Practice
One practice for the whole legal life of a business, from the first contract to the sale, the succession and the estate.
Thirteen areas, one lawyer to deal with, fixed fees for most of the work. The practice does not litigate. When a matter needs a court, it says so early and hands the file to a litigator on its panel, with the groundwork done.
01
Drafting, review and negotiation of the agreements a business runs on. Supply, service and distribution agreements, terms of trade, NDAs, shareholders agreements, guarantees, licences. The centre of the practice.
A contract is a set of decisions about what happens when things go wrong. The work is to make those decisions on purpose, before signing, and in plain words.
This work includes
02
Companies, trusts and partnerships, and the agreements between the people who own them. Constitutions, shareholders and partnership agreements, founder terms, director duties, and the annual paperwork that keeps the ASIC record honest.
The structure you start with is the one you will be explaining to a buyer, an investor or a departing partner. It deserves a day's thought before the registration, not after.
This work includes
03
Buying or selling a business, for either side. Heads of agreement, due diligence, the sale contract, restraints, employees, and completion.
The deal is decided in the heads of agreement. The contract records it. The best call is the one made before the first document is signed.
This work includes
04
Contract review, due diligence and structuring advice when a business or an investor buys commercial premises. Zoning, GST, existing tenancies, options, and which entity should own it.
Commercial property comes with fewer protections and more surprises than a home. The contract is read before exchange. The settlement itself runs through a conveyancer, arranged at the start.
This work includes
05
Representation of franchisors and franchisees on the establishment, conduct, and termination of franchise arrangements. Disclosure documents, agreement negotiation, and Code compliance.
Franchise documents are long and standardised, and the important provisions rarely announce themselves. The work is to find them before signing, and to hold the other side to the Code after it.
This work includes
06
Representation for landlords and tenants in commercial and retail leasing. Lease drafting, review, negotiation, compliance guidance, assignments, surrenders, and dispute handling.
Focus includes the operational implications of lease terms and the practical interpretation of provisions that look ordinary on first reading.
This work includes
07
Employment law for employers and employees. Contracts, contractor agreements, restraints, policies, performance management and termination, redundancy, investigations, and claims before the Fair Work Commission and the anti-discrimination bodies.
Most employment disputes are decided by what was written down a year earlier. The practice writes it, and appears at the Commission when it was not.
This work includes
08
Trade marks, copyright, licensing, and the terms that decide who owns what a business creates. Brand clearance, IP Australia applications, assignments from contractors and founders, confidentiality, and infringement letters.
A brand is only yours if the paperwork says so. For most businesses it does not, until someone checks.
This work includes
09
Privacy policies, website and sales terms, the Australian Consumer Law, unfair contract terms, advertising and pricing claims, and marketing under the Spam Act. The plan for the day a data breach or a regulator's letter arrives.
A business that sells to the public is regulated whether it knows it or not. Most find out from a complaint. The documents are written to describe what actually happens.
This work includes
10
Getting paid, without a courtroom. Terms of trade and guarantees that make receivables collectable, PPSR registrations, letters of demand, payment deeds, creditor's statutory demands, and tribunal claims. Advice when a demand is made against you.
Most bad debts were avoidable at the point of sale. The practice writes the terms that prevent them and recovers the ones that go bad anyway.
This work includes
11
Negotiation, mediation, tribunals and commissions. The NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal, the Fair Work Commission, the Small Business Commissioner, the anti-discrimination bodies and the industry ombudsman schemes. Settlement deeds that end a matter.
Most disputes are settled by a good letter and a hard conversation. The practice does both. The rare matter that needs a court is handed to a litigator with the file prepared.
This work includes
12
Estate planning for business owners and their families. Wills, testamentary trusts, enduring powers of attorney, enduring guardianship, superannuation nominations, buy-sell agreements, and business succession. Probate applications and advice to executors.
The people who build businesses tend to leave the last document unwritten. It is the one that decides what happens to all the others.
This work includes
13
A fixed monthly retainer for businesses with regular legal questions and no in-house lawyer. Contracts, employment, compliance, debtors and board paperwork handled as they arise, the dates that matter tracked, and a quarterly review.
Your legal department, without the payroll. The scope and the fee are written down before it starts, and reviewed once a year.
This work includes
A full-service practice is honest about the edges.
Three kinds of work are handed to other practitioners, every time, and the handover is arranged at the start of a matter rather than discovered in the middle of it.
Nobody pays anybody for a referral here, in either direction. The practitioner you are sent to is chosen because they are good at the thing you need, not because of an arrangement with this practice. Patent filings, tax advice and financial planning are likewise referred to the right professional, with the practice staying involved on the legal side where that helps.
DOCET LEGAL welcomes initial enquiries. Discussions are conducted without obligation, and you will hear back within one business day.