Solution Brief: Corporate Governance – Members, Boards & Managers
This Solution Brief outlines the respective roles and responsibilities of members (or owners), the Board of directors and managers. Members (owners) The people who own the ‘equity’ in a company are commonly referred to as shareholders or members. The members of a company exercise ultimate control of the company through their right to appoint and […]
Solution Brief: Constitutions
When people go into business together, it is common for them to enter into a Shareholders’ Agreements to govern how they will own and administer their company. Our preference is to use a company’s Constitution as the primary instrument to regulate the affairs of a company. Our reasons for this include: Simplicity A Constitution provides […]
Solution Brief: Company Powers of Attorney
How can a company execute a document if some or all of the directors and/or secretary are not available? There are many occasions where it is not possible for a director, directors, or a company secretary to be available to make decisions or execute documents to which the company is to be bound. Executing Documents […]
Have your founders assigned their IP to your enterprise?
As the founder of an enterprise you must ensure that the legal entity you set up to exploit your business concept owns all of the IP associated with the concept. This includes the IP that is created directly on behalf of the company, but also any IP created by parties outside the company or in the time period before the company was formed.
Attention accountants. Don’t get blamed by your client when a DPN goes to the wrong address
The ATO’s ‘debt holiday’ is well and truly over, and it has moved past the warning phase and has been issuing a steady stream of director penalty notices (DPNs). As an accountant, there is a fair chance you act as the registered office for your client’s company. However, you know that you can’t be responsible […]
What is a ‘share class’?
You must understand the full implications of the share structure you adopt in your companies. How you set your companies up will have a material impact on the commercial control, commercial return, tax, asset protection and estate planning outcomes you achieve.
Do you have a new doctor joining your medical practice?
There are several ways a doctor can join your medical practice. As the owner of the practice, it is important for you to understand the key differences between each arrangement, and ensure you have the right agreements in place. Independent Practitioner (or ‘Associate’) Doctors who use your staff and facilities in exchange for paying you […]
Estate planning for sole directors of private companies
If you are the sole shareholder and director of a private company, have you thought about what will happen to your business if you lose capacity or die? Failure to plan for this eventuality can affect the financial viability of your assets and leave your family vulnerable – so it is something you need to turn your mind to. Fortunately, there are several solutions that are easy to implement and lots of advice about these issues is available.
Successful founders looking to scale need a great lawyer.
Natalie Massenet: I would definitely say get a lawyer. That’s the one thing. A lot would be different just with that one act.
The decentralised web (DWeb) – Blockchain, Smart Contracts, DAOs and NFTs
Lawyers are generally pretty conservative people. It’s our role within society to apply a skeptical view to new things, pay respect to historical precedent, and generally defend the more conservative and established institutions and social norms, i.e. to drag the chain a bit. For this reason, we have not paid too much attention to the […]