Know who you are contracting with
Kellie was in Midland last week seeking summary judgment in case we are working on. The Claimant first of all tried to sue our client’s company for breach of contract. That company counter claimed, but later went into liquidation. They then sued our client for breach of the same contract, but he was not a […]
Company Dispute
We started dealing with another company dispute this week. Our client has been left to run the business on his own for over a year without any help from his co-shareholders and directors. They have accused him of taking more than his entitlements and seek leave to take action on behalf of the company against […]
Telephone Company Dispute
I helped a couple this week with a plan after a fraudster switched their business’s mobile number from Optus to Vodafone, hijacked it and started taking calls from their clients and trying to get into their bank account. Optus kindly sent them a text advising that the number was about to be ported but despite […]
Commercial Tenancy Dispute
This week we took instructions from a couple of guys who had some of their personal gear stored at some premises that had been leased by a company run by their father. The company got into financial trouble and stopped paying rent. The landlord changed the locks and terminated the lease. The landlord has since […]
Honest Appraisal of your Prospects in Business Disputes
A lot of companies have gone into liquidation in recent years. Our client claimed he was owed consulting fees by a company in liquidation. The liquidator did not allow the proof of debt because there was a written contract with another related management company to which the consulting services would be provided, though that company […]
A Couple of Disputes
It has been a week for resolving disputes. We re-listed one matter for mediation after the two other parties failed to reach an agreement in the seven weeks since the first mediation appointment, when we thought we had a settlement agreed. Another matter was finalised last Friday and we were busy putting the terms into […]
Commercial Disputes Part II
This week we spoke with a client who had engaged a large firm to help handle a dispute with a former business partner. He had paid the law firm $300 000 over twelve months and got nowhere. He sent us some documents on Monday. We read them for forty-five minutes, discussed the matter for twenty […]
Debt Collection Good Result
We had a good result for a client just before Christmas last year. Their company had provided over one million dollars in services between 1 July and 30 November, but had not been paid. The company’s former solicitor had concentrated on the disputes and not the common ground. We went for the low hanging fruit […]
Employment Dispute
I saw a new client before my one week break. He’d been sacked out of the blue. It was clearly an unfair dismissal and he was under the Fair Work Australia $129,300 threshold, but he was paid 4 months’ salary in lieu of notice and the maximum payout is 6 months, less legal fees, so it […]
Software Licence Dispute
Our clients developed some software to demonstration stage. They set a price and a three-year term. The customer wanted the contract in writing and some versions went back and forth. The key aspects of the licence fee and the three-year term were unchanged. The licence fee was payable in instalments. The customer ended up paying […]