Meek Mercier Body Corporate Services, Directors
Our Directors
Richard Meek and Marc Mercier are both former members of the Office of the Commissioner for Body Corporate and Community Management, who left the Commissioner's Office in 2008 specifically to establish the firm of Meek Mercier Body Corporate Services.
Between them, Richard and Marc have 16+ years experience with the Commissioner's Office undertaking adjudication, conciliation, and senior management roles. Their experiences has convinced them of the need for a greater level of professionalism and client service required by bodies corporate, coupled with a greater level of expertise and knowledge in the body corporate legislation and its complex requirements.
As legally trained and qualified professionals, Richard and Marc have the background, the knowledge and the skills to provide more professional and complete services to bodies corporate with whom we are partnered.
Richard Meek
Richard has a Bachelor of Laws degree, and a Graduate Diploma in Legal Practice from the Queensland University of Technology, and in 1987 was admitted to practice as a Solicitor of the Supreme Court of Queensland. Following his admission, Richard practiced principally in the area of commercial and residential property (including conveyancing, leasing and securities) for five years before transferring to government in 1993.
Relevant experience
In his fifteen (15) years with government, Richard has been engaged exclusively in the field of body corporate law and practice, having undertaken senior positions firstly in the Office of the Referee, Building Units and Group Titles, and since 1997, in the Office of the Commissioner for Body Corporate and Community Management (OCBCCM) as:
- Delegate of the Referee, Building Units and Group Titles Act 1980, Office of the Referee;
- Referee, Building Units and Group Titles Act 1980, Office of the Referee;
- Adjudicator, Body Corporate and Community Management Act 1997, OCBCCM;
- Manager, Conciliation Services, OCBCCM.
Richard’s principal role with the OCBCCM was as an Adjudicator; the person charged with the making of orders for the resolution of disputes arising in bodies corporate. As an adjudicator under the Body Corporate and Community Management Act 1997 (the Act), Richard determined several thousand dispute applications over the period 1997 to 2006 inclusive. All orders made by Adjudicators since 2000 can be viewed online at http://www.austlii.edu.au/au/cases/qld/QBCCMCmr/. During the period 2006 to March 2008, Richard managed the implementation of conciliation as a new form of dispute resolution within the OCBCCM.
Legislative knowledge
On the basis of his background and extensive experience, Richard considers himself an expert in this field, with a specialist knowledge of the BCCM legislation and an expert understanding of all facets affecting bodies corporate and their operation. An acknowledgement of Richard’s knowledge and expertise in the field can be seen from comments made by Judge Boulton of the District Court of Queensland, in the appeal of an order made by Richard as an Adjudicator, the Body Corporate for Surfers Waters V. H & K Nishitani (No. 331 of 2000). In that decision the Judge observed:
… Mr Meek’s decision carefully analyses the application before him, his own statutory powers and responsibilities. His approach to the facts was demonstrably even handed. He was critical of both sides to the dispute in certain respects. The comments that he made concerning other improvements are well within the range of an expert observer on making on on-site inspection. The right of appeal exists only in respect of questions of law. Nothing points to Mr Meek having approached the facts in such a fundamentally flawed fashion as would amount to an error of law.
If anything, it was the reverse, Mr Meek having approached the facts in quite a thorough fashion. The appeal, consequently, should be dismissed.
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Marc Mercier
Marc has a Bachelor of Science (majoring in anatomy, physiology and forensics), Bachelor of Laws and a Master of Laws degree from the University of Queensland (specialising in litigation and dispute management), is admitted as a practicing Barrister-at-Law of the Supreme Court of Queensland and of the High Court of Australia
with a current practicing certificate, and is a Nationally Accredited Mediator in Australia through Bond University.
Marc is also a
Family Dispute Resolution Provider (registration number R0001308) pursuant to the Family Law Act 1975 (Cth) through the
Practitioner Registration Unit of the Attorney-General's Department.
Background and relevant experience
Initially, Marc commenced practice as a barrister prosecuting matters for the Queensland Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions. Here, Marc engaged as counsel on behalf of the Crown, prosecuting a broad range of criminal matters, including confiscation of proceeds of crime, complex Supreme Court bail applications, sentencing and prosecution of serious offences, appearing before every Supreme and District Court Judge at that time.
Marc then commenced work in private practice as a barrister-at-law, undertaking a broad range of matters concerning commercial, property, industrial, family and criminal law. As such, Marc conducted mediations, civil and criminal trials and applications in the jurisdictions of the Court of Appeal, Supreme Court, Industrial Court, Family Court and lower Courts.
Legislative knowledge
In furthering a specialty in Alternative Dispute Resolution, Marc then commenced a PhD at the University of Queensland and engaged in conciliation work at the Residential Tenancies Authority as a Senior Conciliator, and then as a Conciliator at the Office of the Commissioner for Body Corporate and Community Management. Marc was also manager of the BCCM conciliation service for a period during 2007.
Marc was also further appointed as Principal Conciliator with the Anti-Discrimination Commission in Queensland and there, managed highly complex and media-sensitive matters, often involving body corporate schemes as a party.
Marc’s appointment within the Office of the Commissioner for Body Corporate and Community Management has included the undertaking of complex conciliations concerning the jurisdiction of the Body Corporate and Community Management Act 1997, associated Regulation modules and other closely-related legislation. In his time as Conciliator, Marc has also been involved in the development of policy within the Department, including the creation of the Department Conciliator’s Code of Conduct and other processes involving the interpretation of legal provisions defining the role of Conciliator and conciliation practice.
During his position as Senior Conciliator in the Residential Tenancies Authority and Conciliator at the Office of the Commissioner for Body Corporate and Community Management, Marc has gained expert knowledge of the respective legislation administered by those bodies and remains an expert in the field of Alternative Dispute Resolution.
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Our vision
In 2008, Richard and Marc left the BCCM Office to establish the firm of Meek Mercier Body Corporate Services. With the significant growth in the number of bodies corporate in Queensland, and the increasing complexity of their management and operation, Richard and Marc perceive a growing need for a more expert level of knowledge and experience in the BCCM legislation and the administration and management of bodies corporate generally, and for a greater level of professionalism in the delivery of management services to bodies corporate.
With their many years experience in the BCCM office, and their background as legally trained professionals specializing in the fields of community titles and dispute resolution, Richard and Marc aim to bring a new standard to the industry, and a new level of professionalism and client service to the management of buildings with whom they are partnered - “the MMbcs difference”.
 
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