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All The Right Reasons For Hiring A North Shore Employment Lawyer

Hiring an employment lawyer is probably the last thing on any entrepreneur’s mind as they go about building their business. But if you have started a company on Auckland’s North Shore with an eye out for expanding your business, then you will definitely want to hire a North Shore employment lawyer. Why? For the reasons you will see below.

We know what you are thinking. Why hire a lawyer when you can hire a human resource specialist, right? However, the truth of the matter is that the employment laws are constantly changing, and even the best HR consultants have a hard time keeping up. Wouldn’t you want to hire someone who knows about the legal not just the practical aspects pertaining to NZ employment laws inside out?

But aside from keeping yourself up-to-date on employment law updates, a lawyer who specialises in employment laws can help protect you from legal claims as you are hiring key employees. Key employees require special contracts – you will want to have a contract that would be beneficial for you and the employee, and the only way that you can do that is by hiring a lawyer who crafts employee contracts for a living.

How Can North Shore Employment Lawyer Help You?

North Shore employment lawyer

North Shore employment lawyer

If you are the subject of a legal claim because of unlawful dismissal, discrimination or any other legal reason, you simply cannot rely on your human resource manager to minimise the damage to your business, not unless if that HR manager is a lawyer too . An employment lawyer can competently analyse the merits of a case lodged against you and dispense sound legal advice that can extricate you from legal trouble.

The good thing about employment lawyers is that they are easy enough to find. You can easily find them on Google. Of course, you don’t just hire the first lawyer you see online. You need to vet at least three lawyers before hiring one.

Among the most experience North Shore employment lawyers are the specialist staff at McVeagh Fleming.

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5 Pointers in Selecting a North Shore Divorce Lawyer

Alissa Bell

Alissa Bell

The process of divorce can take a lot of toll on people so you need a good divorce lawyer to help you through the process. Divorce is usually hard on all of the family, especially children. No matter the reason for the divorce, you have to find a good lawyer to help you sort all the issues that arise during the divorce. With a good lawyer, they will explain your rights and obligations under New Zealand separation law which is designed to be fair to both parties but people often try to force an unfair settlement. A good divorce lawyer will ensure this does not happen to you. Below are some pointers to help you find the right lawyer to help you.

Count On Your Friends And Family

With the escalating divorce rates today, there is a high chance that one of your friends and family has gone through the process. You need to ask them how they handled the divorce, if they have any advice or a divorce lawyer they can recommend. Though you may want to keep your affairs private, it is important to count on your friends and family. They will mostly provide you with honest and accurate information because they want the best for you.

Realise Your Needs From A Lawyer

You should first decide on how you want the divorce to be handled before you chose a lawyer. This will help you pick a lawyer who will cater all your needs. The divorce can be a mutual divorce or a one-sided divorce. You should also know your preference when it comes to a lawyer. You want a lawyer you feel comfortable with and understands you.

Do Some Research About North Shore Divorce Lawyers

It is a good idea to some research before you choose a lawyer. There are many different places you can get information on lawyers, including lawyer directories. Make a list of lawyers that stand out. Once you have a final list, find a way to narrow it down until you remain with the best to handle your case. You will then meet the lawyer and see if you are okay working with him or her.

Have a Budget

The rates will differ from one lawyer to another. It is important to know what you are working with when choosing a lawyer. There is no need to choose a lawyer and later realize you cannot afford the fees they charge. Ask yourself what you need from the divorce and how the lawyer can help you. It is important to have more than one on your list to give you a chance to compare and choose the one you think can help you get what you are looking for with the budget you have set.

Ask Your Lawyer Questions About Your Divorce

Many firms provide free initial consultations, and you must take full advantage of them. Before the session, make a list of questions you are going to ask. Remember there are no stupid questions to ask. You will get a good feel for the potential lawyer from the way they respond to your questions. From there you can make a better decision about selecting a good North Shore divorce lawyer.

