Media releases

Marino Moller Lawyers expands to Port Douglas

As seen in the Port Douglaus & Mossman Gazette and The Cairns Post - May 2005

The partners of long-established law firms, Marino Moller Lawyers of Cairns and Arthur Timms Solicitors of Port Douglas have this week announced the merger of their firms.

The merged firms will practice under the banner of Marino Moller Lawyers with well-respected Port Douglas solicitor, Arthur Timms, taking on the new role of consultant. Both firms are highly regarded in the North Queensland district for their client focus and professional and ethical delivery of legal services and solutions. The merger will allow clients of both firms access to a wider range of specialist legal services. The partners and staff of the firms will offer a one stop legal shop with the depth and experience to meet their client requirements.
 
Arthur Timms, Charlie Marino and Brett Moller are delighted at the opportunities that the merger will present. Marino Moller Lawyers will now have full time offices in Cairns City, Edmonton, Gordonvale Port Douglas and a visited office in Babinda. While now all operating under the name of Marino Moller Lawyers, each individual office will continue to deliver tailored legal services for the community in which it is based. The partners share the belief that employing local staff and utilising their invaluable knowledge will result in better client outcomes and satisfaction. Clients will be able to attend to their business at any of the five offices, confident that they will be dealing with staff who have local knowledge but with the added benefit of access to specialist solicitors if required.  In this way Marino Moller Lawyers brings to each community a valuable business asset entity. The firm strongly believes that to have support of local communities, they need to be part of the community.

After entering into the Greer and Timms partnership with Darrell Greer and initially working in the Firm’s Mossman Office, Arthur Timms opened the firm’s Port Douglas office in 1981. At this stage the practice had been servicing the Mossman and Douglas Shire community for over fifty years. Arthur Timms set up his own practice in Macrossan Street in 2004 which which continues to operate from the modern Macrossan House premises. During more than twenty years of practice in  Port Douglas and the Douglas Shire, Arthur Timms has seen Port Douglas change from a sleepy fishing village to major tourist destination. Mr Timms has been involved in most major developments and his legal practice has evolved to meet the needs of an ever-increasing array of clients. By merging with Marino Moller Lawyers, Arthur Timms will be relieved of the day to day administrative duties of running an office, leaving him free to offer his service, local knowledge and specialised expertise and considerable commercial experience full time to clients. Specialist backup will now be provided in the areas of town planning, commercial litigation, planning and environment law, family law, personal injuries and general practice enquiries. Arthur Timms will continue to provide the people of  Port Douglas the quality service that locals have come to expect. He is currently working on several large development projects and is looking forward to working in conjunction with staff from Marino Moller Lawyers to assist with these projects.

Marino Moller Lawyers (formerly Marino and Smith Solicitors established 1988) came into being in 1999 when Brett Moller joined Charlie Marino as the partners of the firm. The mission statement of the firm is to be lawyers who provide practical solutions to business proposals and personal legal problems through quality advice at realistic and economical fees. Charlie Marino of the Cairns office focuses on planning and environment law and is currently working on the development of Kanimbla Heights Estate and the new Redlynch Central Shopping Centre which is opening this month. Brett Moller is based at Gordonvale and deals with a wide range of general legal matters, with the particular focus of rural law, The Edmonton Office is run by Michael Taifalos, who pratices family law and personal injuries law. Marino Moller Lawyers have a strong base of rural clients, in particular sugar cane farmers. Brett Moller is a fourth-generation cane farmer and is a director on the board of the Mulgrave Mill while Charlie Marino’s family have been involved in sugar production since 1951. Associate Linda Barlow and solicitor Kristy Gilvear are locals of Deeral and Babinda and will continue to service the visited Babinda office.

Both firms have reputations of applying cutting-edge technologies to the running of their offices. With all offices to be connected via an intranet, the best possible client outcomes can be achieved by simple, secure and rapid transfer of documents between offices. This will enhance the efficiency and productivity of the firm while allowing clients to attend at their most convenient office. All of the full-time offices have permanent broadbroad internet connections and every staff member will have an individual e-mail address and direct telephone line. The partners believe the key to obtaining the best outcomes for clients is open communication. Marino Moller Lawyers will strive to achieve this by enabling clients to access their solicitor as easily and promptly as possible.

The merged firms will now consist of two partners, one consultant, one associate, six solicitors, four conveyancing clerks and thirteen support staff, of which the majority are North Queensland locals. The merged firm will focus on planning and environment work, litigation, town planning, family law and commercial and residential conveyancing­­­­­­­­­­­­.  Arthur Timms will continue his long-time commitment to the people of the Douglas Shire with his new role of consultant to the firm. Mr Timms said the move will realise a long term ambition of his, namely to provide the Douglas Shire with an all-encompassing quality legal firm to service the local community.

Marino Moller Lawyers will offer its clients the same high standard of service while expanding its operations to increase the depth of experience and specialities available to clients. All staff will be retained at their current offices so clients can expect to see the same friendly faces when attending to their business. Arthur Timms, Charlie Marino and Brett Moller believe the merger will result in many positive outcomes for the firm, staff and clients and look forward to continuing to service the legal requirements of Far North Queenslanders.

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