Sarah Bartholomeusz

South Australia has recently changed the law for minor civil claims reducing the limit from $25,000 to $12,000. The reduction in the monetary limit for minor civil claims will come into effect on 1 August 2016 however proceedings already underway in the Magistrates Court as of this date will be unaffected. Prior to 2013, the […]

If you have ever signed up to a service that doesn’t end or you can’t seem to get out off, you’ve probably just met an evergreen clause.  Evergreen clauses, also known as renewal clauses, are those tricky little statements within a contract that extend its duration automatically – unless one of the parties remembers to […]

Intellectual property, such as patents and copyrights can represent a significant portion of a company’s assets – particularly for highly innovative start-ups. Currently, intangible assets are subject to a legislative “effective life” period which is used to calculate their rate of depreciation. However, these existing provisions which mandate their life span are inflexible and often […]

Employee Share Schemes (ESS) have long been a utilised as a valuable tool to drive and motivate key personnel to invest themselves in the future of the company.  ESS are also particularly appealing to boot strapped start ups who may not have the capital or cash flow to attract and retain employees. From an employee […]

Compliance and risk management don’t sound very attractive but they are crucial to having a sound business and are drivers to achieving business excellence – we call it Future-Proofing. Undertaking an annual legal health check of your company is one of the best decisions you will make for it’s reputation, growth and for your sanity. […]

Current Insolvency provisions under the Australian Corporations Act impose a duty on Directors not to trade while insolvent, but also not to trade in a manner that will lead it to insolvency. Although this may not appear too onerous an obligation, it can actually be trickier than it seems.  Some companies regularly flirt with insolvency, […]

The end of a calendar year marks a moment in time when we consider the goals we set for ourselves and measure them against what we achieved.  We reflect on what went well and what needs improvement and we use those reflections to set our goals for the year ahead.  What we don’t often do […]