McVeagh Fleming is a North Shore law firm in Albany with a number of specialist separation and divorce lawyers. You can get more details from their website.

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How To Find The Best North Shore Family Lawyer Services

Lawyer North Shore

Lawyer North Shore

Family law lawyers must not only be knowledgeable about the law, but it’s also a basic requirement that they are sensitive to their clients’ emotional conditions. These are some of the most difficult issues that people face so the lawyer must have a clear understanding of the kind of pressure their clients are under and how this takes a toll on their overall well-being. The following gives some insights into how a North Shore family lawyer can help people with their challenges.

Family law lawyers deal with several sensitive family cases, which is why building a positive relationship with their clients is imperative. One way of achieving this is by staying well-informed about the status of their cases and enforcing the necessary actions to move forward. After creating a solid foundation, clients can have a deeper sense of trust with the lawyer, making them look forward to positive results on their legal cases.

If you are living on the North Shore of Auckland and require legal assistance to deal with family disputes or cases, then it’s a prudent move to seek expert advice from the best North Shore family lawyer services. Some of the different aspects of law that a good family lawyer will deal with include:.

  • Dissolution of a marriage or relationship
  • Divorce
  • Child support
  • Child custody
  • Child adoption
  • Spousal support
  • Paternity
  • Legal Separation
  • Grandparent’s rights
  • Visitation rights
  • Domestic partnership
  • Domestic violence
  • Juvenile crimes
  • Non-traditional families
  • Mediation and arbitration

North Shore family lawyer services consist of highly qualified legal professionals who understand family law and the emotional pressure associated with the struggles faced by their clients. From the sadness that comes with dealing with divorce to absolute joy as a result of adding a new member to the family through adoption, you can rest assured that family law services on the North Shore will be by your side throughout the process to make it less stressful on your part.

The family lawyers will always keep you updated about the developments of the case throughout the course of the matter. Because clients may be facing life-changing circumstances, the North Shore family law lawyers will work as hard as they can to keep their clients informed about their cases to make them better prepared for these changes.

Whether you are dealing with simple or complicated family disputes, you still need good advice from a North Shore family law firm. From uncontested divorce cases to more complicated divorce litigation involving custody matters, legal professionals will have the necessary knowledge and experience to handle just about every kind of family law case.

Family lawyer services on the North Shore have experienced lawyers who can best represent you in your own case. They can accommodate the demands of their clients and try to work out a smooth outcome for their client.

You can find numerous family lawyer services in the North Shore area, but it would be of tremendous advantage for you if you can find the most well-renowned family lawyers that have dealt with a similar case as yours. Perhaps the biggest and best known North Shore family law firm is McVeagh Fleming which has a number of specialist lawyers to help people with their difficulties.

In order to find the most reputable North Shore family lawyers, you can search the Internet and look through online directories of family lawyers. You should be able to find expert North Shore family lawyers that can best represent you in your legal case. Once you have already selected a qualified legal professional that meets your specific criteria and have discussed your case to this family lawyer, it’s now time to file your legal case in North Shore. With an expert family lawyer by your side, you should now feel confident about your case and be able to look forward to positive outcomes.

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Five Strategies For Evaluating Lawyers

Auckland Debt Collection lawyer

Auckland Debt Collection lawyer

There is an almost endless array of different circumstances where you might need legal advice or support. When you find yourself looking for North Shore lawyers, it’s important to keep your wits about you and make a smart choice. Here are five important strategies to keep in mind when you need legal assistance.

1. Get Personal Recommendations

As with a lot of professional services, the most common way people pick out lawyers is to ask friends and relatives for recommendations. This is a perfectly valid way to start your search for a lawyer, but it shouldn’t be the end of the journey! Take your friends’ recommendations on board but also ask yourself a few pertinent questions. There is a high degree of specialisation in the legal community (see below), and a lawyer who was a perfect fit for one case may not perform so well with a different sort of issue.

