
  ●  Acting for a number of subdivision developers in successfully negotiating
     reasonable conditions of subdivision approval.
  ●  Acting for a local government in Tribunal proceedings challenging a decision made
     by the local government.