Fresh building works always bring an air of excitement. Whether a new construction or renovations, resources have been gathered, plans have been made, planning and other obstacles cleared, the various teams arrive on site. And the vision of the new property, for commercial or residential use, gives a fresh air of anticipation for the future. continue reading
Terms of Trade are the terms and conditions on which a business sells goods and services to customers and on which they buy goods and services from suppliers. These terms form the basis for the trading relationships for all businesses. If a business is the supplier of goods or services then it should have written continue reading
Article originally posted on LinkedIn. Disputes among company shareholders are not just common, they should be seen as almost inevitable. This is not to take a negative view of human nature but merely to state the facts. Management and strategy questions can be difficult. People often disagree on fundamental business choices. Work and personal life continue reading
Article originally posted on LinkedIn You and your partners are starting up a new company. It’s incredibly hard work. But the team is functioning seamlessly, filled with energy and ambition, everything is going great. So, when should you bring in counsel to start lawyering the financial and authority agreements among the partners? At Sajen Legal, continue reading
The answer to the question “How do you determine if a company is insolvent?” is important because there are serious consequences for a director if debts are incurred after the company has become insolvent, including civil penalties, compensation proceedings and criminal charges. However, it is often difficult to know when a company has crossed the continue reading
Did you know that company directors may potentially become personally liable for unremitted Pay As You Go (PAYG) deductions, Superannuation Guarantee Charges (SGCs) or Goods and Services Taxes (GST) – and WET and LCT? The Australian Taxation Office (ATO) has significant powers to recover a company’s unpaid liabilities personally through its directors and may issue continue reading
A company is an association incorporated under the Corporations Act 2001 (Cth) (the ‘Act’). The effect of incorporation gives the company a separate entity, distinct from its directors and shareholders. It can enter into contracts, sue and be sued in its own right. The Australian Investment and Securities Commission (ASIC) is the Government body authorised continue reading
The Subcontractors’ Charges Act 1974 (Qld) (Act) is a powerful piece of legislation that can be used to protect the interests of subcontractors as against higher-tier contactors. Despite this, the Act has a number of strict requirements as to how and when its protections can be used. Many entities misunderstand these requirements and subsequently lose continue reading
A company is an association incorporated under the Corporations Act 2001 (Cth) (the ‘Act’). The effect of incorporation gives the company a separate entity, distinct from its directors and shareholders. It can enter into contracts, sue and be sued in its individual right. The Australian Investment and Securities Commission (ASIC) is the Government body authorised continue reading
In recent times the term corporate governance, and the increasingly popular good corporate governance, appear to be regular topics of discussion both in the media and the general population. These terms are regularly used when considering the actions of a wide range of companies from very small local companies through to global organisations such as continue reading
If your business or one you know (or an individual) is facing litigation, either because another party is threatening it, or because you feel you have a right to act, what do you do first and where do you seek help? It has been said that litigation is a game in which the court is continue reading
If your company is in financial difficulty and heading towards insolvency, there are options available which allow a company to be guided through its financial distress. The best option for your company depends on the solvency of the company and the broad range of director duties and obligations. In this article, we examine the three continue reading
Intellectual property (IP) is the property of your mind or proprietary knowledge and can be an invention, a trade mark, a design or the practical application of your idea. It is important that you understand how to protect IP as it is a valuable business asset and it will usually be easier and cheaper taking continue reading
The collapse of Storm Financial Limited (Storm) occurred in the wake of the Global Financial Crisis of 2008 (GFC) and reads like a textbook cautionary tale for directors and officers. Background Emmanuel and Julie Cassimatis established Storm and at all relevant times held all shares in the company and were the only executive directors. Prior continue reading
It is common for builders and operators in the construction industry to utilise contractors to carry out specific trade skills such as concreting, plastering, bricklaying and plumbing. Business operators however, need to be cautious when ‘hiring’ skilled or other labour to ensure that they are not in breach of provisions of the Fair Work Act continue reading
New privacy laws known as the Australian Privacy Principles were introduced in 2014, the laws are a new set of privacy principles affecting the handling of personal information. If you have a website privacy policy you should review it for compliance with the privacy principles. The aim of the principles is to bring Australia’s privacy continue reading
When renting a business related property it is important for both Landlords and Tenants to understand the relationship they are entering into and the rights and obligations that they each have, the document that governs this relationship is usually a Commercial Lease. So what is a Commercial Lease? A lease is a legally binding contract continue reading
One of the possibilities of coming into financial strife is that a person may have to deal with bankruptcy. Bankruptcy can have long term adverse effects on a person’s credit rating and ability to borrow money in the future. As such, it is crucial to be informed about bankruptcy and its effects. What is bankruptcy? continue reading
Landlords, tenants and managing agents should be aware of new provisions under the revised Retail Shop Leases Act 1994 (the ‘Act’). The Retail Shop Leases Amendment Bill 2015, staged to commence in November 2016, triggers new considerations when entering into a lease. The changes are intended to uphold present consumer protective provisions, whilst clarifying some continue reading
The Federal Government has enacted legislation extending the unfair contract term protections of the Competition and Consumer Act 2010 (Cth) and the Australian Securities and Investments Commission Act 2001 (Cth) to the small business sector. Under the new laws, a Court is able to declare that a term of a standard form small business contract continue reading