If you already know a lawyer but are looking for help with a different type of legal problem, don’t hesitate to enlist their assistance in finding the ideal lawyer. Lawyers are a fairly tight-knit bunch, and the odds of a lawyer you already know being able to introduce you to a colleague who can help you are very good. Alternatively, you can go to a larger Albany law firm which will have a range of North Shore lawyers will different areas of expertise.

2. Consult Professional Resources

Lawyers and their firms don’t exist in a vacuum. There are a number of professional organisations that serve lawyers and their clients, and they provide some resources that you’ll find extremely helpful when evaluating law firms. The Auckland District Law Society is another option to consider. Make sure your lawyer is a member in good standing of the appropriate professional groups and free from disciplinary action!

3. Consider The Importance Of Specialisation

As noted above, the modern legal landscape has grown so complex that most lawyers specialise in relatively narrow fields of case law. This is something of a double-edged sword for you as a client. On the one hand, it gives you access to better, more experienced lawyers who have handled plenty of previous cases similar to yours. On the other hand, it’s led to a proliferation of different law firms that can make it difficult to find the lawyer who will be best suited to handling your case.

You should take the time early in your hunt to study the various forms of legal specialisation online. Match up your situation with the type of legal representation best suited to your needs. This is one place where lawyers’ advertisements can come in handy; most lawyers are very vocal in announcing their specialities. You don’t necessarily have to work with the very first lawyer you find in your specialised field, but reviewing his or her information will familiarise you with the terminology you’ll need to find other solicitors practicing this sort of law.

4. Look At The Lawyer’s Client Base

One of the best ways to find a lawyer who will meet your needs is to look at the types of clients the lawyer has worked for in the past. If you are an individual seeking representation, for instance, you may not be best served by a firm that works primarily with corporate clients. You are looking for lawyers who have established a history of helping people in situations as similar to yours as possible.

Don’t hesitate to look at a lawyer’s track record at this stage. A lawyer who has argued tons of cases just like yours is still not a good fit if he or she has lost every one of them! Although legal decisions are largely a matter of public record, it can take time to get a sense of how many cases a lawyer has won and lost. This means you should save this in-depth look until you’ve narrowed down your field to just a few candidates.

5. Don’t Commit Without An In-Person Evaluation

The final step in selecting a lawyer is also one of the most important. You need to meet face to face with a lawyer before making any commitments to working with him or her. Remember that if you are evaluating a larger law firm like McVeagh Fleming, there will be many different lawyers on staff. Make sure you speak to the lawyer who will take the lead in handling your case!

This is also your opportunity to evaluate the state of the lawyer’s office as a whole. Is the firm busy? Offices that are both under- and over-worked can be bad signs. How is the staffing? Does the lawyer seem to operate alone, or are there plenty of paralegals and assistants around to provide assistance? Your ideal lawyer should be supported by capable staff that has the time and resources to serve your case properly.

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Brandon Cullen

Brandon Cullen

Before you start with work on a construction project, it requires you to have design and drawings in hand, necessary building permissions, control of the site where the project is to come up, finance arrangements in position, and contractors properly lined up. It is also very important that you protect yourself with a valid contract so that risks during execution are covered. For a strong arrangement you must talk to a North Shore lawyer to draw up a contract.

It is important that all aspects of the work to be carried out be properly documented. Contracts are business arrangements where money is paid out for any work carried out and have to be such that they are legally enforceable and fair to both sides entering into contracts. Even if the contractor is a close friend or relative, this written agreement has to be properly drafted so that all likely scenarios are addressed and solutions listed out. Every contractor is used to this legal requirement and will rarely object to entering into a proper contract for the construction work you need to be carried out.

