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

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...

Banks say they love you and trust you but when you get there you find they’ve chained the pens to the counter. A client whose business had been sent to the wall commented the other day that being with the same bank for thirty years seemed to count for nothing. It is true that banks are ready to put aside a relationship of many years to get their money back. This does not make your bank the Great Satan although, as your finances worsen, it may seem that way. Let’s get expectations straight. What can banks do? They can enforce the loan against you and anyone else who has guaranteed your debt. So, for example, if you or your guarantor has a house, the bank can force you to meet the market. This might mean selling your property at auction for whatever price you can get, however low. Depressing stuff. In this scenario, the bank manager is not a Dr Evil or Mini Me (although the likeness can be uncanny). In fact, the bank manager is a very good source of information and wise counsel. They hav...

The other day I met a man with four lawyers from separate law firms. In biblical times they had plagues of various things but not even Job was afflicted by four lawyers. Lawyers are serious professionals, not collector’s items. I don’t think even Imelda Marcos had four lawyers.  People nowadays increasingly want specialists. The problem is that without a form book and some inside knowledge you will find it difficult to pick a winner. Also, the solution suggested by the specialist you choose must not only be proportionate to your problem but also to your ability to pay. Your own general practice lawyer will be in a good position to assess this.  So here are three minimal standards you should look for in a lawyer- 1.     Must be a human being. Strangely this is not a Law Society or Bar requirement. How will you know if your lawyer is from the Planet Zog? Well movies like Alien and ET may help. But we do have some lawyers who were formerly accountants and therefore...