Commercial Lawyers Gold Coast

Commercial Law Services

Protecting your Key Assets

All your key business assets need protection. Without asset protection, your business suddenly could have its source of income destroyed. You need appropriate security and insurance for your physical property. You need legal protection for your occupancy of premises and your intellectual property.

Occupancy Rights

For many businesses, the right location is a key asset. We can assist you in setting up your lease arrangements so that your occupancy rights are clear, giving you the confidence to invest in fit-outs and equipment.

Intellectual Property

If you have a brand, slogan, process, invention, or similar, it is important that you take legal steps to protect your intellectual property from attacks by others. Don't make the mistake of believing "this couldn't happen to me". Our firm can provide comprehensive advice on how to protect your intellectual property. We can also advise you on your rights if powerful parties (or their lawyers) contact you saying that your business is infringing upon their intellectual property.

Licence and Franchise Agreements

For every successful franchising story told, there is, arguably, a counterpart story of failure. Whether you are a franchisor or franchisee or a licensor or licensee, there are major property issues at stake and you need properly informed contractual protection. We can assist in helping you get it.

Hospitality, Gaming and Liquor Licensing

The law relating to the operation of licensed venues is increasingly complex. When buying into the hospitality industry, you need to know the exact extent of your operating entitlements and any limitations you may face. We can assist with:

Purchase, sale and leasing of all licensed premises
All aspects of liquor licensing, applications, objections and appeals
Gaming advice and gaming licence applications
Special permit conditions regarding noise levels and hours of operation

Buying or Selling a Business

When buying or selling a business, you need clear legal advice on the exact nature of your obligations and risks in the buy / sell contract.

When you tell us what your objectives, expectations and financial capabilities are, we can assist you in distinguishing between contract conditions that are tolerable and those that you may not be able to live with.

Good legal documentation means that you can be confident in knowing exactly what you have bought, when you get access to it, what is specifically excluded, any ongoing costs or obligations that might be involved, and any actual or potential liabilities that you might be exposed to.

Structuring your Business

There are many options including:

Private Ownership
Company
Partnership
Joint Venture
Unit Trust
Discretionary Trust

And various combinations of these. Each one has different strengths and weaknesses, depending upon what you want to achieve.

Without sound legal advice, you could unknowingly expose your family home and other assets to claims made against the business.

Funding your Business

Financing major transactions involves a significant commitment that is usually difficult to reverse if things don't go quite the way you planned. We can assist with financial documentation and advice for a wide range of business transactions. These include:-

General Mortgage documentation
Acquisition of Business and Assets
Project Finance
Property and Construction finance
Restructuring / Refinancing

Entering into Business Contracts

Take legal advice prior to entering into all business contracts, especially ones where you have little or no prior experience.

While there will be a cost for the service, it will nearly always be cheaper than making a poor business decision and then having to live with the consequences.

This particularly applies to setting up business premises.

Setting Up Business Premises

Mistakes are expensive, so you need to get it right. Regardless of whether you lease or buy your premises, there are legal steps you need to take to protect your interests. If you can tell us exactly what you have in mind for the premises, how you are going to use them, the hours you propose to be open, the number of people, the use or otherwise of machinery, and so on, we can advise you whether your proposed use is permitted under the law, or the steps that you may have to take to ensure that it is.

Remember, if you unconditionally sign to lease or buy premises and it transpires that you can't use them for your intended purpose, it is highly unlikely that you will be released form your contract obligations without penalty.

Retail Shop Leasing

Commercial Leasing

We can consider your draft lease and advise you on your rights in respect of:-

Date and Right to Occupy
Inclusions in the Lease Property
Permitted Uses of the Property
Lessor Obligations
Your Obligations
Term of Lease
Renewals and Options
Rent and Rent Review Processes
Your Rights to Alter the Property
Access and Time of Access Rights
Treatment of Body Corporate Costs
Your Reinstatement Obligations
Disclosure Requirements

It is essential that you take legal advice on all these (and other) matters so that you can make an informed decision about whether the premises will be suitable for your intended purpose.

Working Through Financially Difficult Times

The statistics are clear. Most start-up businesses fail within 5 years.

Sometimes this will be totally out of your control – for example, a law change can make your product illegal or at minimum difficult to access. Sometimes even though your product is successful, other more powerful players enter your market making your pricing uncompetitive.

Prevention Better than Cure

There can never be guarantees that your business won't face financial difficulties at some stage. That's just the way markets and competition work.

Careful budgeting and financial planning is essential. Your accountant or financial adviser can assist you with that. However, there are also areas where sound legal advice can help.

For example, the law on your obligations to pay creditors (and particularly the Australian Taxation Office) is very clear, and if you don't understand it and arbitrarily draw out paying creditors as long as you like, or ignore "Final Notice" warnings, you could find your business facing a winding up order.

In short, if you fail to manage your financial obligations properly, other entities may enforce payment in a way and at a time that may be out of your control and may jeopardise the continuity of your business. We can assist with preventative advice regarding the way you operate and any contractual risk you face.

Insolvency

If your business is in financial trouble and is unable to pay its debts when they fall due, it is essential that you seek legal advice immediately. Under both the Corporations Act and the Criminal Code, there are very heavy penalties for directors and other officers of companies who knowingly trade their businesses as insolvent.

Insolvent businesses and the people responsible for them have very clear legal obligations. We can show you what they are and – possibly working with the assistance of a specialist insolvency practitioner – try to either devise a recovery plan or help you manage your obligations, as the law requires.

Having assistance from someone who is not emotionally connected to the business can be extremely helpful in these difficult times.

Fighting Business Battles

From time to time, people or other firms may cause, or potentially cause, your business harm through their actions or inactions. These might be:

Creditors
Debtors
Employees
Former Employees
Contractors
Customer and Clients
Competitors
Suppliers
Financiers
Neighbours
Members of the Public at Large
Governments and Government Bodies

The circumstances can range from employees or outsiders trying to steal your business ideas, to something as simple as customers refusing to pay their bills.

Where possible, be Preventative

One of the keys to running a successful business is setting up your operations in a way that minimises the chances of other parties causing your business harm.

You also need to take all reasonable steps to minimise the chances of your business causing harm to others. We can talk to you about a range of risks involved and help you take preventative action.

But sometimes, you are faced with disputes regardless of your best efforts to shield the business.

Deciding Whether to Negotiate, Fight or Compromise

Every dispute must be treated on its merits.

Without doubt, some disputes are very serious and must be attacked with vigour. They can potentially involve the very future of the business.

But protracted disputes can also be expensive and highly distracting, so you need to decide whether winning them is actually worth both the money and the effort.

We will bring an experienced eye to your disputes and help you decide whether to negotiate, run, or fight based upon an assessment of your prospects and the possible costs.