Construction projects can be a challenge, because they involve diverse activities. Contracts do not have to be very verbose or elaborate, but need to have certain sections that are vital for the execution of the contract. These are:

  • Parties to the contract, with full details of each of them
  • The date on which the contract is entered into
  • Scope of work with all necessary details and references documented adequately
  • Quality requirements
  • Conditions of the contract
  • Milestones and schedules needed to be adhered to
  • Terms of payment and amounts for each phase or item of work
  • Dispute resolution mechanisms and their venue
  • Dated signatures of all parties involved, properly witnessed

If all these items are taken care of and put on record with the proper legal terms, there is almost no need to have any disputes, and it is just then up to the contractor to execute the work, while you as an owner have to ensure that you make the necessary payments as they fall due, while ensuring that the work is being carried out to the desired specifications and quality.

Parties to the contract must have provable identities and addresses and the contract must have a legal description of the property that is being worked on. The scope of work must be in conformity with the designs and drawings that also have to be part of the documentation that must be part of the contract. A standard of work statement has to insist on work being performed as per accepted standards in the industry, which can even be enumerated, if such documentation exists. This then ensures that in case of dispute, a third party will have a basis on which to arrive at any judgment. Reference may also be made to specific drawings or designs so that it is clear as to exactly what work needs to be completed. It is standard practice to have all such reference documents, drawing or designs also signed by both parties, so that they form part of the contract document. Quality conditions can have clauses for testing and appraisal at definite stages of the work.

Contract conditions are very important and must include things like insurance, performance requirements, legal obligations, safety, inspection requirements and any other thing that may arise during the execution of the contract. Schedules and milestones are a very important part of any contract and these must be practical and achievable and must have the concurrence of both parties to the contract. There also needs to be a system laid out in the contract for a constant review of the progress of work, and steps that the owner or contractor can take to make any course corrections.

Terms of payment have to be clearly spelt out and scrupulously adhered to if contracts have to be successfully completed. The amounts must be specified for each stage of the work and this can be in any way that is acceptable to both parties. Disputes can always arise but can be solved if proper resolution mechanisms are spelt out in the contract. Finally, the contract must be signed by both parties and properly witnessed, so that it forms a legally enforceable document.

There are many ways in which a contract can be challenged if it is not drawn up correctly. If you have a construction project you owe it to yourself to see a North Shore lawyer to draw up a contract. McVeagh Fleming Partners is the largest law firm on the North Shore and have specialist contract lawyers who can help you. You can get more details on their website http://www.mcveaghfleming.co.nz/.

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A Few Legal Things To Consider When Purchasing A Business

Running your own business allows you to provide for your family while being independent from an overseeing boss. However, being a business owner requires a lot of hard work and might require you to deal with some legal issues at some point or other. It is important to prepare yourself for these situations and to understand the kind of legal problems you could run into as a business owner. Purchasing a business is a major commitment so take note of the following and then seek legal advice from a North Shore lawyer when buying a business.

Due diligence is a term used to refer to the research you have to conduct before purchasing a business. Buying a business from its previous owner can seem like a great way to get started but you should not purchase the business until you know more. Do some thorough research to gain a better understanding of the business’ finances, current contracts and legal obligations. Do not hesitate to get help from an accountant or a lawyer.

Ask if you can see the business’ lease. Go over it carefully to make sure the lease can be transferred over to a new buyer. If the lease does not state that it is transferable, you will have to sign a new one once you purchase the business.

You need to put together a detailed contract with the previous owner. The purpose of this contract is to clearly state what is being sold. You can purchase a business as an entirety or purchase the assets linked to that business. This second option means you are not obligated to fulfil any legal obligations or pay back any debt contracted by the previous owner.

Commercial lawyer in AlbanyIf you are purchasing the assets of a business instead of buying the entirety of a business, you will have to register your new business as a legal entity. Forming a Limited Liability Company is often the best option for small business owners but another approach might be more relevant in your situation. Consult a North Shore lawyer for buying a business to learn more about your options and to have a professional register your business as a legal entity for you.

You should also get help from a lawyer to create a detailed sales agreement with the seller. It is best to create a letter of intent to put in writing what you and the seller have agreed to. The letter of intent is not a binding legal agreement but creating this document is usually a good way to sum up the terms of the transaction.

