We are a focused team of specialist lawyers with top tier firm expertise at the cutting edge of law and technology. |
Our main business focus areas are:
|
| Clarks add value because our people are not just lawyers they are also skilled strategic thinkers with a commercial focus. |
Recent News |
|
| Adverse Action - Employers Watch Out! |
| The new Fair Work Act 2009 has a sleeping provision that could prove a nightmare for employers. |
|
| Surviving a Statutory Demand - How to have one set aside |
| A company served with a formal demand for payment of a debt, known as a statutory demand, has three options to avert bankruptcy action being taken. |
|
| False Advertising - Court remedies can be inventive |
| A manufacturer making misleading claims about the origins of some of its food products had to make a striking correction on the home page of its website. |
|
| Employment Contract - It may outlast the relationship |
| Termination of the employment relationship may not necessarily end an employment contract. |
|
| Resisting A Liquidator's Claims - How to hang on to payments made to you |
| What happens if a company which cannot pay its debts goes into liquidation, and the liquidator sends you a letter alleging that the company has been trading while insolvent and demanding that you return all the payments made to you over the past months? |
|
| Franchises - Breaking the rules but not the agreement |
| The Franchising Code is a mandatory industry code governing the conduct of franchisees and franchisors from before the entering of a franchise agreement until its termination. It is part of the Trade Practices Act. |
|
| Confidentiality - Potential sub-contractor sues tenderer for breach |
| Considerable steps are usually taken to ensure the protection of information exchanged between a principal and a tenderer. |
|
| Legal Action On Climate Change - Public authorities at risk of being sued |
| Litigation on climate change has been with us for some time, with the first significant US court decision in 1990 and the first Australian one in 1994. |
|
| When The Tax Office Wants A Cut - Housing a family member can come at a cost |
| There can be unfortunate tax consequences when you decide to protect your mother or father's interests in the event that anything should happen to you in advance of their death. |
|
| Email Evidence And The Paperless Trail |
| Laws on electronic transactions in the US and Australia make emails valid as written documents. But court cases emphasise that it is the content rather than the form of email communications that determines whether they make enforceable contracts. |
|
| Limitations On Redundancy |
| The new industrial relations laws introduced in July change the thresholds and qualifying periods for unfair dismissal claims. |
|
| End Of Life |
| End-of-life issues are currently being discussed in the media here and overseas. They were highlighted by a recent case in NSW where a patient had made an 'advance health care directive' which recorded his wish to avoid certain treatments aimed at prolonging life. |
|
| Photos As Evidence |
| In a recent case where a woman suffered catastrophic injuries on a coal haul road while driving to work, photographs of the state of the road were crucial, and the place of photographic evidence in court proceedings was further developed. |
|
| Discrimination On Facebook |
| If there is a connection with employment or other area of public life, people making discriminatory comments on internet sites like Facebook may be subject to discrimination laws. |
|
| Travel Restrictions |
| In a recent case, a man was refused permission to leave Australia to visit his former wife, the mother of his children, who was dying and had only a few weeks to live. |
|
| Visas |
| New guidelines issued by the Minister of Immigration have introduced major change in the way in which decisions to cancel a person's visa are made. |
|
| Modern Awards |
| So far, 93 Modern Awards have been produced by the AIRC. The job is to be finished by 1 January 2010. This means you will have simpler Awards and they will be easier to access. |
|
| Australian Consumer Law Bill |
| Australians are set to get a uniform national Australian Consumer Law in 2010. |
|
| Changed bonus results in successful claim for misleading or deceptive conduct under the Trade Practices Act 1974 (Cth). |
| The employee was awarded damages having been induced to enter a contract of employment by a promise that was revoked. |
|
| Class Actions - Things to know |
| In the current economic climate it is not surprising that investor class actions are receiving increased attention. |
|
| Trusts - Blow the dust off that deed |
| Many clients are totally unaware of the limited life of trusts. |
|
| Landholder Duty - Tax base expands |
| New state revenue laws create a new model for imposing duty on land. |
|
| Guarantees - Security for lenders |
| In a recent case, the court of appeal considered a case where a mortgage was varied, lengthening the term, increasing the principal and raising the interest rate, after the guarantors had resigned as directors of the company which had taken out the mortgage. |
|
| Seal The Deal - Signing contract documents legally in the e-age |
| Often, not enough attention is given to the procedure for executing contractual documentation when finalising an agreement. |
|
| Super Funds - Maintaining a sole purpose |
| Superannuation funds may be looking for more novel ways of accumulating wealth. |
|
| Family Care- re leave entitlements in new employment system |
| National employment standards are an important feature of the network place relations system replacing Work Choices. |
|
| Law Reform- Less Australia/New Zealand legal divide |
