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Where it All Began

Lovegrove and Cotton, in its original incarnation, was established in the midst of the recession of 1993. The firm’s founder, Kim Lovegrove, was intent on establishing a building law practice having resigned as a partner at a prominent Melbourne law firm. In 1998 the then minster for planning the Hon. Robert Maclellan, MLA opened the offices of Lovegrove Solicitors at 555 King St.

Plaque for the opening of Lovegrove’s former King St offices

In the early nineties, Kim headed a team that developed the National Model Building Act which became the regulatory blueprint for the overhauling of building regulation in a number of Australian jurisdictions.

In the mid-nineties, whilst focusing on growing the boutique building law firm, Kim was also appointed as a deputy executive director to the Australian Building Codes Board. Hence, Kim remained involved with building codification law reform.

The new millennium coincided with a return to building practitioner defendant work where the firm enhanced its reputation as a cross-jurisdictional dispute resolution practice.

The beginning of the ‘Justin Cotton Era’

The year 2002 saw the arrival of Justin Cotton, who hails from New Zealand. During his early years at the firm, Justin displayed a natural flair for construction law. He also focused on developing a particular expertise in building practitioner professional misconduct advocacy. Justin’s dexterity in the construction law arena has resulted in him forging a reputation, over the last two decades, as a pre-eminent practitioner advocate in Victoria, NSW, and Canberra.

After a small hiatus ten years ago, Justin returned to Lovegrove Solicitors and was made a partner at the firm. Justin never looked back and now heads up the firm in his capacity as director.

In 2016, Justin was made the chair of the HIA Industrial Relations and Legal Services Committee, and a member of the Regional Executive Committee, for the HIA Victorian Chapter.

Justin, who is also a qualified journalist, writes prolifically. Some 230,000 people have read his articles on Sourceable. Justin is the principal author for the Lovegrove & Cotton Bulletin and articles found in our Publications Library.

The firm presently has carriage of matters in Victoria, NSW, and the ACT.

A Reputation Built on Heritage and Construction Law Expertise

Over the 30 years of practice, Lovegrove & Cotton has garnered a reputation as a preeminent Australian construction law firm and for three years in a row was rated by Doyle’s Guide as one of the top construction law firms in the country.

Lovegrove and Cotton has also left an indelible footprint in the fabric of law reform in the Antipodes. The firm, in its previous incarnations has helped fashion modern day building regulation in a number of Australian jurisdictions that heralded proportionate liability, compulsory registration, and insurance of building practitioners in jurisdictions such as Victoria and the NT, along with probity and oversight regimes.

Humanitarian Commitment

Lovegrove & Cotton are committed to helping those who are in need and who live without many of the pleasantries that those in our profession take for granted. One of our humanitarian commitments is to provide help to HIV affected orphans and families in Ethiopia.

The firm has a very strong link with Ethiopia, and the relationship between the firm and the country heralds from Kim Lovegrove’s upbringing in Africa, more specifically, Malawi, Zambia, and Ethiopia in the late 1960s. Kim’s family lineage has a strong association with the region, with his grandfather, Norman Lovegrove, having held a senior position in UNESCO in Addis Ababa.

The firm’s commitment to Ethiopia has been reinforced by Tsigereda Lovegrove joining the firm in 2011. Tsigereda grew up in Ethiopia, where she met Kim and she subsequently joined him in Australia, where they were married.

In 2009, Kim, along with the firm’s former Financial Controller, David Lawn, made a documentary on HIV and the noble work of the Hope for Children Orphanage in Ethiopia.

Hope for Children was established some years ago and provides a home and sustenance for many hundreds of children who have been affected by the HIV epidemic.

For ten years, Lovegrove and Cotton and it’s previous incarnations funded the in-house lawyer at the Hope For Children (HFC) NGO for children orphaned by HIV. As the lawyer, Rahel, has moved on to another position, Lovegrove and Cotton continues to help fund the chief operating officer at HFC.

It is this sort of commitment to philanthropy that led to Kim Lovegrove being awarded the RML, Royal Medal of the Lion, by Prince Ermias Sahle Selassie (President of the Crown Council of Ethiopia and grandson of the late Ethiopian Emperor Haile Selassie) in late 2017.

The Ebola Building Standard

In addition to the work done on the ground and through financial support, the firm has also collaborated on intellectual initiatives such as the Ebola Building Standard that canvassed best practice building protocols to diminish the chance of the spread of Ebola in buildings and other built environments.

The firm sponsors the Ethiopian Consulate to Victoria

In the years 2020 – 2022 the firm sponsored the Ethiopian Consulate as Kim Lovegrove was made Ethiopian Honorary consul to Victoria. Tsigereda Lovegrove, whilst managing the law firm and studying law, assisted the Honorary Consul as a consular attaché. In light of her bilingualism in Amharic and English, she was a great asset to the Consulate and made for seamless interaction with the Ethiopian diaspora in Melbourne.

World Bank deployments

In the years 2019 to 2022 Kim was engaged as a senior law reform consultant by the World Bank to advise four Chinese Governments; Shanghai, Changzhou, Chongqing, and Beijing, on international best practice approaches to the design of building control regulation. The WB team took out a WB award for their endeavours. Kim was also retained by the Disaster and Resilience section of the Bank to review the first ever Malawian building regulations and made recommendations on point.