The sales agreement is a legally-binding contract that needs to be written by a qualified lawyer. Don’t hesitate to negotiate before putting together a sales agreement. Take the time to assess the real value of the business you want to purchase to make sure you are not overpaying.

Purchasing a business has some strict laws and obligations in regards to the employees of the business. It is often not easy to eliminate staff simply because you are the new owner. The employees have rights so be sure that you understand your obligations before you commit to any agreement. The safest bet is to talk to the lawyers handling the purchase of your North Shore business for advice on employees and employment law. It is very complicated.

You should purchase insurance for your new business if the policy purchased by the previous owner was not transferred. Look for a policy that covers you in a number of scenarios, including legal problems with employees or with clients. You should also look into hiring a business lawyer like McVeagh Fleming Partners so that you have someone to turn to if you encounter legal problems in the future.

It is important to learn as much as possible about the business buying process before you become a business owner. Get help from a lawyer who has experience with similar situations.

 

 

 

 

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Sale of a Business Has To Meet Stringent Legal Conditions

Ambro

Geoff Baxter

A business is set up only after a lot of thought, hard work and financial outlay. Equally, selling the business is a decision that also requires a lot of consideration, planning and thought. You have to be mentally prepared and financially ready to conclude the sale. The sale process and the deal that is struck with the buyer can be legally complex so it is essential that you have expert legal advice from a North Shore lawyer for selling a business.

A business that is to be sold has to be ready for sale, and must have value in it that buyers will see as worthy of any investment. You also have to make sure that you are in a position to address all the legal issues that will arise from this sale. It can also help to have an investment banker by your side, as well as other accounts professionals as well as your lawyers. Ensure that the appointment of an investment banker must also be vetted by your legal counsel, so that any terms for their services are properly laid down and documented, so that obligations on both sides are clearly defined. It can always help if any legal advice that you get comes from lawyers who are familiar with mergers and acquisitions and the legal requirements of concluding the required documentation of the sale. It will also be useful if you also pin down the lawyers you appoint on any fees that you will have to pay them for their services.

When you want to sell your business, it is almost certain that any buyers will require reviewing all the corporate records of the company, financial information, existing contracts, details of staff and any other matters that affect business operations. In most cases, buyers will also have legal representation and they will insist on the correctness of any documents presented to them, and their having been maintained as per rules and regulations in force for the conducting of a business.

Before you present any documents or get into discussions with any buyer, it is essential that you enter into non-disclosure agreement so that all information concerning the sale, the company, and relevant matters are kept confidential, even in cases where such negotiations do not reach an acceptable solution. This also prevents the prospective buyer from taking advantage of any information that they gain, regarding contracts, rates, staff salaries or any other matters, to further their own business.

Once negotiations are nearing success, it may be necessary for the buyer to give a letter of intent that need not be binding. This letter of intent outlines the broad terms of any agreement giving price, closing date and other vital considerations of the sale. This letter of intent can serve as a guide for lawyers from both sides to prepare the final sale document. In many cases, it also narrows down the areas of disagreement, which the principals can then tackle and come to a proper conclusion that allows the final sale document to be prepared.

At such a stage, buyers will insist on a clause that will insist that the seller keep all matters regarding their negotiations confidential, while the final sale documents are being prepared. As this can take some time, due to the legal requirement and terminology that have to be part of any final contract document, it has to give sufficient time for the lawyers handling the sale of your North Shore business, during which this confidentiality has to be maintained.

Quite often at this stage, a portion of the agreed price has to be paid, and in most cases, the balance is paid within agreed times or adjusted against share values, both of which must be completely documented and agreed to in the negotiation.

If you have a business on Auckland’s North Shore, lawyer for selling a business you might want to talk to is McVeagh Fleming and Co. They have an extensive commercial department who have worked with many of Albany’s businesses. Call them and they will be pleased to help.