| The Australian and New Zealand governments have signed an agreement to make it easier to enforce certain judgments and sanctions between the two countries. |
|
| Mark Up Full Price - New rules on advertising goods and services |
| There are new laws regulating the way businesses advertise the price of goods and services with possible fines of up to $1.1 million for a corporation and $220,000 for an individual failing to specify the full price. |
|
| Works Of Art - Not an artistic free-for-all |
| In an industry where references to other fashion looks is rife, the courts have upheld an appeal by a company that another had copied its T-shirt designs. |
|
| Corporations Act used to stop employee using his employer's confidential information |
| The NSW Court of Appeal (NSWCA) has ruled that a two-and-a-half-year restraint preventing a former managing director from working for a competitor or soliciting clients was reasonable because of his specialist knowledge. |
|
| WORKPLACE LAW CHANGES FROM 1 JULY 2009 |
| Businesses face significant changes to workplace law from 1 July 2009. Peter McNamara summarize some of the key changes below. |
|
| Rich Cats - How to leave a legacy for your pet |
| Trouble was the name of a cat which had its legacy of US$12 million cut back to US$2 million after a court case by unhappy human dependants. |
|
| Termination - Keen interest for employers to get it right |
| Wrongful termination of an employee can be a costly business. It is in an employer's interests to get it right. |
|
| First Homeowner Grant - Penalties if you don't meet criteria |
| Make sure you meet the eligibility criteria to enjoy the increase in the government's first homeowner grant to $21,000. |
|
| Redundancy - Tax concessions on payments |
| On being shown the door, an unwanted employee is likely to be paid accrued salary, entitlements to unused holiday pay and long service leave, and possibly a redundancy payment. |
|
| Compulsorily Acquired Land - Claiming loss of profits |
| Claims for compensation are often made not only by landowners but also by businesses which operate on acquired land. |
|
| Anti-spam law ramped up - Unsubscribe facilities do not infer consent |
| Regulators are increasing efforts to pursue those in breach of the anti-spam law and they can impose substantial penalties - up to $1.1 million per day - against a corporation that repeatedly breaks the law. |
|
| Managing super funds - Breach of rules can lead to imprisonment |
| A fund must be deemed a super fund under the superannuation laws for contributions to be tax deductible and the fund concessionally taxed. |
|
| Professional Risk - Failure to warn |
| Professionals must be careful to fully inform clients to avoid accusations of negligence. |
|
| Document recovery - Make it easy on yourself |
| Recovering information from backup or disaster recovery systems is almost always very expensive and consumes valuable employee resources. |
|
| Stolen Snickers Snacker Sacked |
| A Coles Group distribution centre worker was terminated after eating a stolen Snickers bar while on the job. |
|
| Is a Creditor's Statutory Demand for Payment of Debt left in a letter box validly served? |
| This question was considered in the NSW Supreme Court the recent matter of James v Ash Electrical Services Pty Ltd (2008) 26 ACLC 1252. |
|
| CAMAC- Issues in external administration |
| On 11 December 2008 the Corporations and Markets Advisory Committee ("CAMAC") released it's report on issues in external administrations. |
|
| Cross-Border Insolvency Act 2008 |
| The Cross-Border Insolvency Act 2008 received royal accent on 26 May 2008 and came into affect on 1 July 2008. |
|
| ATO Indemnity from Directors on being ordered to repay voidable preferences |
| An ATO Deputy Commissioner was successful in her application to be indemnified by the husband and wife tax payers. |
|
| Retail Leasing - Honesty in pre-lease claims vital |
| Claims made in an effort to promote the uptake of commercial leases have to be weighed up by both tenants and landlords to avoid business troubles and potentially complex drawnout legal disputes. |
|
| Homemade Wills- When the judge decides |
| A recent case was a clear example of a will prepared without legal advice failing to express the deceased's intentions. |
|
| Green Wash - ACCC targets misleading environmental claims |
| Businesses that offer consumers a green product or service can face criminal penalties up to $1.1 million if green claims don't stack up. |
|
| Land Tax - Where is the principal place of residence? |
| The most common area of dispute in land tax matters is a person's entitlement to the principal place of residence exemption. |
|
| Online Contracts - When is a click signature binding? |
| Clicking on an icon is the most common way to make an electronic signature in webpage contracts. |
|
| Tenders - Duty to treat all bidders fairly |
| In any contract process the authority calling the tenders has a duty to treat all bidders fairly and in good faith. |
|
| Hard Times - Tax consequences |
| There is little in life - including marriage and death - without tax consequences. |
|
| Fixtures - What can I take from home? |
| All 'fixtures' are included in the sale of a property without having to be mentioned specifically. |
|
| Optus fined $110,000 |
| On 14 January 2009, the Australian Communications and Media Authority (AMCA) issued Optus Networks Pty Limited (Optus) with two infringement notices imposing penalties totalling $110,000 for contravention of the Spam Act 2003. |
|
| Recruitment business ordered to pay compensation |
| A recruitment business was ordered to pay $160,000 compensation after it recommended a manager who had been a bankrupt and a fraud. |
