Business & Commercial Law

Mandatory Code: Commercial & retail leases 08.04.20 On 7 April 2020, the Prime Minister announced the creation of a mandatory Code of Conduct (the Code) to apply to certain commercial and retail leases during the COVID-19 crisis.

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Miss out on ‘JobKeeper’? Here are some options for Employers 03.04.20 What are the alternative options for employers who don't meet the 'JobKeeper' requirements? Employers may be forced to stand-down or make their staff redundant in order to adjust to the changing climate. Each avenue is governed by strict guidelines.

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Trademark Non-Use Removal Proceedings – Use It Or Lose It! 08.08.19 Trade mark owners should carefully review their intellectual property licence arrangements to ensure use by their licensees is considered authorised use to mitigate the risk of successful non-use removal proceedings.

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Leases for Breweries 11.07.19 Think ahead before signing a lease and recognise the difficulties that may arise - work with the landlord on creating a suitable arrangement for both parties. Properly drafted clauses benefit landlords too as, if there is a dispute and the landlord seeks damages, the recovery amount after the litigation process is often less than the actual cost of litigating.

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Laws Against Discrimination in the Workplace 01.05.19 Employment law is a complex area of law and there are many laws relating to employment which can be overwhelming for both employers and employees. This article covers some of the basic principles regarding workplace diversity, discrimination and dismissal which are so often intertwined.

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Brewdog: Pioneers of beer and crowdfunding 20.02.19 ‘BrewDog’ was started in 2007 in the UK by two men, Martin Dickie and James Watt (and a dog). 12 years later and BrewDog is now one of the most successful brewers in the UK operating 50 bars in the UK, 24 internationally and now a number of ‘beer hotels’.

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Debt collection agency harassed & coerced debtors 12.02.19 High pressure debt recovery techniques used by debt recovery agencies may not be permitted in the future, and may carry significant ramifications.

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Mandatory Pregnancy Warning Label On Alcohol 23.01.19 In October 2018, the Australia and New Zealand Ministerial Forum on Food Regulation agreed to develop and introduce a mandatory labelling standard for pregnancy warning labels on packaged alcoholic beverages. It is expected that the mandatory labelling standard will be formally announced in mid-late 2019.

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Recording Conversations – Is it Legal? 12.12.18 The continual advancement of technology has allowed conversations to be covertly recorded within a finger’s reach. The question is, when is it okay to record a conversation? Although not strictly illegal to record a conversation in Queensland, there are a number of restrictions on how you can record a conversation and what you can do with the recording. If you are unsure of your “right to record” – get legal advice!

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Winding Up A Company In Shareholder Disputes 21.11.18 The minority shareholders of Samgris Pty Ltd claim that the company's conduct had been oppressive and unfairly prejudicial to them. The trial judge determined that the duty of mutual cooperation between the members of Samgris had been irretrievably broken by the appellant’s conduct as majority shareholder.

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David v Goliath: Unfair Contract Terms for Small Businesses 17.10.18 The Federal Court declared that a number of terms in JJ Richard’s small business contracts were unfair. This is the first court action by the ACCC to test the scope of the new amendments to the Treasury Legislation Amendment (Small Business and Unfair Contract Terms) Act 2015.

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Safe harbour provisions for distressed companies 28.06.18 Safe Harbour protection is designed to provide relief to distressed companies to improve the prospects of implementing a successful turnaround strategy.

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