Business Agreements
People are starting to do business again. This week we received some instructions to: prepare a sale agreement for the sale of 20% of the units in a unit trust which owns a business, where the buyer is another unit trust; an option agreement in favour of the buyer to buy another 29% of the […]
Disputes with the ATO (Our Clients, Not Us)
It has been a week for resolving disputes. Today Michael’s off to Francis Street Northbridge, to try to settle a dispute with the ATO. Unlike most mediations, this one has two “facilitators”. The main issue has been actually defining the dispute, because the ATO has so far been reluctant to spell thing out until yesterday […]
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 […]
IT-related Legal Work
We’ve been doing quite a bit of IT-related legal work this week – a copyright assignment deed in relation to a computer program, a head licence agreement, an IT services agreement, an end-user licence agreement and giving some advice regarding a software distribution agreement. In 1984 Michael received the Australian Computer Society Computer Science Award […]
More Business Deals
More people are starting to do business again. This week we received some instructions from one new to: help restructure a group of companies review family trust deed, unit trust deeds and unit-holder deed; prepare some complicated wills. Another wants documents to handle estate planning including special trust provisions in a Will to provide for […]
Client v Builder
We were contacted by one owner of a SMSF that has contracted to have a building constructed. Our client agreed to the builder’s suggestion to construct using Structural Insulated Panels instead of brick, in return for a price reduction of $14k, but the builder is now reneging on that deal. There are also disputes about […]
Buying into Companies
We met a new client yesterday who is looking to allow some of his employees to buy into his company. We discussed different ways and means – selling his shares or allotting new shares in the company, with him getting the proceeds in the first instance and the company getting the funds in the latter. […]
Dispute with a Factoring Company
One of our clients has a dispute with a factoring company. A factor buys debts at a discount from companies that have cash flow issues, but they are very expensive forms of finance. In this case, if the debtor fails to pay within the time stated on the invoice, not only is interest charged on […]
Longest Mediation Session Ever!
Last week we attended the longest day’s mediation we’ve ever been involved with. We did not get out until after 7.00pm. We almost finished settling six related Court actions. Our clients have settled with the plaintiffs, but the plaintiffs and another party are still arguing about costs, so it may be a little while yet […]
Multiple Court Actions
Today Michael will be in Court most of the day attending a mediation in which he will be trying to settle six related Court actions. One is an action claiming various breaches of trust in relation to a family discretionary trust that was establish in 1977. One claim is that a deed that added a […]