Ballarat law firm, Saines & Partners, and Horsham law firm, Lucas & Marshman, merged on 1 July, 2008. The new firm is known as Saines Lucas Solicitors.

This merger expanded the legal services both firms were able to provide to all new and existing clients of the two firms. With offices located at Melton, Maryborough, Ballarat, Horsham and Hopetoun, we are now the largest independent personal injury law firm in Western Victoria, providing services to clients from Melbourne to the South Australian border, with nine Solicitors and a senior Legal Executive.

Saines & Partners was established in Ballarat in 1939. David and Alice Aronson first opened the practice under the name D & A Aronson and moved to the present Ballarat office at 104 Lydiard Street South, Ballarat, after a short period next to Craig’s Hotel. There have been various changes in the name and partnership structure over the years until the last Senior Partner, Ron Saines, left in 2002 to take up an appointment as a Magistrate. Nick Lyons has been the Managing Partner since that time, in partnership with Ian Vinson and Sally Macarthur Clyde. Andrew Webb was a partner until retiring from the partnership in March, 2010.

Saines & Partners maintained long established branch offices in Horsham and in the Ballarat Trades Hall building located at 26 Camp Street, Ballarat. In recent years, new branch offices have been opened in Maryborough and Melton in shared premises with other firms.

Saines & Partners had long been widely regarded for its expertise in personal injury claims and it maintains that reputation today, with six practitioners operating in the Personal Injuries Department, led by Partner, Nick Lyons, an Accredited Personal Injury Specialist and Partner, Ian Vinson, with over 30 years experience as a personal injury lawyer.

Saines Lucas Solicitors also provide a wide and extensive range of legal services. Nick Lucas manages our Horsham office and also Nick Graham operates at our Horsham office. Nick Graham is an Accredited Family Law Specialist with extensive experience in family law services, criminal law and litigation. Nick Lucas has extensive experience and considerable expertise in commercial and civil litigation, conveyancing, business transactions, family law, criminal law, Wills, Powers of Attorney, administration of deceased estates including disputed Wills and estates, property law, leases and business law advice. Sally Macarthur Clyde, with over 25 years experience, is the Partner heading our Property Law, Wills and Deceased Estates Department, including land transactions, leases, mortgages, subdivisions, planning and Titles Office applications, deceased estates, preparation of Wills and Will disputes. Paul Cott, a Solicitor who practices primarily in general and commercial civil litigation, commercial and business conveyancing and heads up our Business Law Department. Gavin Francis, a senior Solicitor has a strong personal injury background. Paul Cott and Katalina Toth act in discrimination and industrial relations matters and Ben House, who is the most recent to join our firm, acts in VoCAT and general compensation claims, including WorkCover.

Other services also include industrial and employment law, insurance law, criminal law, VCAT and VOCAT applications and other legal work of a general nature.

Lucas & Marshman was a well established legal firm established in 1998 which has been operating in Horsham, with principal Nick Lucas, senior Solicitor Nick Graham, an Accredited Family Law Specialist, a conveyancing paralegal and 6 staff, servicing Horsham and the Wimmera community, with a branch office in Hopetoun. Nick Lucas, who has become a partner in the merged firm, is a Solicitor with over 20 years experience and considerable expertise in commercial and civil litigation, business transactions, family law, criminal law, wills, powers of attorney, administration of deceased estates, including disputed wills and estates, and property law, including conveyancing, farm properties, leases, and general business advice. Nick Graham has over 30 years experience in a wide area of practice but now specialises in family law. The firm has serviced a large number of clients not just in Horsham, but in Western Victoria for many years, and has a large client base.

Our Horsham office is located at 16A Darlot Street, Horsham, in the former office of Lucas & Marshman. The former office of Saines & Partners in McLachlan Street, Horsham, has closed. This has allowed the new firm to provide a full time presence for clients of both Lucas & Marshman and Saines & Partners in Horsham. We are very excited about the opportunities the merger has given Saines Lucas in providing a range of comprehensive legal advice and expanded services to existing clients of the two former firms and all new clients of Saines Lucas.

We are also pleased to advise that there has been no loss of professional or support staff at either firm, due to the merger.

Saines & Partners had long had a strong association and affiliation with the Labour movement and the Ballarat Regional Trades & Labour Council, with one of our offices being located in the Trades Hall building. We have always been proud to support union members and the Labour movement through Trades Hall functions, events and fund raisers in conjunction with our long tradition of assisting injured workers with their compensation claims. Saines Lucas is proud to have maintained this association, whilst at the same time welcoming business and corporate clients within its expanding commercial practise, both in Ballarat and Horsham.

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