Welcome to the Business Lawyer website

Business Law Articles:

• New tax rules apply if you are employing working holiday makers
• Mayfair 101 Group fined $30 million, but investors left out in the cold
• You can't hide Bitcoin from the Court. The Court can order the transfer of money held in cryptocurrency, and will imprison for contempt of court anyone who defies its orders
• Stay at home if you are not fully vaxxed in NSW and work in retail, hospitality or leisure
  If you work in non-essential retail, hospitality or leisure businesses in NSW and choose to remain unvaccinated, you are not welcome to come to work and may receive a dismissal notice, under the latest NSW Public Health Order.
• Are you liable for all nasty comments on your Facebook page?
  The quick answer is ‘yes’, even if the nasty comments were posted by someone else on your page.
• Are you a small business? It might be smart to do a website compliance review to make sure your website complies with the ACCC’s new guide.
• How a weasel clause can help escape a contract. When buying a business, purchasers try to not commit themselves until they are happy with the business. They use weasel clauses as escape clauses.
• What are non-disparagement clauses and how are they used?
  A non-disparagement clause protects a business from unfair comments on social media
• Is there anything a business can do to stop an employee taking away customers?
• When are company directors personally liable to customers under the Australian Law?
• Is your contract unfair? Do you have unfair contract clauses lurking in your standard-form contracts? Don't get a rude awakening when you find they are not legally enforceable
• Who pays when Uber Eats delivers your meal spoilt or not at all? Is it the customer, the courier or the restaurant?
• If your business is failing, don't keep trading because if you are a company director you will become personally liable for the company's debts.
• Do criminal records expire?
• Are standard terms and conditions always ‘take it or leave it’?
• Are you a small business and unhappy with a 'take it or leave it contract' from a large supplier?
• It's not unfair to dismiss an employee who has been under-performing
• Is there anything you can do to stop a law suit by a $2 company from going ahead?
• Are you debt collecting?
• ASIC cracks down on irresponsible lending practices for consumer credit
• Finks folly - there is (almost) no consumer protection for business loans
• Marketing law – Not everything is fresh today!
• Joint Ventures for business
• Names and Logos
• Buying and selling a business
• Has another business started using your name? What can/must you do to stop them?
• Sleaze has no place in the workplace

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Property Law & Wills Articles:

