In Show 057 – Monthly Legal Updater originally broadcast on Facebook Live on Friday 2 February 2018 we explore this interesting topic.
Show Notes
Its February 2018 and time once again for our Monthly Legal Updater. There have been numerous changes to the law that came into effect in the past month. There has also been a lot of news that legal professionals will be interested in. With everyone now returning from holidays it seems like a good time to bring everyone up to date.
M&A Report
Allen & Overy’s recent report on mergers and acquisitions around the world showed strong growth in this sector around the world. In Australia they see the potential for strong growth especially for smaller deals as private equity from places like China floods into the country.
Same-sex consequences
The decision to allow gay marriage has been hailed as a triumph of human rights but there are some unintended legal consequences that gay couples may not be fully aware of. The succession laws in Australia are such that when a person gets married it can invalidate their already existing will. There are some concerns that people getting married under the new law may not be fully aware of the impact on their estate plan.
Queensland lawyer revoked
Just because someone calls themselves a lawyer doesn’t mean they are. Nicholas Braid has been jailed for 3 months for pretending to be a lawyer. He does hold a law degree but was never admitted as a lawyer. He lied about his credentials as a criminal lawyer and even set up his own firm.
ACCC unfair contracts
We’ve spoken in the past about the ACCC’s new rules about what is an unfair contract. That has had the predictable of effect of greatly increasing the number of complaints being filed with the business watchdog.
Western Union scam refunds
The Western Union wire service has been a notorious method for scammers to take advantage of the public. Fake prizes, loans, jobs and discounted products are just part of the myriad ways criminals fooled people into wiring them money. The Department of Justice in the United States ordered the company to pay a $586 million fine. Part of that money will be used for restitution for victims – including those in Australia.
Insurance refunds
Insurance companies Allianz and Suncorp were ordered by the ACCC to refund $62 million of insurance premiums for policies that were deemed to by of little or no use.
Crowd-sourcing in Australia
Crowd-sourced funding has been a hugely popular method for start-up compnaies to attract early investment. But up until now it has not been permitted in Australia. That ended last month when ASIC announced it has licensed the first batch of crowd-sourced funding intermediaries.
More about this Show
We started Business Legal Lifecycle to create a simple way for you to understand complex legal terms. Most importantly we want to help you to develop a plan to take your business successfully into the future. There’s a startling statistic the underscores the importance of developing a solid plan. The majority of business owners are just seven months away from losing everything. A single aspect of your business that is not set-up correctly can shut down your whole operation very quickly. Legal advice is not cheap and even when you can afford it there is often a divide between lawyers and their clients. We want to close that gap once and for all. We want to put legal knowledge and tools into your hand to prevent the worst from happening to you.
Twice a week we are going to deliver those tools right to your home or office with Business Legal Lifecycle TV. We’ll start the week with Fast Fix Monday, a short 5-10 minute video that will tackle a single issue that businesses have to deal with. Then on Wednesday’s our main show will feature with more fulsome discussions and interviews all delivered in a straightforward and easy to understand format.
