Employment

Josie came to us because she had been working in a health centre. She appeared to have fallen out with her immediate supervisor and was instantly dismissed. This happened late on a Friday afternoon and we immediately contacted the owner of the business and discussions flowed over into the following Saturday and by Monday we had an amicable settlement. Josie was only 21 and felt that she could not stand up to this large organisation. Scenic Rim Law Practice helped obtain a fair result for her.

Family Law

Caitlen and her husband parted ways after a marriage lasting many years. They had a number of small children. The husband was a high earner and Caitlen received a lesser salary than the husband. The husband had invested wisely and they lived in a pleasant home. Children went to private schools. The husband only wanted to provide a small percentage of the overall assets of the marriage to Caitlen. Caitlen felt she could not fight her husband but after seeing us, we were able to negotiate with the husband's solicitors and obtain a just share of the assets for Caitlen. She has now moved to another town, bought a house and the husband regularly sees the children. An early settlement avoids bitterness and particularly does not affect the children in their relationship with both parents.

Leasing a Commercial Site

Jim and his brother ran a successful business - so successful they had to move out of their current premises and build a bigger warehouse and manufacturing site. The new landlord had a national firm of lawyers draw up the lease. Jim brought the lease to us and it was clear that it was all very much one sided. After much exchange of correspondence and discussions, which we suggested take place between the landlord and Jim, a fairer form of lease was achieved. Now Jim and his brother are enjoying the larger premises which in turn has brought bigger profit for their business.

Logo Piracy

Wayne built up a niche business using a particular logo in all his advertising - yellow pages, online and newspaper. Fortunately the business was so successful and the logo was well known that a competitor decided to set up business some hundreds of kilometres away and use Wayne's logo. An aggressive marketing campaign was used by the competitor. Wayne came to see us and we sent off a number of letters which were totally ignored by the competitor. One difficulty was that Wayne had never registered the logo as a trademark. We were able to advise Wayne how to apply for trademark protection and also institute proceedings to prevent the competitor from taking advantage of Wayne's years of building up the business. Wayne is now protected with his trademark and knows that the law can protect him from unscrupulous competitors.

Workplace Accident

Madonna was seriously injured at her workplace. She had no friends or relatives in the area she lived and came to us for advice. Clearly she needed immediate assistance and we were able to advise on how to make a worker's compensation claim and guide her through the rather complicated system that workers had to deal with in gaining weekly compensation. We then turned our attention to making what is known as a common law claim. This can overawe somebody who has not been involved in the system before. After many many months of surgery, Madonna was able to regain some of her health and with our assistance negotiated through conferences aimed at settling the claim before going to Court. Fortunately, the insurance company was able to respond to an offer and Madonna is now able to rebuild her life with the money she received.

Making that Will

Unfortunately, there are many families that don't meet the ideal happy family model. They may have children who have run off the rails or even who have married someone who is "not up to standard". In a recent instance, Mary came to us because she was concerned that property and assets which she and her husband had built up over the years could be wasted if they left the money to their only daughter, Jane. Unfortunately, Jane had made a poor selection in the marriage stakes. Her husband regularly assaulted her and moved between dependency on alcohol and drugs. We were able to draw up a Will in such a way that the money could be held in a testamentary trust which can not be siphoned off by her husband during family law proceedings and on her death the money can be held in trust for their children. This was a huge relief for Mary.