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Why Small Businesses Should Have A Buy/Sell Agreement

Steve Graham

Steve Graham

If you own a company with a business partner, you will have likely formed it in a legal fashion. You have growth, you file your taxes on a regular basis and you feel good about it. Suddenly, your business partner is bankrupt or divorced. What is going to happen to his portion of your business? Will it go to his soon to be ex-wife in the settlement? What about his children? Will they have a say in it? Or, do you suddenly own the entire business? How exactly do you go about protecting yourself and the business from such an unforeseen event?

You may wish to consider a buy/sell agreement clause for your business. Think of it as a will or a pre-nuptial agreement type issue. It will lay out how such events will work out if there are such unforeseen circumstances like a death, a retirement, a bankruptcy, a divorce or even a disability of one of the partners or owners. It lays forth what is going to happen to the business when such unforeseen circumstances occur. IT states how such things will be dealt with and if someone must sell their portion of the company and for what price it must be sold for.

Every Business Needs One

While things may be going smoothly for now, it is wise to try and think ahead to any potential circumstance. Create a Buy/Sell agreement that is designed for your specific business and to meet your exact needs. Make provisions as to the portion of the business that can be sold and to whom for what price. Select language that allows for the insurance policy to pay out to a potential sale.

More importantly, this agreement can also prevent the co-owner from transferring their portion of the company to any party that you do not want involved in your company. If the partner in the company should suddenly become divorced the ex cannot take control of their portion of the company unless it is already in the agreement.

Even if no such events occur, this Buy/Sell Agreement is important. If the co-owner is burned out and needs to leave the business, the agreement can detail which share can be sold and to whom. It can include provisional owners and provides shareholder protection in case of any unwanted circumstance.

This agreement is vital to your company. It’s vital to you. It’s vital to your business partner. It should be done as soon as the company is created.

For companies on the North Shore of Auckland, McVeagh Fleming and Co is one of the leading commercial and business law firms. They can help you draft a Buy/Sell Agreement at the time that you form you company.

For more information, go to their website www.mcveaghfleming.co.nz/.

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Why It Is A Good Idea To Establish A Shareholder Agreement Before Starting A Business

 

North Shore commercial lawyerIf you are starting a business with others as partners and you wish to incorporate your business, it is vital that you establish a shareholder agreement prior to opening your doors for business. The time to get everything ironed out and agreed upon is the time before any actual business is transacted. This simply sets the stage for agreement among the shareholders of the business, as each one will sign off on it, signifying agreement to the terms.

Shareholder agreements are necessary in order to protect the shareholders because if anything goes wrong and a disagreement ensues, the agreement is the document that everyone can stand on, and one which will hold up in a court of law, if drawn up properly. Having a well thought out agreement in place will help to solve any disagreements as far ownership percentages, as well as rights and privileges of the shareholders.

The terms of the shareholder agreement will outline who the owners of a company are, and the nature of their roles in the company. Roles and duties can change as time goes forward, but if they do and when they do this can be noted as amendments to the agreement itself. Since the agreement and the duties will be agreed to in writing in front of witnesses and notarised, there will be no disagreement outside of the shareholder agreement that will be recognised in court. Disagreements can escalate very rapidly to being out of control and unless there is something in writing to verify the original intent, a company can be destroyed by infighting.

Meeting between Start-up directorsIf there are disagreements that occur later in the company’s lifespan, then there should be a mechanism to have one shareholder be able to buy or sell shares to help in mitigating the dispute. Also as far as duties, there can only be concessions made if all the shareholders agree. The idea is that since all the shareholders started the company in a cooperative manner, there should be mechanisms in place to keep it that way.

Also in the agreement should be a plan of succession in case one or more of the shareholders should die, retire or becomes incapacitated. If a plan is already in place when and if these events occur, then there is no question as to how it will proceed to realign the ownership and duties of the shareholders. A plan for buying and selling shares should be in place to transfer ownership to the remaining shareholders if such an even should occur.

