Business & Company Law
Proactive Business & Company Lawyers who add value to your business.
Don’t gamble with your future. Get the right advice, maximise your chances of business success and reduce the potential of a foreseeable risk costing you more than you can afford to lose.
Business Law and Company Law are 2 broad areas of law that cover legal issues and transactions relevant to businesses (including business owners) and companies (including directors and shareholders).
Structures
Whilst a company may carry on a business, a business may also be carried on by a sole trader, partnership or a trust. Similarly, shares in a company, real property and other investments may be owned by one or more individuals, trusts or companies.
Business Risk & Protection Strategies
It is important to ensure that the correct structures and shareholding are set up when the business is established as changes to ownership structures may have stamp duty and capital gains tax implications.
Once ideal structures are in place the focus for most businesses moves to the maximising business success and avoiding foreseeable problems. Risk assessment and business protection strategies, therefore, underpin most aspects of business and company law. Contract law also has a huge role to play in this regard.
Business Succession Planning
Finally, business and company law is concerned with the planning for the realisation of the value of an owner’s interest in the business or company by sale and succession planning.
Insolvency
If a business or venture does not turn out as planned and becomes insolvent, options to restructure the insolvent business or company may be available to enable the survival of the underlying business.
Overview
In summary, Business Law and Company Law is broadly associated with:
- ownership structures,
- business risk assessment and the implementation of risk mitigation and protection strategies,
- the regulating of decision making among business owners or company directors,
- agreements governing the relationships between business owners or company shareholders,
- corporate governance, directors’ duties and shareholders’ rights,
- insolvency and corporate restructuring, and
- the sale of businesses (including assets and goodwill) and the sale of shares in a company.
See “How We Help“ for specific examples of how we assist clients with Business & Company Law matters.
