Jason Hones, principal of Land Acquisition Lawyers, has been named in the 2027 edition of The Best Lawyers in Australia for Planning and Environmental Law.
The 2027 awards were published on bestlawyers.com. Jason’s profile is listed here.
How Best Lawyers Works
Best Lawyers has run on the same principle for more than 40 years. Practitioners nominate other practitioners. There is no submission process, no fee, and no mechanism for a firm to secure inclusion on behalf of its lawyers. The nominations come from across the profession and are assessed against specific practice areas. That methodology is what has given the directory its credibility with referring lawyers, government bodies, and clients over time.
Planning Law and Compulsory Acquisition
Most compulsory acquisitions are underpinned by planning decisions. Infrastructure projects, corridor designations, and state-significant development all move through a planning framework before land is acquired. How a property is classified, what its permitted uses are, and what comparable sales exist in similar planning contexts all feed into how compensation is calculated and contested.
Compulsory acquisition is not simply a valuation exercise. Landowners are entitled to compensation that reflects the true impact of the acquisition, including market value, disturbance costs, solatium, and in many cases the costs of obtaining legal and valuation advice. The acquiring authority has significant resources and experience in managing these processes. Landowners who engage early with a specialist lawyer are better placed to understand what they are entitled to, respond to the authority’s position, and pursue the full compensation available to them under the Land Acquisition (Just Terms Compensation) Act 1991.
Where planning law intersects with the acquisition, the stakes are often higher. A property with development potential, a pending approval, or a contested land use classification may have a market value that the authority’s initial offer does not properly reflect. Jason’s expertise across both planning and acquisition law means he is able to identify and argue those points with authority.
Landowners who engage a lawyer with deep planning law knowledge alongside their acquisition expertise are better placed to understand and challenge the full picture. Jason’s peer recognition in the 2027 edition of The Best Lawyers in Australia™ reflects the depth of that combined expertise.