Over three years ago, Paul Brennan started  The Law ® podcast .  Since that time, the five most popular podcasts have been: The man with four lawyers Insolvent trading-is everybody at it? How far are you prepared to go? Winning not always a joyous experience Why read The Art of War Search for the Law ® podcast by Paul Brennan or  click here . It is on Apple, Spotify and many other platforms. The Law ® podcast - Short clips on legal topics with a quirky outlook, but of real, everyday application with wry humour and the odd belly laugh.   #podcast #law SPONSORED BY

  One of the first bail applications that I made was for a murderer.  In retrospect it was not difficult as however good my argument may have been the magistrate was not going to grant bail.  Your property lease negotiations do require tactics.  They are a minefield for the unwary and can make your stay in a property miserable. They contain delayed action mines that can go off six months, one year or three years later, usually when your business is facing its darkest hour. The lease document only ever becomes important if there is a dispute between the Lessor (the landlord) and the Lessee (you). Unfortunately there is plenty to argue about and to send you rushing to find a copy of your lease. Lease Rule One – there is no such thing as a standard lease. There is, however, a fairly standard procedure: Stage 1: You negotiate and agree a lease with an estate agent. Stage 2: The Lessor’s lawyer will provide a lengthy document – sometimes 30 pages or more – which invariabl...

In good times people pay their debts and credit control takes a back seat. There is a corporate veil between a director’s money and the company’s funds. This means that creditors can sue the company but not the director. This is good and sensible commercial practice unless you are the person who is owed the money and then it becomes a charter for cheats and scoundrels. In bad times, experienced creditors get in first, make threats and are quick to take court proceedings.  Here are a few sabres for creditors to rattle to worry directors-      1. Deliberately incurring debts with no chance of paying them back is fraud. If debtors believe that you might call the cops, they are more likely to pay.           2.  Insolvent trading. This lifts the veil and directors can be held personally responsible.           3.  An investigation by the body which regulates companies. This raises the prospect of fines a...

Employee Legal Awareness Day takes place every year on 13 February. It encourages employers to warn their employees of predictable legal mistakes so that they can be avoided such as the ten listed in this podcast.  It was established in about 2007 by Paul Brennan and has been taken up internationally.  https://www.qlsproctor.com.au/2023/02/employee-legal-awareness-day-coming-monday/

The worst thing about committing a legal mistake is that everyone seems to find it obvious after the event especially your wife/partner. If business owners started to create new, exciting, unique legal mistakes then it would be a real challenge for us lawyers-fortunately for us they do not.  This means that your lawyer has probably seen the legal mistake before and has a good idea what to do.  Although it may not seem that way to you. Many small business legal services can be divided into “deals” where lawyers prepare documents to anticipate and avoid future problems or “disputes” where things did not get documented at the start and the parties come out swinging.  Usually deals are cheaper than disputes.   Experienced business owners are adept at working out when to document and when to wing it. Mistake no. 1        You unexpectedly die and your business stops dead too. This can be very inconvenient. Avoid this by having a will including a busines...

  Thank you to all the subscribers to my podcast for their encouragement. The podcast is available at this link https://www.buzzsprout.com/666235 

A person who was about to become a trustee wanted me to assure him that he was not taking any personal risk.  I told him, absolutely not.  Of course, I was joking. Trustees know that if they are fraudulent, reckless or negligent then they can be pursued by the beneficiaries of the trust. But, sportingly, beneficiaries need to catch them first. However, that is not the trustees only problem.  Consider the following: - When you sue a person and they refuse to pay after you have got a judgment/court order the last resort is to make them bankrupt, but it is a little bit fiddly. - When you sue a company, if it does not pay up, you threaten to wind it up.  This is surprisingly easy to do. So what about a trust?  It is a separate legal entity, the sort of place that you put your money to try and shield it from other people e.g. your daughter’s layabout husband.  However, a trust cannot be wound up or made bankrupt.  Fortunately, for the trust’s creditors they...

A big problem for small business is success. Say you have gone into business with an equal shareholder (a partner) and managed not to go bust in the first two years.  With success comes a need for structure to maximise the benefit of your successful business idea. A first step is to introduce a written shareholders’ agreement.  Without one you are looking for trouble if your partner is undisciplined, dies, goes gaga, becomes bankrupt, decides to leave, wants to set up on their own next door taking the business (without you), or is just too generous with company information. A shareholders’ agreement will help in resolving disputes or if you want to bail out.  There is no standard shareholders’ agreement but here are five possible benefits of having one- 1.    Strict guidelines for transfer of shares. You get to choose who you are in business with. 2.    A set procedure for valuation and purchase of shares if your partner should want to leave, is ill or...