The launch of the IBQC

In 2019, Kim in association with the University of Canberra and Professors Robert Whittaker AM and Charles Lemckert, collaborated to establish the international thought leadership hub, the International Building Quality Centre. Kim was appointed as the chair and maintains this role to date and continuing.

A link to the organisation’s website can be found here.

The Governor General formally launched the IBQC in 2020 in Canberra.

A board was subsequently put together comprising of experts of international recognition. The board members comprise members from the UK, USA, GB, Peru, Kenya, South Africa, Australia, and NZ.

The IBQC has now been legally incorporated in the USA courtesy of the largess from the US based International Codes Council. The IBQC has published a number of international good practice guidelines for the development of building regulation in both developed and emerging economy settings. The legal incorporation secures the perpetuity of an organisation that is already having a profound impact on global best practice approaches to building regulatory ecology.

Firm Celebrates Justin Cottons 20 years of construction lawyering

On the 28 September 2022, we all celebrated Justin`s 20 years of construction lawyering

I remember interviewing Justin in our King Street offices back in August of 2002, the 18^th to be precise,  as if it was yesterday. Justin was fresh off the plane from our home town Auckland, New Zealand. We connected the dots: both studied law at Auckland Uni; we hailed from the balmy seaside suburbs; were (and still are) All Black supporters enjoying a mutuality of high regard for good Australian shirazzes.

In keeping with the “it’s a small world” metaphor, he revealed that I had taught his younger brother, at Bucklands Beach Intermediate whilst studying law; I remember saying what were the odds? We exchanged fond memories and anecdotes of some of our favourite teachers. The teachers in the early eighties were often seen sporting knee length shorts, long socks, and winter cardigans. We reminisced over one particular multi-talented guitar playing teacher who used to perform a stirring rendition of Harry Belafontes` Banana Boat Song .. ‘Dayo, daaaayo, daylight come and we want to go home’ to the kids in the music session.

Justin got the job. 20 years on, I can say: what you saw was what you got. Straightforward, capable and affable. In keeping with his qualification in journalism, he had an economy and efficiency of language that was well suited to construction law parlance. His narrative was complemented by a great turn of phrase, and I always loved reading his advices and insightful articles. (If you haven’t had occasion to read some of his construction law musings ‘do yourself a favour’ and log into our e-Library).

Justin`s been with Lovegrove and Cotton and its earlier incarnations for just shy of two decades, save for an 18 month stint at another law firm a decade or so ago. Two of the most significant moments of my professional life were facilitating his joining the firm, and his affording me the fortuity of accepting the partnership offer when he came back to the practice.  Justin has now been on the letterhead for more than a decade.

Mr Cotton is a pillar of the firm and a natural construction lawyer from the get go. He went on to become a very experienced and revered construction lawyer on the Eastern Seaboard, possessing outstanding construction and planning law knowledge. I say this descriptively and objectively.  Having been a partner at two large law firms in my earlier years, and having founded the original incarnation of this firm, Lovegrove Solicitors in 1993, my descriptors are experientially and evidentially based. I have been afforded the good grace of knowing a great many outstanding construction lawyers within our firm and throughout the profession and can attest to the fact that Justin is up there with the best of the best.

He`s also a very nice man, a kind soul who always has more than a few dollars in his pocket for our more vulnerable brothers and sisters on the street. Unwavering in the firm’s support of the HIV NGO Hope For Children Ethiopia and in our underwriting of their in-house lawyer for many years.  He has served and chaired the HIA Industrial Relations and Legal Services Committee for some years now – a position that he is very proud of and takes very seriously.

Justin afforded me a lot of support when I was Ethiopian Honorary Consul to Victoria. He never for a second shied away from supporting any of the firms’ altruistic initiatives, be it the aforementioned or pro-bono staff resourcing of IBQC initiatives.

Thank you Justin for your support and your loyalty that goes way back. You’re a Champ, Champ.

By Adjunct Professor Kim Lovegrove MSE RML

Tsigereda Lovegrove Bar Admission; Second Generation Coming Through

On the 25 October 2022 Tsigereda was admitted to the Victorian Bar and is now practicing as a construction and planning lawyer. So we now have a second generation Lovegrove picking up the ball and running with it. This will secure the longevity of the firm going forward and it heralds generational change as Tsigereda is stepping into the shoes of the founder. We now have four construction and planning lawyers and a senior paralegal studying law.

30 Years On, and To the Future – The Firm, Tsigereda, and Justin’s Vision 

“Moving forward, Lovegrove & Cotton will build upon its established reputation and legacy in the building and construction law industry, whilst maintaining it’s strong connections with Ethiopia.

The firm looks forward to continuing to serve it’s excellent client base, and continuing to make an impact on the building regulatory ecology internationally.

To our loyal clients, stakeholders and colleagues, thank you. You have helped the firm realise this achievement – 30 years is a substantial corporate milestone. We look forward to the next 30.”

Justin and Tsigereda