Commercial Law (sometimes known as business law) is a body of law which governs business and commerce. Commercial Law regulates corporate contracts, hiring practices and the manufacture and sale of consumer goods. This is a very broad area of law.
The LAWLIVE® team is constantly adding new documents to this category.
- Contractor Agreements (Commercial)
Contractor Agreements (sometimes people refer to these as Contract Agreements) are used when one party (the Customer) hires another party (the Contractor) to perform specific tasks on their behalf in exchange for a specific fee, most commonly this includes hiring labourer's and tradesmen.
LawLive offers Contractor Agreements written from both the Contractor's perspective and the Customer's perspective.
- Consultancy Agreement (Commercial)
Consultancy Agreements (sometimes people refer to these as Consulting Contracts of Consult Agreements) are used when one party (the Company) hires another party (the Consultant) to perform specific tasks on their behalf or provide advice in exchange for a specific fee, most commonly this includes hiring sales people or external advisors.
It is important to remember that with a Consultancy Agreement a specific person is the one who will be doing the Consulting work, this person is referred to as the 'Employee' in LawLive's Consultancy Agreement: General. If the entity providing the Consulting is a sole trader then there is no Employee on the agreement as there is only one party in the Consulting Entity.
- Confidentiality Agreements (Commercial)
A Confidentiality Agreement (NDA) should be used in any situation where you are disclosing information that must remain confidential. For example, when approaching a potential partner with your new business idea you should use a confidentiality agreement to avoid jeopardising your concept.
To protect your confidential information, trade secrets and expertise from misuse, it is prudent to have a signed confidentiality agreement with every person (such as employees and contractors) to whom such information will be disclosed. Parties to the agreement may be companies or individuals or a combination of both.
Confidentiality Agreements are also commonly known as: Confidentiality agreement, Confidentiality policy, Confidentiality contract, Confidentiality document, Confidentiality clause, Confidentiality letters, Non Disclosure Agreement, form for Confidentiality, confidentiality documents, Confidentiality forms, Confidentiality contract.
- Service Contracts (Commercial)
Service Contracts such as Contractor Agreements and those listed below most commonly used as contracts when the time, effort and/or expertise of a person are engaged by a business or individual. These include the services of a contractor, consultant or agent which may be on an ongoing or one-off basis. For example, Service Contracts may provide for the provision of services from one company to another or the direct contracting of services.
A well-drafted contract or agreement that represents the terms and conditions, obligations and expectations of both parties can avoid misunderstandings and provide an essential tool to build business relationships.
- Supply Contracts (Commercial)
A Supply Contract is a contract to supply or receive goods. These include distribution agreements, licence agreements and lease of chattels amongst others. A well-drafted supply contract specifying clear terms and conditions will help avoid misunderstandings preventing disputes over alleged breaches of obligations between parties. It should clearly cover matters such as price, delivery method, exclusivity, and quality.
- Partnership Deeds (Commercial)
A Partnership Deed is an agreement establishing a formal partnership between two or more persons carrying on business in common for the purpose of sharing profit. It covers the day-to-day management of the company and sets out the duties and liabilities of each partner so that each knows where they stand especially in light of corresponding Partnership Acts.
Lawlive also provides a Family Partnership Deed specifically for where parents wish to enter into a partnership with their children.
- Deeds of Novation (Commercial)
The effect of a Deed of Novation is to discharge a previous contract or agreement and enter into a new agreement on the same terms but with one or more of the parties being different. This is different from an Assignment (where the parties do not change). It involves the release of one or more parties from the earlier agreement and their substitution by new parties who take on the obligations of the released parties and also their rights.
- Distribution Agreements (Commercial)
Distribution Agreements cover the situation where a manufacturer or other supplier grants a person or entity the right to distribute its goods on either a exclusive or non-exclusive basis. Generally distribution rights are granted exclusively unless the supplier either wishes to retain some distribution rights itself or wishes to contract or has already contracted with other distributors. This distribution agreement should only be used when the distributor purchases product from a supplier to on-sell.
These distribution agreements attach notes and information on exclusive and non-exclusive distribution agreements.
- Licence Agreements (Commercial)
Licence Agreements should be used where a licence is being granted to use items belonging to the Licensor. Common uses include; licensing the use of equipment or licensing the use of a design/patent for the purpose of manufacturing.
- Business Management (Commercial)
This Business Services & Management Agreement can be used when it is intended to separate the ownership of the business from its day to day management and to have employees in a separate company. Under this agreement, the business would continue to be owned by the owner and operated by the Manager for the owner. The profit of the business would still remain with the owner. However the management of the business and the employment of all staff would be the responsibility of the Manager and the Manager receives an agreed fee for providing its service. That fee should be commercially reasonable.
This type of agreement is useful as part of an overall risk management strategy. The intended consequence of using this Business Services & Management Agreement is to quarantine away from the owner of the business some (but not all) of the usual risks that often exist in running a business activity.
- Assignment of Debt (Commercial)
Use Lawlive's Deeds of Assignment of Debt to assign a debt as between companies and individuals or between each.
Some advantages of assigning a debt are that no consideration is required for a valid legal assignment, the assignee is entitled to sue the debtor in its own name and does not need to join the assignor as a party to the action, the debtor can safely perform its obligations in favour of the assignee, the assignee is the person who can discharge the debt, and that a legal interest is obtained for value and without notice of earlier equitable interests and will be accorded priority ahead of equitable interests.
Where a party seeks to transfer not only its rights under a contract but also the burden of a contract (obligations), this can only be done through a Deed of Novation.
Letters of Demand to chase up payments of outstanding debts are also provided for use before commencing any formal recovery process.
A Deed of Charge is like a mortgage in that it is secured. The effect of a charge is that it creates a security by way of an equitable mortgage over the company's assets which are secured by the charge, provided it is registered as required under Section 252 of the Corporations Act 2001 (Cth). In effect, charges are choses in action.
- Checklists (Commercial)
Checklists are highly useful to make sure you have covered critical aspects of building the right document for your needs. The checklists included cover Contract Governance and IT Due Diligence/Risk Management.
(For the full range of Checklists, see our Checklists category.)
- Letters of Demand (Commercial)
If a claim is being made against a debtor or borrower, as the first step towards satisfying that claim it is usual to send letters of demand prior to commencing any formal recovery process. The LAWLIVE™ letters of demand have been drafted to ensure due process prior to formal recovery.
The first step is to send a Letter of Demand: Friendly Reminder, this is a gentle reminder to the debtor that they have not paid the outstanding invoice.
The second step is to send a Letter of Demand: Second Reminder, this informs the debtor that you have already asked once and not received payment.
The final step is to send a Letter of Demand: Final Reminder, this tells the debtor that if you do not receive payment within 7 days you will proceed with legal action.
LawLive's new Business Letter of Demand Pack contains all three letters in an editable format, giving you the flexability to fully customise the your letters of demand while still being comfortable you are using a quality document.
