karen van den brand
experience
Karen van den Brand is a partner and head of the firm's Local Government, Environment and Planning Law department. She has represented and provided advice to a number of local governments, developers, companies and individuals.
Whilst her interests are varied, she has recently spent the bulk of her time assisting local water authorities, particularly in the area of wastewater infrastructure. Given the current scarcity of water resources, this growing area requires specialist knowledge, and Karen is able to advise on all facets of the operation of local water authorities, from managing investigations into compliance by other government departments, to the preparation, negotiation and submission of Environmental Management Plans.
Her interests and experience include:
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Advising local governments in legislative and quasi–legislative areas; drafting local laws, subordinate local laws, amendments to local laws and subordinate local laws, policies, delegations of authority and management directives.
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Conducting litigation on behalf of local governments, both for prosecutorial and defensive purposes. Karen enjoys a high success rate in undertaking prosecutions for local governments for both planning and environmental offences, but has also defended local governments in prosecutions of local governments by other government agencies.
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Regularly appearing in the Planning and Environment Court in appeals brought by developers, both for developers and local governments. As a consequence, she has a solid understanding of the technical issues that generally arise in such appeals, and has the requisite knowledge in specialist areas of expertise. This allows Karen to manage consultants to achieve the best outcome for her clients.
expertise
• The regulatory framework surrounding water
resources and wastewater
• Planning, environment and local government law
advice for local governments, companies and
individuals
• Preparation, review and amendment of local
government laws and subordinate local laws, as
well as local government registers, including
delegations of authority, policies and
management directives
• Undertaking prosecutions on behalf of local
governments to ensure regulatory compliance
• Conducting litigation in the Planning and
Environment Court for developers and local
governments
• Project management of development projects in
conjunction with consultants
• Environmental compliance audits, due diligence
and impact assessment
presentations and publications
• Presenter QELA 2006 annual conference
affiliations
• Queensland Law Society
• Planning & Environment Law Committee member
– Queensland Law Society
• Queensland Environmental Law Association
• Urban Development Institute of Australia
• Gold Coast Food Forum Inc.
– Committee member
• Gold Coast Marine Industry Association Inc.
qualifications
• Bachelor of Laws (Bond University)
• Graduate Diploma in Legal Practice
admitted to practice
• Supreme Court of Queensland (2002)
• High Court of Australia (2008)
personal interests
A master of languages, Karen speaks fluent Dutch and German as well as conversational French and Japanese. An avid SCUBA diver, Karen wishes she had more time to enjoy the underwater world that diving on the Gold Coast offers.
See what our clients have to say about Karen van den Brand.
Position
partner
areas of law
Contact Details
T: 61 7 5597 8888
F: 61 7 5597 8899
kvandenbrand@mslawyers.com.au
