Public sector and authority capability
A factual record for councils, agencies and other public authorities considering instructing the firm: what it can act in, who stands behind it, and how probity, conflicts and insurance are handled.
Areas of capability
- Planning and environmental assessment, including advice on development pathways, conditions and modifications.
- Environment protection and regulatory matters, including licensing, notices and compliance under the environmental legislation.
- Local government law, including the exercise of council functions, orders and enforcement.
- Infrastructure and project delivery, including approvals, land requirements and coordination across agencies.
- Roads and land access, including the statutory frameworks that govern works on and access to land.
- Heritage, biodiversity and water, including the approval and concurrence regimes that attach to those matters.
- Proceedings in the Land and Environment Court and related courts, including judicial review and statutory appeals.
Relevant experience
Michael Themis, the firm's principal, trained at Herbert Smith Freehills and King & Wood Mallesons and has held senior roles within both Commonwealth and NSW government, including as a Senior Manager advising Transport for NSW's acquisition, valuation and project teams. His experience spans project approvals, environmental regulation, infrastructure delivery, valuation disputes and litigation, including NSW Land and Environment Court proceedings.
This experience was gained in the principal's earlier roles in private practice and government, not on retainers of the firm.
The firm
- Legal entity
- Stone & Pillar Pty Ltd trading as Stone & Pillar Legal
- ABN
- 11 698 040 854
- ACN
- 698 040 854
- Registered office
- Level 13, 111 Elizabeth Street, Sydney NSW 2000
- The Supreme Court of New South Wales · Admitted 20 February 2015
- The High Court of Australia · Admitted 27 June 2019
- Planning Institute of Australia · Affiliate member
Probity and conflicts
A conflict check is completed before any documents are exchanged, and no engagement is accepted without written terms. The firm's compulsory acquisition work focuses on affected landowners and businesses. Public-authority enquiries are assessed for conflicts, practice fit, capacity and procurement requirements before any engagement is agreed.
The firm publishes an owner-side watch list of NSW government and infrastructure projects (the NSW Project Watch). Authority instructions are screened for conflicts against the firm's owner-side work in the ordinary way, and that publication is disclosed here so a procuring authority can weigh it openly.
Insurance and current status
Liability limited by a scheme approved under professional standards legislation. Professional indemnity insurance is in force; the policy particulars are provided on request for a procurement or panel process rather than published here. The firm holds no legal-services panel appointments at present and welcomes approaches about quotation and panel processes.
Basis of engagement
A public-sector engagement is subject to conflicts, scope, insurance, procurement requirements and written acceptance. The Government Authority Matter Navigator does not cover authority-side compulsory acquisition or acquisition-compensation matters. For an enquiry outside the tool's scope, contact the firm to discuss whether it can assist.
The Government Authority Matter Navigator prepares a structured instruction brief for authorised representatives, with a conflict check before any documents are exchanged.
The practice areas behind this work: planning and development, environmental regulation and council orders and local government.