Are Memorandum of Understanding or Heads of Agreement, MOU or HOA, a Binding Contract?

Contract Law / Tamira Stevensen / 06/09/2017

That depends. If two businesses or organisations are entering into big or complicated projects or relationships, sometimes people on either side like the idea of a symbol of commitment before the final contract. Usually in this situation, the parties start with a basic Memorandum of Understanding or a Heads of Agreement. Maybe there’s pressure from […]

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Is a ‘Statutory Demand For Debt’ the Best Way to Recover Money a Company owes you?

Commercial Disputes & Litigation / Tamira Stevensen / 01/09/2017

What do you do if a company owes you money and offers no reasonable payment date? You might send a pro forma Letter of Demand demanding payment by a specific date and threatening legal action if it doesn’t happen. You might even have a solicitor write a letter of that type. That will probably do

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What happens to employee entitlements when a business is sold?

Sale of Business Contracts / Tamira Stevensen / 15/08/2017

One of the reasons you might buy a particular business is that it employs people with a lot of skill and experience in that type of business. If you want to keep those workers on, you will need to know about employee entitlements under the Fair Work Act 2009 in a transfer of business. Sometimes

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Trademark Registration: 5 Steps to Protect Your Business Name and Logo

Intellectual Property / Tamira Stevensen / 15/08/2017

You will find goodwill and business reputation, and therefore customer patronage, connected with the name and logo mark of an established, well-marketed business. Branding and get-up can differentiate your business identity from others in your market segment. With that in mind, we offer five tips for small businesses. Register your business name with the Australian

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Copyright Infringement – What Can You Do When Someone Infringes your IP?

Intellectual Property / Tamira Stevensen / 15/08/2017

A vast amount of US-owned’ intellectual property’ has been shamelessly plundered in some countries. US movies and music etc., are regularly pirated or bootlegged and can result in jail time for copyright infringement as a criminal activity like in a high-profile case of 23 October 2017.1 But that’s not the main problem facing most small business

7 Things Start-Ups Need to Know to Avoid a Lawsuit

Small Business Legal Advice / Tamira Stevensen / 13/08/2017

Are you a business start-up looking for lawyer tips? This article offers seven tips to avoid common mistakes made by start-ups and new business owners. In summary, they are: Your terms of trade with your customers should be clear and sound. Define the role of your business partners in the business. It would help if

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What can you Tax-Deduct when Starting a Business?

Business Structures / Tamira Stevensen / 13/08/2017

Suppose you’re starting a new small business, changing the ‘business structure’ (like incorporating it), raising capital (equity), or even trying to take over or defend against one. In that case, you can tax-deduct the professional (legal, accounting etc.) expenses associated with the process. These expenses cannot include asset depreciation or are deductible anywhere else in

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What to do about Copies, Rip-offs and Counterfeits: ‘Passing off’ and other legal remedies

Intellectual Property / Tamira Stevensen / 11/08/2017

What is ‘passing off’? A ‘passing-off’ action is available against a rival trader who has engaged in conduct that misleads or deceives consumers into thinking the goods are connected or sponsored by the complainant trader due to the rival trader using branding or product appearance very similar to that of the complainant trader. The latter

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Recent Cases: Directors Legal Liability for the Wrongs of the Company

Commercial Disputes & Litigation / Tamira Stevensen / 10/08/2017

The way that courts are looking at directors’ duties these days, you have to look at the whole situation of the company. Particularly as directors can become personally liable for decisions made in their capacity as a director of an Australian company. This applies to all the directors’ duties outlined in the Corporations Act 2001,

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Company Directors & Insolvent Trading – ASIC Regulatory Guide

Corporations Law / Tamira Stevensen / 09/08/2017

Directors can become personally liable for the debts of the company if the directors allow the company to trade whilst insolvent. We have talked about this risk to company directors in an earlier Blog post. Given this risk, what steps can be taken by a company director to not be in breach of company director

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Tamira Stevensen