Brad Watts BA LLB, Solicitor, is Principal of Baker Ryrie Rickards Titmarsh Solicitors, Attorneys & Conveyancers - Sutherland & Newtown. Brad commenced his legal career in 1989 when he started working as a law clerk at the firm he now owns. Brad graduated from University of NSW in 1993 with Bachelor of Arts/Bachelor of Laws and was admitted as a solicitor of the Supreme Court of NSW in February 1994, when he began working as a solicitor in Cronulla. Brad has since practiced law in partnership in the Sydney CBD and as a sole practitioner in Newtown, as well as working in corporate management with one of Australia’s largest financial institutions. Brad is now based mainly at our Sutherland office and is available to assist our individual and business clients with all of their legal needs.

 “Whereas John Grisham wrote about a “street lawyer”, helping the downtrodden to access justice, I tend to describe myself more as a “kitchen table lawyer”, assisting ordinary working people to deal with the legal issues in their everyday lives. I often find myself sitting down with my clients, whether in their home or workplace, at court or in my office, going carefully over their issues and explaining their options, helping them understand documents, working our way step by step through their legal problems. I listen carefully to my clients’ concerns and I give them fair dinkum responses. I try to be straight forward with people. I think they appreciate that.”

Brad is a dedicated general practitioner and has substantial experience in all areas of general legal practice, with extensive experience in Local Court criminal work and advocacy. Brad’s particular areas of professional interest are in sentencing law, property & equity litigation (including contested wills and estate disputes), general litigation (including personal injury cases) drafting and negotiating complex documents, including commercial agreements. Brad has also prepared many Wills, Powers of Attorney and Powers of Enduring Guardian documents. Brad can assist you with understanding and implementing these important personal documents. Brad brings an experienced litigator’s perspective to drafting these documents, allowing him to avoid problems and pitfalls which may otherwise end up in court.

“Working as a clerk while I was studying law really gave me a good grounding in the practical realities of the legal and judicial system – the stuff they just don’t teach you at uni. Always being in general practice, I have been exposed to and worked on all types of cases and have appeared in court literally thousands of times. When I worked in the CBD I acted as city agent for dozens of other law firms, appearing regularly in the Local, District and Supreme Courts, for both civil and criminal cases, becoming very familiar with practice and procedure in all of those courts. I now consistently apply the lessons from that experience to assist my own clients in their cases and transactions. I am also able to apply the perspective gained from my time in the corporate world to both running my practice and assisting my business and commercial clients. Given the breadth of my experience I believe I can provide comprehensive, practical legal advice to just about anyone with a legal problem.”

Brad has particularly been appearing at Sutherland Local Court for more than 15 years in sentence matters and defended hearings, for drink driving cases, AVOs, assaults, drug matters and all types of police charges. Brad can guide you through the court process and work with you to make sure you obtain the best possible result in court.

“For all court matters I take detailed instructions from my clients and I obtain all necessary evidence. I take time to understand my clients’ case and the result they hope to achieve, so I can work with them towards the best possible outcome, whether negotiated or litigated. In court, I always aim to represent my clients with diligence, honesty and integrity. I find this approach generally results in very good outcomes for my clients, from which I take great pride and satisfaction. I put my heart and soul into my advocacy work and I bring to bear the skills and experience I have gained from more than fifteen (15) years of appearing regularly in courts virtually every day.”

Brad was born and bred in The Shire and now resides in Newtown with Robyn, his wife of 11 years. Brad is a citizen of the world, with a passion for travel. His other passions include cricket, reading & writing, wine & food and, of course, music – Brad has managed a number of rock bands in Sydney and still loves attending live gigs.

Brad is a former Executive Councillor of NSW Young Lawyers, chaired their Social Committee and has been a member of the Criminal Law Committees of NSW Young Lawyers and the Law Society of NSW. He is a current member of the Law Society of NSW.