Seeking Peer Reviewers

June 17, 2010 by Leave a comment

We currently have a number of lawyers reviewing our Employment Law Guide by Paul Moorhouse and Gerard Boyce, and our Commercial Leases Practice Manual by Eric Kalde.

We are however interested in having all of our products peer reviewed.  Successful candidates for peer review receive free access to the publication they are reviewing.  We also plan to formalise our peer review program in the near future with networking events/forums and promotion on Smokeball for our peer reviewers.

If you are interested, you can comment here or just call me directly – Jane Oxley – on 02 8273 7586 or email me at jane.oxley@smokeball.com.au. 

There are a large number of publications on Smokeball now that are suitable for peer review, you can have a look at www.smokeball.com.au or just call me and I can direct you to the publications that most suit your expertise and interest.

Filed under General

Lexcursions – The Adventures of Anthony Jucha: June Edition

June 15, 2010 by Leave a comment

“I want to design a computer game about lawyers, for lawyers,” I announced to my group at the Computer Game Design Workshop. The workshop was part of a ‘retro gaming weekend’ at the  Sydney Powerhouse Museum. A professor of ‘gameology’ was hosting what she described as “a four hour geek-fest” to teach about 30 of us how to design our own computer games.

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Filed under General

Drafting settlement terms in financial matters

June 9, 2010 by 1 Comment

The whole direction of the conduct of family law dispute resolution over the past 20 years has been to encourage settlements, agreements and a conciliatory approach.  It is only rare and exceptional cases which require a final hearing.  Family law gives a direct encouragement to settlement by the making of Consent Orders or a Financial Agreement under the Family Law Act 1975 (“the Act”). Some legal practitioners have a preference for Consent Orders and for good reason. Provided they comply with the requirements of the Act however, Financial Agreements allow for more flexible, tailor made agreements. Crucially, Financial Agreements are the only context in which spousal maintenance claims can be fully and finally dismissed. Read more of this post

Filed under Family & De Facto

Borrowing within super to invest in real estate – a marriage made in heaven

June 7, 2010 by Leave a comment

With the amount of money in super and continuing to pour into it, coupled with Australia’s love of property, it was always going to be a good marriage.

Changes to super laws in late 2007 allow borrowing within the superannuation environment.  This is starting to gather some traction in the marketplace, with increasing numbers of commercial and investment properties being purchased.

Previously, in line with the inherent purpose of super to invest for retirement with minimum risk, investors were not allowed to borrow against assets owned by a super fund. Read more of this post

Filed under Business Entities

Fair Work Australia’s Annual Wage Review 2009-10

June 4, 2010 by Leave a comment

Fair Work Australia handed down its first Annual Wage Review decision on 3 June 2010: Annual Wage Review 2009-10 [2010] FWAFB 4000.  A statement summarising the decision is also available on Fair Work Australia’s website.  

Fair Work Australia decided on a flat dollar increase of $26 to all modern award minimum weekly wages, and an equivalent increase to the national minimum wage applicable to award free employees.  There will be proportionate increases to hourly minimum wage rates.  The increases will operate from the first pay period after 1 July 2010.  From that date the national minimum wage will be $15/hour, or $569.90/week. Read more of this post

Filed under Specialised Areas of Law

Franchising Code amendments update

June 4, 2010 by Leave a comment

On Friday 4th June, the Hon Dr Craig Emerson MP announced changes to the Franchising Code of Conduct (“Code”) which will come into effect on 1 July 2010.

While the amendments do not appear monumental, they will nevertheless affect the disclosure requirements with respect to a number of aspects of the franchise offer as well as prescribe certain conduct throughout the term, such as dispute resolution and end-of-term, such as renewal notification.

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Filed under Business Sale & Purchase

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