If a shareholder dies, then his shares would normally go to his heirs when his estate is probated, and this could spell disaster for the company as you would have an inexperienced relative involved with the company. If a buy and sell arrangement is in place, then the estate of the deceased would be obligated by the terms of the agreement to sell the shares back to the company in return for a prior agreed to amount. The money to pay for the purchase back can be funded with a life insurance policy paid to the corporation, and then redeemed to the surviving relative, usually a spouse, for the exchange of the shares of stock.

Never rely upon oral agreements, as they are as fickle as the wind, as it is very difficult to get an oral agreement to stand up in court, unless there are iron clad witnesses, and then it can be quite a challenge. Always have written agreements that are witnessed and notarised by a licensed notary. In this way you will always have an iron clad shareholder agreement that will be the basis of how the corporation will be operational moving forward.

The key to a successful shareholder agreement is the legal clarity of the document. You do not want any areas open for “interpretation”. It is in the everyone’s best interests to have an explicit explanation which is legally clear and not ambiguous. To do this, it is best to contact an experienced North Shore commercial lawyer who can draw up the shareholder agreements. North Shore companies will derive great benefit over the long haul by undertaking this simple task. One of the biggest law firms in the area is McVeagh Fleming and Co who have a team of business, contract and corporate lawyers who can help.

Of course shareholder agreements can be changed and altered as the case may be, but only with the agreement of all parties in order to keep the original integrity in place as first intended.

http://www.mcveaghfleming.co.nz

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Have a Lawyer to Draw Up a Contract So That It Is Legally Enforceable

Business woman and client

Business woman and client

A business needs to operate within the confines of the laws that are applicable in the North Shore area. This requires owners and managers to be constantly aware of commercial laws, which can be quite complex in their application to situations that businesses may find themselves in.  Unfortunately a recurring problem for many businesses is customers not paying their bills on time. To ensure you are paid by your customers, get legally enforceable terms of trade from a North Shore commercial lawyer.

 

In every business, there is a need to fulfil certain obligations which they will pay suppliers for. This often requires contracts and other documents to be signed between the two parties, which can be legally enforceable, in case of any dispute. This is where it becomes necessary for a business to have a lawyer familiar with commercial law, to draw up such contracts and the terms of trade under which the contract will operate. Business deals do involve negotiation and agreements to be arrived at, and even though it is necessary to have trust and confidence in each other, it is always safer to have everything that has been negotiated or agreed to be set down in a legally enforceable document in the form of a contract, that can be signed by both parties involved.

Brandon Cullen - Albany Commercial lawyer

Brandon Cullen – Albany Commercial lawyer

Before any contract is drawn up, all the terms that look after the interest of both parties need to be set out and itemised. These contracts can be with customers, vendors, employees, investors or any other party that has a business relationship. A lawyer may couch contracts in legalese, but it is always better to cut out all the legal mumbo jumbo and ensure that a contract has language that a layman can understand. This makes it easy for the parties, who are ultimately responsible for the execution of the contract to be clear as to their responsibilities and obligations, which will be based on any negotiations or terms agreed to.

A lawyer drawing up the terms for a contract has to ensure that the contract has conditions that both parties to it can fulfil and are authorized to do so. Parties and authorities responsible for execution of the contract must be very clearly specified, while the terms laid down in the contract must include all details agreed to in the negotiation. The trickiest part in most contracts are payment obligations and delivery commitments and these must be spelt out in complete detail, so that there is never any ambiguity in to what each party has to do , to complete their part of the contract.

When contracts are drawn up, a good lawyer will also include conditions that can lead to termination of the contract. Under good business conditions and in 99 percent of the cases, these may be redundant, but once these terms are a part of the contract, it becomes a way for any dissatisfaction on either site to be brought to a culmination. It can also help to have terms that will allow for dispute resolution, legal costs and other issues that may become a bone for contention.

If you operate business in Albany or on the, a highly experienced North Shore commercial lawyer is McVeagh Fleming and Co.  If you need to draw up a trading contract or terms of trade, then be sure to contact McVeagh Fleming.