Welcome to Forum Law in 2011!

Forum Law welcomed 2011 with a larger office and a stunning new look. We are pleased to have Elizabeth Devine and Devine Law at Work join us in our new office and we are enjoying the synergies that we share with Devine Law at Work to provide our clients with a one-stop legal service for our business and commercial clients.

Our long-serving para legal, Gareth, will be admitted as a solicitor in May 2011 after completing his degrees with First Class Honours and 3 University prizes from Macquarie University, including the prestigious Dean’s Award.

Ella will continue as a para legal and she will be continuing her studies as a 4th year Law student.

We also welcome Lisa, who is our administration manager [and who also has a Law Degree!].

Andrew and Annette are the senior lawyers at Forum Law.

After a great break at Christmas, we have been busy with interesting and rewarding work.

At the end of 2010 Annette was invited to sit on the Business Law Committee for the NSW Law Society where she participates in making submissions and comments on proposed legislation in the areas of building and construction, corporations (including insolvency) and trade practices law.

Annette also attended the Australian Accountants and Lawyers Conference over the Christmas break and in March 2011, we hosted a seminar for the Inner West Law Society on the harmonisation of the OH&S laws in Australia which are due to come into force in 2012. Andrew and Annette will give a seminar in May on the new Personal Properties Securities Act which will come into force in October 2011.

NEW!
Forum Law Legal Counsel Packages

Integrated suites of legal services scaled to your business

We have launched a great new product which we have named our Legal Counsel Packages. Read more about these cost-effective means of retaining our services in our brochure, which is available online as a PDF.

Enough about us! Please read on with some updates on what’s been happening in the law this year.

Sub contractor payments

The Building & Construction Industry Security for Payments Act [BCISOP Act] has been recently amended to provide greater security for payment to sub contractors

The BCISOP Act [ss 26A-26E] now provides that a sub contractor who has had a claim against a Contractor under the Act adjudicated, can serve the claim for the payment awarded from the Principal Contractor.

Read article >

PPSA changes rights of a seller to claim on invoices during liquidation

The new Personal Property Securities Act (PPSA) affects many areas including rights to claim on invoices

The start date for the introduction of the new legislation has been postponed until October 2011 as the Government recognises the significant effect it will have on business in Australia.

One effect is in the situation of the wind-up of a buyer. When a liquidator is appointed to the buyer company, you as the seller will no longer be able to claim an interest in unpaid-for goods under your retention of title clause unless you have registered that interest under the PPSA. Certain pre-conditions apply to eligibility to register an interest in the property.

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Vague, “friendly” arrangements can leave your fingers burnt

It is critical to confirm with whom you are dealing in a contract and what they are promising

In the recent case of Saleh v. Rannous, Saleh entered into a contract to sell a property to Romanous in 2004. Saleh’s brother owned the adjoining property and they had received developmental consent to combine the two properties and to build eight two-storey town houses upon the property. Negotiations for the proposed joint development failed.

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Recent legislative developments in the Fair Work Act

The definition of a "small business" for the purposes of Unfair Dismissal provision in The Fair Work Act has changed

If you are a small business employer you are entitled to some leniency in unfair dismissal claims. From 1 January 2011 the definition of a "small business employer" is an employer of up to 15 people "by individual head count" irrespective of the hours worked by those employees.

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Ex-employees working for a competitor must comply with the terms of their employment

An employee wishing to leave their employer and work for a competitor must comply with the terms of their employment contract or the employee will pay the price

In the recent case of Purcell v. Tullet Prebon, Mr Purcell, a finance broker, entered into a two-year employment contract with Tullett Prebon. In breach of his employment contract, Mr Purcell resigned and then commenced working for a competitor. Tullett Prebon sought an injunction to restrain Mr. Purcell from working for the competitor and put him on paid ‘garden leave’.

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Keep an eye on your commercial/retail tenants

Landlords and tenants are increasingly seeking to review or enforce their obligations under a commercial or retail lease

A tenant’s financial capacity may change after the lease has been signed and in times of economic difficulty it is in the landlord's interests to pay closer attention to the tenant. Minimise risk becoming more familiar with the tenant’s business, including inspections, third-party reports, proper insurance, and other strategies.

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Courts can reclaim "alienated" assets for creditors

Beware of trying to be too smart in offloading assets to defeat creditors where there is a risk of bankruptcy

In Leonilda Marcolongo v. Yu Po Chen & Anor [2011] HCA 3 the High Court allowed an appeal to set aside a registered transfer of land by applying s.37A of the Conveyancing Act (NSW). This section provides that where a property is transferred with the intent to defraud creditors, then can be set aside in favour of the person who has been disadvantaged by the transfer having occurred.

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A current will becomes more vital as your beneficiaries age

Have you thought about updating your will as you and your proposed beneficiaries get older?

In the recent case of Fairbairn and Varvaressos, George Varvaressos died in 1961 aged 79 with a will dated in 1960. George was predeceased by his wife but had five children – Stephen, Kitty and Joan still living, plus Demetrius and Iris, who had died since the will was made.

George’s will stipulated that Kitty was to have the use of a house, property, furniture and chattels at Rose Bay in NSW during her lifetime and a division of proceeds should the house be sold. The issue was what would happen to the house once Kitty died as Demetrius and Iris had both predeceased her and Kitty had no children.

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