• The Fraudulent Conveyances Act of 1571 is still voiding fraudulent property transfers 450 years later
• Are Short-Term Loans risky for lenders and borrowers
• Neighbour’s CCTV turns factory fire alibi into ashes
• Do you live in a home unit?
  Do you worry about building repairs?
• Home loan introducers will soon be a thing of the past. The financial regulator, ASIC has taken the ANZ Bank to court for breaches of the Credit Act because it used unlicensed introducers for home loans.
• Don’t lose your right of way! If you need to pass over someone else's land to reach your property, you need to have a right of way. It’s a valuable right which needs protection.
• Crime doesn't pay (not even arson)
  Arson is a crime where the perpetrator ‘robs’ an insurance company. It looks like easy money for blaming a fire on an electrical fault. But it’s not easy to get away with arson
• Does bamboo block your view? Bamboo makes a great screen – a dense green wall. But if it takes away a view, it is a pest. When a neighbour block your view
• Court slashes loan interest rate. Borrowers win deep rate cut because loan documentation was not watertight.
• Paying a 5% deposit instead of a 10% deposit under a Contract to purchase a property is very popular when property prices are high. But there are hidden traps.
• Airbnb-style short-stay traveller accommodation policy in NSW – the latest update
  Renting out a house or home unit, Airbnb-style, is legal in New South Wales, but you need to follow the new rules if you do.
• Does putting the family home in the wife's name protect it from creditors?
• Will a Court correct errors in a contract if they are obvious?
• Do property joint ventures need to be in writing? Thinking of doing a property joint venture without putting it into writing? Think again!
• Granny flat warning – let live-in parents know if they are not secure for life
  Do parents have the right to stay in the family home if they transfer title to their children to release cash from their equity?
• Rental Properties must be fit for habitation. The NSW Government has set minimum standards for rental houses for lighting, ventilation, electricity & gas, plumbing and drainage and bathrooms, as well as structural soundness, to apply from 23 March 2020.
• Property options. Thinking of using property options to acquire property? Find out about the stamp duty consequences
• If a parent makes a will which reduces your share, what are the chances of invalidating the will if you can show they had dementia - they were losing the plot?
• Water leaks and other defects when buying a house. You buy a house. The first time it rains you notice the ceiling is damp in one corner. Do you 'cop it sweet' or believe the seller should pay to fix it because the water leak came from newly completed renovations? It is possible that the seller may have to pay.
• The case of the unlocked letterbox. Strata living gives rise to fascinating court cases. This is one of them. The dispute is about an unlocked letterbox
• Are you thinking of buying or selling a property? You need to know about six current trends,
• There is no absolute right to peace and quiet - especially if you buy next door to a hotel
• Is it possible to protect the family home from creditors?
  Not always, but with the right legal advice, your chances are improved
• Why are DIY Will Kits a bad idea? DIY Will Kits are cheap and easy, but they all should carry a big red warning sticker – Beware - This DIY Will Kit is a goldmine for lawyers!
• Two wills is one will too many. Most will disputes are about unequal inheritances, but some disputes are about which one of two wills should be treated as the last will and testament.
• Should you sell the family home when your parents move to an aged care home?
• What is the law for Airbnb style rentals in Sydney / NSW? From 2019, new laws will apply to anyone renting their property for short-term rentals in Sydney / NSW
• NSW gives the green light to owner-occupiers and investors to rent houses and home units for short stay (Airbnb style) rentals
• An investment loan is not repayable without proof of the money trail. The Court rejected the Bendigo Bank’s claim
• Purplebricks real estate promises greater fee transparency for sellers
• Are you selling your home or investment property? Is a flat fee online agent better than a traditional estate agent? Is it the difference in marketing? For a look at how Purplebricks a well-known online agent operates
• Don't sign a personal guarantee to a lease unless you absolutely need to!
• Do car parking spaces add value to a home?
• Does the lower tax rate for companies make them more attractive than a family trust for property investment?
• How Airbnb is empowering Boutique Hotels and B&Bs to build their business
• Are you thinking about using Airbnb to save some travel money? Or are you looking for extra income from your rental property?
• Without liability insurance, home owners are exposed to million dollar law suits
• Joint Venture agreements with money partners (investors) for real estate investment
• Moving out of a shop do you repaint?
• The effect of the GST upon real estate
• How does property fit into superannuation?
• Tree disputes between neighbours
• Tree Disputes with the Council
• Vendor finance for properties
• Should you sell the family home when your parents move to an aged care home
• How liable are you if a visitor slips or trips when entering your property?

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Marketing Law Articles:

• The law catches up with digital marketer viagogo
• Advice for small businesses selling online is hard to find
• Can you make your distributor sell your products exclusively?
• Trivago fined $44.7m for falsely advertising hotel room prices as best price
• Investment Advice should come from a professional
• Choose your business name well … or you may lose it
  There are 2 quick tips when choosing a business name – (1) Do an ASIC search to see that no one else has taken it first; (2) Check Google, domain names and trade marks to see that your name will not be deceptively similar to an existing name.
• Are you using weasel words in your advertising? There is no doubt that weasel words like free, natural, nutritious, fresh and lifetime guarantee are great words to use when advertising products.
  But if you use weasel words the wrong way, it can land you in legal trouble.
• Are you liable for all nasty comments on your Facebook page?
  The quick answer is ‘yes’, even if the nasty comments were posted by someone else on your page.
• Are you a small business? It might be smart to do a website compliance review to make sure your website complies with the ACCC’s new guide.
• Lorna Janes’ fabric spray to protect against Covid was just an advertising gimmick
• Is your business’s product or services being panned on social media?
  If you have not heard that there is such a thing as defaming a business, click here
• Thinking of selling health products? It’s a legal minefield.
• Are you buying trouble when you send emails or SMS marketing messages?
  Yes – unless you follow the 3 golden rules.
• The ACCC fines Kimberly-Clark for fake ‘Made in Australia’
• Can a secret spray keep Covid away? Can you use Covod-19 to sell garments? Lorna Jane tried. See what happened
• Booking a hotel room with Trivago? If so, look around to check if the hotel room price is in fact the cheapest.
• Short sighted marketing lands Oscar Wylee in hot water
• HealthEngine hits legal obstacles. Federal Court orders it to pay a fine of $2.9 million
• Is viagogo good to buy tickets from? Is viagogo no better than a high pressure salesman when it sells tickets for concerts, sport and theatre? The Judge thought so
• Lorna Jane fails with its anti-virus clothing range. This is what happens when the marketing department does not check with the legal or compliance department before launching an advertising campaign
• The rules for sending marketing emails
• Partnership disputes - What happens when two owners of a business want to end their partnership?
• What's so hard about setting up a burger business?
• How a trade mark protects a business
• Trivago has been caught red-handed by the Australian Consumer watchdog for giving top ranking to hotels which pay it the most
• Google is watching you - everywhere you roam. Did you know that your mobile phone allows Google to track you everywhere you roam?
• If you are a small business, you need effective digital marketing to attract new customers and keep existing customers
• Is your boomerang fake? - Little known fact – 80% of boomerangs sold in Australia are not made in Australia. But this may be coming to an end
• Can you sell the same product in different packets to boost sales?
  A look at Voltaren Emulgel and Voltaren Osteo Gel Click here for Voltaren – rubs the ACCC up the wrong way!
• Stung by nasty comments about your business online? Are you looking for a way to remove or neutralise the comments?
• New court ruling supports the sale of authentic boomerangs, bullroarers and didgeridoos
• If the advertising campaign flops, is the client still liable to pay the agency’s bill?
• Will sugar be the 'new tobacco' in terms of health risks? The trend of prosecution by consumer authorities has begun with H.J. Heinz being fined $2.25for deception for presenting a 'sugar' snack as healthy
• Meriton in trouble for filtering out negative guest reviews. The long arm of the law has caught and fined Meriton Suites for manipulating reviews posted by its guests on TripAdvisor, a leading travel and hospitality website.
• Legal proof that Sugar causes Weight gain and Tooth decay is now available. The Federal Court has linked sugar in food with weight gain and dental caries in a landmark decision that a Heinz snack food was not beneficial to children’s health because it had high levels of sugar.
• Headache medicines work in different ways, but none is better than the rest.
  Is Nurofen better than Panadol a fact or just misleading marketing?
• Do you receive value for money by paying an extra $3 for Voltarin Osteo Gel?
• Is a $6 million fine too low for falsely labelling Nurofen packets?
• What happens to the seller if the oregano you buy is 50% olive leaf?
  Food distributors and sellers need to be very careful to ensure that the label accurately describes the product in the package. If not, the consumer watchdog will take action.
• Advertising free offers. There’s no such thing as a free bet in Australia.
• Nurofen Specific Pain Range tablets have the same active ingredient
• How the Nurofen Specific Pain Range marketing strategy was undone as misleading by the ACCC
• Not Everything Is Fresh Today
• Coles fined 3 cents per loaf

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Travel Law Articles:

• Do you own a serviced apartment? Do you know what happens to your rents when the manager of your serviced apartment goes broke?
• The ill-fated White Island volcano tour
  What legal fate awaits the 25 badly burnt survivors and the relatives of the 25 dead from the ill-fated White Island volcano tour on 9 December 2019?
• How do ski jet accidents happen?
• Is your liability waiver effective? Skydiving is a high risk activity. But it's not the only tourist activity that has risks.
• Can you claim compensation if you injure yourself on holidays? The answer is that it is harder than you think!
• Does a warning sign mean no claims for personal injury are possible?
• If your flight is cancelled because of COVID-19, what are your rights? Click on my article
• COVID-19 has wrecked your travel plans. Do you accept a re-scheduling, a credit note or voucher, or insist on a refund? Click for my guide
• Airfare Refunds - Airfare refunds are a basic passenger right even if the delay or cancellation is caused by bad weather, air traffic control or industrial action
• Do airline cancellation fees and charge fees annoy you? Airline cancellation and change fees, and no refund policies are major bugbears for passengers. Finally, the consumer regulator is ready to help.
• If a travel agent books an international flight, are they legally liable if they fail to advise the visa requirements for the flight destination?
• Australian domestic airlines agree to an ‘opt in’ model for extra charges
• How Airbnb is empowering Boutique Hotels and B&Bs to build their business
• Is lunch included in my all inclusive tour price?
• Are you a target for consumer claims?
• Travel Insurance - an overview
• Travel law and the hazards of air travel
• Hazards of travel insurance
• More travel insurance pitfalls
• Visas and passports can be costly!
• Just how suitable is that tour?
• It pays to double-check availability!

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Investment Law Articles:

• Ponzi Schemes in Australia. Ponzi schemes are a sure-fire way for investors to lose money.
• Bad news for investors in Mayfair 101 debentures
• The Bendigo Bank - Great Southern Plantations – Investor Loan Saga has taken an unexpected turn
• Timbercorp investors have failed in their ‘no loan’ defences to loan recovery claims
• Good news at last for Great Southern Plantations Investors - Bendigo Bank loan recovery claims can be beaten!
  
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