Philip Barton

I am a commercial barrister specializing in property issues.  I hold BA and LLM degrees and have practised as a barrister for over 40 years.  I practise in –

• Property Law
• Probate
• Equity/Trusts
• Retail Tenancies
• Contract Law
• Commercial Law 
• Mediation/Alternative Dispute Resolution

I appear in the Supreme, Federal and County Courts and at VCAT.

I am the author of the CaveatsVictoria blog.

I have written numerous articles, including in the Australian Law Journal, and in the Law Institute Journal in which I also write book reviews.  Recent LIJ articles are –

• Questionable Caveats (February 2025, Leo Cussen Centre for Law)
• The Consequences of Unsupportable Caveats (April 2024, Leo Cussen Centre for Law)
• Masters v Cameron, Constructive Trusts (September 2023, Commercial Litigation Study Group)
• Caveats – Lodgment, Disputes & Compensation Intensive (April 2023, Leo Cussen Centre for Law) 
• Caveats under Section 89 of the Transfer of Land Act 1958 (October 2022, Commercial Law Discussion Group)
• Caveats – Lodgment, Disputes & Compensation Intensive (June 2022, Leo Cussen Centre for Law)
• Caveats, Exclusion Clauses (September 2021, Commercial Litigation Study Group)
• Co-Ownership Disputes – Update (April 2021)
• Concealment and sale of Land (October 2020)
• Caveats and contracts of sale (November 2019)
• Electronic contracts in Victoria (September 2018)
• Co-ownership disputes (August 2018)
• Informal Wills (May 2018)
• Testator’s family maintenance – Ancillary issues (June 2017)
• Malleability of a doctrine (proprietary estoppel) (May 2015)
• Interpretation of restrictive covenants (October 2013)

I give regular seminar papers.  Recent papers are – 

• Victorian Cases on Contracts of Sale of Land and on Forged Mortgages in 2021 (November 2021, Foleys List)
• Insights into Co-ownership Disputes (August 2021, Law Institute of Victoria)
• Recent Cases on Performance and Breach of Contracts of Sale of Land (March 2021, Foleys List)
• Non-Disclosure, Sale of Land and Litigation (February 2021, Leo Cussen Centre for Law)
• Recent Cases on Formation of Contracts of Sale of Land (November 2020, Foleys List)
• Exclusion Clauses (June 2020, Leo Cussen Centre for Law)
• Co-ownership Disputes (July 2020, Foleys List)
• Caveats (May 2020, Law Institute Commercial Litigation Specialist Study Group)
• Caveats under the Transfer of Land Act (April 2020, Foleys List).
• Terminating Commercial Leases (August 2019, Leo Cussen Centre for Law)

Other experience includes –

• I was a reporter for the Victorian Reports for over 10 years
• I am a former editor of the Victorian Planning Reports

I completed the Bond University Dispute Resolution Centre Advanced Mediation Course in 2004 and the National Mediator Accreditation Course conducted by