Life Support with no Will
Here’s a sad story. We learnt of a young chap last week who is on life support, but more than likely brain dead, so his step-father and partner were going to have to consult with the doctors about turning off the machine. The Guardianship and Administration Act sets out the priority of person who need […]
Property Development
Michael saw an old client this week. He’s had his builder’s ticket for 4 years and is about to start his own building company. He owns a property with his 2 brothers. They are not interested in funding a development, so he is going to finance the demolition of the old house and the construction […]
Facebook and Copyright Issues
This week we saw a new client regarding some Facebook and Copyright issues. She had obtained permission to use images from the US manufacturer’s website, but there was nothing very formal. It raises the issues of what can and cannot be copied. We have another client who took his own photos of various spare parts […]
Old Will After Divorce
We saw 2 clients two weeks ago to prepare some wills. Both were divorced some 20 years ago. Both were unaware that the wills that they executed early in their marriages and which left everything to their ex-husbands were still valid! The Wills Act 1970 was only amended such that the end of a marriage […]
Pragmatic Business
A client of mine sent me an e-mail yesterday worried about a contract for the purchase of a property. She and her husband have faced delays obtaining finance approval and the seller had sent her an e-mail with a veiled threat that the seller would terminate the contract. I sent a note back – DO […]
Rouge Partner – Partnership Disputes
This week I met a new client who had been in partnership with a bit of a rogue. It seems the ex-partner was planning to exit, had misled various clients into thinking that he was the sole owner of the business and took a few of them when he left. He altered a cheque and […]
Lending Money
I got some instructions from an old client that I had to sue a couple of years ago to recover some fees. Her father wishes to lend money for 6 months to a heavily geared individual at a rather high interest rate due to the risk involved. We are being instructed to prepare: A loan […]
Last Minute Negotiation
This week we had some fun with some last minute negotiations. Our client believes he was oppressed by the majority shareholder of a company and was not paid adequate employment entitlements. The dispute has been going on for some time. We had prepared and were just about to lodge an application in Fair Work Australia […]
Mediating Disputes
Every stranded group needs someone to help resolve disputes. I have trained as a mediator and have been involved in many, many mediations, due to all the Courts forcing litigants to early mediation. I try to think outside the square for solutions that courts could not provide, so that there is a win-win situation, or […]
Finalising Franchise Agreement
Yesterday we finalised negotiations regarding a franchise for a client. We managed to get numerous changes made to the franchise agreement, though not as many as we would have liked. We find it is usually difficult to get any changes made to franchise agreements. Most Franchisors say take it or leave it, so we did […]