With the Personal Property Securities Register (PPSR) having officially turned 7 years old as of 30 January 2019, Coleman Greig would like to remind our commercial clients that as of and from 30 January 2019, all 7 year PPSR registrations have started to expire.
The decision in the case of Beats Electronics LLC v Strategies Unleashed Pty Ltd [2017] ATMO 6 is an example of how social media can be used to promote and protect a brand, and should be noted as a reminder to include social media activity as evidence in any intellectual property dispute, where relevant.
Unfortunately, sometimes matters ending up in the Family Court is inevitable. Parties can become so entrenched in their positions, or their views of what has occurred throughout the relationship may be so diametrically opposed, that it is impossible for them to meet in the middle. However, in most matters that Coleman Greig deals with, there are ways in which compromises can be reached.
If you are a divorcee and your children don’t have a current passport, you may need to negotiate with the non-travelling parent in order to have them sign the relevant passport application. If the non-travelling parent refuses to sign the application, either due to them having genuine concerns for the child’s safety, or (as is sometimes the case) for no good reason at all, then you are likely to require advice surrounding how to make an application to the Family Court.
Malcolm Gittoes-Caesar takes a look at the recent case of Whooten & Frost (Deceased) [2018] FamCA 79, which shows how strict adherence to the rules of the court may bring about injustice. To Malcolm, this particular case also demonstrates the somewhat callous form that family law matters can sometimes take.
With end of year holidays almost with us, many families have started to make plans for international travel. For parties to a divorce who share custody of their children, it is crucial to take into consideration whether or not there are court orders in place that might stand in the way of international travel plans, if these plans are set to include the children.
The Electronic Transactions Regulations restrict the electronic witnessing of documents, meaning that unfortunately, going completely paperless must wait – and in turn, so must real estate agents, landlords and tenants looking to finalise their property deeds in a timely manner. The State Government has already recognised that this legislation is becoming obsolete, and as a result, the Conveyancing Legislation Amendment Bill 2018 (NSW) was recently introduced in State Parliament.
Given the delays that are often experienced in the Family Court of Australia, parties will often receive an inheritance after they separate, but prior to entering into a property settlement with their ex-partner. There is a misconception that an inheritance received post-separation won’t be taken into account in relation to the family law matter, although this is false.
It’s that time of year again, where many of us start to wind down (or in some cases, wind up prior to the Christmas deadlines) and start thinking about whether our house is in order. As such, Coleman Greig would like to remind you of some of the common pitfalls that we often see in our leasing practice, particularly within the world of franchising.
With the current climate, the terms ‘franchising’ and ‘franchise’ can often leave a bad taste in one’s mouth. As such, business owners looking to either expand or leverage a successful business in order to achieve further growth will often explore alternative models, such as licensing. While ‘franchising’ and ‘licensing’ may mistakenly be used interchangeably, they are two distinctly different concepts.
It is difficult to ignore the immense amount of press surrounding the recent parliamentary enquiry into the franchising sector and the effectiveness of the Franchising Code of Conduct. The Senate Committee, chaired by Michael Sukkar, has set themselves the task of discovering whether amendments to the Code would result in a more cohesive sector and provide greater support to franchisees.
In the past few months, there has been a flurry of activity, discussion and legal changes in relation to casual employees. If you have “casual” employees working on a regular and systematic basis, they may in fact actually be permanent employees entitled to annual leave and other entitlements. This means you may have a substantial back pay issue.
Is it possible to claim the design of a glass box? This question hit the music world earlier this month, when in early November 2018, soon after Kanye West and Kid Cudi performed their set at the Camp Flog Gnaw festival in LA, Grammy award winning New Zealand musician Lorde took to her Instagram account to accuse Kanye West and Kid Cudi of stealing her set design: a suspended glass box.
Dealing with an employee who is not performing to the standard required of someone in their position can be a complex situation, so when you throw into the mix knowledge that they may be suffering from a mental illness, an already difficult situation can become a whole new level of complicated!
The decision handed down in the case of WorkPac Pty Ltd v Skene [2018] FCAFC 131 reasserts the traditional view that you cannot convert an employee who is really a regular full, or part-time employee into a casual simply by calling the employee ‘casual’. Employers must look at the actual facts of the employment relationship in deciding what the real nature of the relationship is.
The Fair Work Commission has now finalised the text for the casual conversion clause, which is to be inserted into 84 modern awards which did not already have a casual conversion clause.
When two parties decide to separate, it is important to keep in mind that time is of the essence. Both the Family Law Act and the associated court rules require strict adherence to certain time limitations, all of which are important for parties to a relationship breakdown to be aware of.
As an employer, one of the most important factors to keep in mind with regard to the engagement of contractors is ensuring that you get the on-costs right. This extends to understanding the difference between an ’employee’ and a ‘contractor’, and having a good understanding of who you need to pay superannuation to.
The Board of Directors at Coleman Greig Lawyers is excited to announce the appointment of Andrea Galloway as Non-Executive Director, effective as of 31 October 2018. Andrea is both an executive and non-executive director with more than 35 years’ experience across a number of sectors, including technology, housing and professional services.
With the Notifiable Data Breach Scheme having now been in operation for close to 9 months, Coleman Greig has decided to take a detailed look at what the current statistics are saying, as well as what organisations are able to glean from them in order to effectively protect both themselves and their clients from cyber-attacks.
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