The agreements a business runs on.
Contracts, brand and data, premises and franchises: drafted, negotiated and explained, with a quick answer when a quick answer is what is needed.
Commercial contracts
Supply, services, terms of trade, distribution: the agreements that decide who carries the risk when something goes wrong. Most contract disputes trace back to a clause nobody read closely at the start.
Identify the three or four terms that carry the real risk in your deal, and get those right before polishing the rest.
Intellectual property and brand
Trade marks, copyright and licensing: protecting what makes your business yours, and using what belongs to others on proper terms. A trade mark registered early costs less than a dispute later.
Check what you own, what you have registered, and what you are using under someone else's rights.
Privacy and data
How personal information is collected, kept, used and disclosed under the Privacy Act and the Australian Privacy Principles; privacy policies that say what actually happens; and what to do when something goes wrong, including a notifiable data breach.
Map the data your business holds and compare it with what your policy says, because the gap is where the risk is.
Leasing
Commercial and retail leases for landlords and tenants: negotiation, renewals, make-good and disputes. In New South Wales retail leases carry their own statutory protections, and a lease is often the largest fixed commitment a small business makes.
Read the lease, or the heads of agreement, for the terms that cost money at the end: rent review, make-good, options and assignment.
Franchising and distribution
Franchise agreements and disclosure under the Franchising Code, and distribution and agency arrangements, on either side of the table. The Code sets what must be disclosed and when, and the consequences of getting it wrong fall on the franchisor.
For a franchisor, check the disclosure document against the Code; for a franchisee, read the agreement for what happens when you want out.
Commercial advisory
The day-to-day questions: can we do this, what does this clause mean, what happens if. A quick, clear answer you can act on, with the reasoning kept on the file in case the question comes back.
Answer the question. If it needs more than an answer, we say so and tell you what that would involve.
Fees to fit the matter
We are open to a range of fee models: fixed, capped, staged, hourly or a blend. We settle the right one with you, in writing, before work starts.
Gaurav de Fontgalland has practised for more than twenty years, including as an equity partner at two BigLaw firms, and founded Fontgalland Lawyers in 2010. He acts for clients across Australia, Asia, Europe and the United States.
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