LGM Advisors

At LGM Advisors we have over 15 years experience providing professional commercial law services in Melbourne. LGM Advisors can offer small and medium sized businesses the expertise to manage any size legal concern. We also have experience with Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) listed companies. Our long-standing tradition of excellence and ability to successfully manage diverse areas of law are recognized in several of our recent achievements, headed by our founder:

Multi-million-dollar supreme court and high court litigation.
Federal taxation litigation against the Australian Tax Office (ATO).
Successfully represented clients with several employee related disputes.
Significant settlement payouts in the supreme court.
Will disputes valued over a million dollars were successfully represented to the supreme court

As one of Melbourne’s premier law firms we represent a variety of legal matters and disputes, with our area of expertise in the following:

Commercial Law
Dispute Resolution
Contract Law
Intellectual Property
Employment Law

To find a service that fits your needs please read below.

Commercial Law

Commercial law governs all business practices. This may pertain to contracts, employment, intellectual property and hundreds of other legal matters concerning business. Commercial law is perhaps the most complex type of law as it encompasses a wide and varied spectrum, of legal concerns. Because of this, commercial law can be broken down into four distinct categories – each with their own specialization and legal requirements.

Employment Law: A business’s legal rights and treatment of employees.
Contract Law: All laws pertaining to agreements and contracts a business or individual is party.
Intellectual Property: Laws governing intellectual property of individuals and businesses.
Dispute Resolution: The process of resolving disputes through an independent mediator looking for a resolution beneficial to all disputing parties.

As can be imagined, there is often a degree of overlap associated with practicing commercial law. As such it is important to have representation that specializes in commercial law as well as the four primary categories that will enable you to achieve the outcome you are looking for. A commercial lawyer will be able to assess your legal claim and help advise and represent you on the best path forward, generally beginning with dispute resolution.

Dispute Resolution

Most legal disputes will be required by the courts to go through some sort of dispute resolution prior to going to court. Dispute resolution is a cost-effective and timely process that allows you to settle legal matters outside of the court. The goal of dispute resolution is to try and find an amicable resolution that resolves the dispute and in many ways will preserve a relationship between disputing parties.

The two most important and used dispute resolution processes are mediation and arbitration.

Mediation: Disputing parties work with an independent mediator who will listen to the evidence of both disputing parties and help each party work toward a equally beneficial resolution to their conflict.

Arbitration: In arbitration disputing parties present their case to a an independent 3rd party who will listen to both disputing parties, review evidence and then make a decision on behalf of the courts as to the outcome. Prior to going into arbitration both parties understand that the decision of the arbitrator is a legally binding decision bound by the law of the court.

While not all legal matters can be resolved through dispute resolution, the vast majority are. Because of this, having an experienced and knowledgeable person on your side can assist in making the process less stressful with a beneficial agreement.

Contract Lawyer

Contract law creates contracts, evaluates contracts, and protects parties from breach of contract.  A contract may be as simple as a receipt or as complex as hundreds of pages put together by a lawyer. Keys to a good contract are clarity and full disclosure of all agreements and amendments to the contract. Failure for one or more parties to comply with the agreement will result in a breach of contract.

Often the result in a breach of contract is complying to the original agreement, amending the original agreement, or in cases where an agreement to the contract cannot be reached monetary restitution may be awarded.

A contract lawyer can either draft a contract – simple or complex – or represent and advise you on how to pursue breach of contract case.

Intellectual Property Lawyer Intellectual Property (IP) protects creations of the mind. As such, intellectual property can be complex and if not resolved in dispute resolution can result in years of litigation. Examples of intellectual property law are:

Patents
Copyright
Trademarks

And can impact any creation of the mind such as literary and artistic works. Defining what is protected is often the biggest question for many people who seek an Intellectual Property Lawyer and the misunderstanding of IP Law is perhaps greatest among all categories of commercial law. For example, IP law does not protect an idea, unless the idea has been brought to fruition. For example, if, in the 1970’s you had an idea that would eventually become the internet, you would have no IP rights to that idea unless you acted upon it. Even if you mentioned your idea to someone who was credited with inventing the internet, you would still need to have turned your idea into something more tangible.

An IP lawyer will be able to help you protect your intellectual property by managing trademark, copyright, and patents, or by representing you in enforcing your ownership of IP.

Employment Lawyer

Australia has strict employment laws enforced upon employers. The goal of employment laws is to protect employees from irresponsible, illegal, and harassing behaviour. The laws also provide employees with the ability to pursue legal action against a company without repercussion, such as in whistle-blower cases, sexual harassment, and other employment concerns.

In addition to protecting an employee while working for a company, employment law also sets legal requirements and standards an employer must follow when laying off or terminating an employee.

Bullying, workplace discrimination, pay and basic workplace entitlements are serious matters when it comes to employee protection. An employment lawyer will specialize in employment law and can advise you if you have concerns over workplace treatment or terminations.