Commercial Lawyers in Box Hill, Melbourne
We set up businesses, draft and review their contracts and leases, act on purchases and sales, and represent owners when a business relationship breaks down. The lawyers who draft your documents are the lawyers who defend them, and defined work has a published price.
Spencer Alexander Lawyers is a Box Hill, Melbourne law firm advising businesses across Victoria on structures, contracts, business sales, leasing and shareholder agreements, and acting in commercial disputes, with the principal overseeing every matter. Good commercial advice starts with how your business actually trades: how you win work, how you get paid and where the risk sits. The documents follow from that, and the lawyers who draft them are the lawyers who enforce them.
- The structure you trade under decides your personal exposure, your tax position and how easily you can bring in partners or sell.
- Your terms of trade decide when you are paid and where your liability stops. Most payment disputes turn on them.
- Retail leases in Victoria carry extra protections, including the landlord's disclosure statement, which you must be given at least 14 days before the lease is entered into.
We advise founders, franchisees, family businesses and established companies across Melbourne and regional Victoria, on the deal and on the dispute, so every document is drafted with one eye on how it would hold up if tested. When a dispute cannot be settled we act in the Victorian courts and at VCAT. Our office is at Suite 10, 1 Main Street, Box Hill, a short walk from Box Hill station, and we act for clients from Blackburn, Doncaster, Burwood, Balwyn, Surrey Hills, Mont Albert, Ringwood and across Melbourne's eastern suburbs, as well as regional Victoria by phone or video.
What we do
Commercial law services in Melbourne.
Business structures and formation
Sole trader, partnership, company or trust: the right structure depends on personal liability, tax, investors and an eventual sale. We set up and restructure businesses alongside your accountant, so the legal and tax positions pull in the same direction. Read our guide to choosing a business structure. Setting up a company is a fixed fee of $1,210 including GST and the ASIC registration fee.
Contracts and terms of trade
Your terms decide when you are paid, who carries risk and where liability stops. We draft and review terms of trade, supply and service agreements, the contracts every Victorian business should have, in plain English your customers can follow. Terms of trade are from $1,815 including GST.
Buying or selling a business
From heads of agreement and due diligence to the contract of sale, lease transfer, employee entitlements and settlement. We keep the deal moving, and the risk sitting where it was agreed. Read our guide to buying a business in Victoria. A review of a contract to buy a business is from $1,210 including GST. Read more about how we act on a business sale.
Commercial and retail leasing
Retail leases in Victoria carry special rules on disclosure, outgoings and minimum terms. We act for tenants and landlords on new leases, renewals, assignments and rent disputes, before you are locked in. Read what to check in a Victorian retail lease. A lease review for a tenant is from $1,089 including GST. Read more about how we act on commercial leases.
Disputes, debt recovery and litigation
A letter of demand is usually the first step, and for an undisputed debt our fixed fee is $495 including GST. Where it does not resolve the matter, we act in negotiations, mediation, the courts and VCAT, always weighing the cost of the fight against what you stand to recover. If you have been served with a statutory demand or a court document, call (03) 9125 8355 the day it arrives. Read our guide to recovering an unpaid debt in Victoria.
What to expect
Advice that starts with the business.
Fixed fees for defined work.
Documents such as terms of trade, a shareholders agreement or a lease review have a published price on our fees page, confirmed in writing before substantive work begins, and disputes run on a written estimate that we revisit with you at each stage.
Good to know
Common questions in commercial law.
What should a company do when it is served with a statutory demand?
Act the same day you receive it. A company served with a statutory demand has 21 days to pay the debt, to secure it or reach a compromise to the creditor's reasonable satisfaction, or to apply to court to set the demand aside, and the application and its supporting affidavit must be both filed and served on the creditor within those 21 days. That deadline cannot be extended. If the company does none of these, and an application to wind it up is made within the following three months, by that creditor or anyone else, the court must presume the company is insolvent unless the contrary is proved. Call us on (03) 9125 8355 the day it arrives.
Do terms of trade really matter for a small business?
Yes, more than almost any other document. Your terms decide when you get paid, who owns the goods until payment, what happens on default and where your liability stops. Most payment disputes are won or lost on the terms that were, or were not, in place when the work was done.
A customer has not paid. What are my options?
A letter of demand often resolves it, or opens the way to a sensible payment plan. If not, we advise on recovery through the courts, and for company debtors, a statutory demand, a formal notice giving the company 21 days to pay, secure or compromise the debt, or to apply to set the demand aside, after which a court hearing a winding up application can presume it is insolvent. At every stage we weigh the cost of pursuing the debt against the realistic prospect of recovering it.
Do my business partner and I need a shareholder agreement?
If there is more than one owner, yes. The most common commercial dispute we see is between co-owners who never agreed how decisions are made, how a deadlock breaks, or how someone exits and at what price. A shareholder or partnership agreement settles those questions while everyone is still on good terms, for a fraction of the cost of a dispute.
What should I check before signing a commercial lease?
The term and your options to renew, how rent reviews work, what outgoings you pay, the permitted use, fit out and make good obligations, and any personal guarantees. Many Victorian tenancies are retail leases with extra protections, including the landlord's disclosure statement, which you must be given at least 14 days before the lease is entered into. A short review before you sign costs far less than a dispute after.
How much does commercial legal work cost?
Defined documents such as terms of trade, a shareholder agreement or a lease review are priced from the figures on our fees page, and your fee is confirmed in writing before substantive work begins. Disputes and transactions run on a written estimate in our engagement letter and costs agreement, updated before the scope changes. Either way, you know the likely cost before substantive work starts.
Speak with a commercial lawyer.
One call tells you where the risk sits, what it costs to remove, and what we would do in your position.