Results Legal proudly announces the promotion of Special Counsel Robert Shepley to Principal, effective January 1st, 2024.

Head of the firm’s commercial division, Rob is a seasoned corporate and commercial lawyer with a special interest in business transactions and commercial contracts.

“Promoting Rob to Principal was a natural progression given the expertise, leadership and experience he has brought to our firm since joining Results Legal as Special Counsel,” said Managing Director Karl Hill.

Since joining Results Legal in 2023, Rob has been a key contributor to the expansion of its Commercial division, bolstering the firm’s commercial and corporate law expertise

A dedicated student from Mackay State High School was today announced as the recipient of the 2024 Hill Family Scholarship. Valued at $5,000, the scholarship provides vital financial support to one deserving student embarking on their tertiary education journey in law, accounting, or commerce.

Year 12 student Ned Gething from Sunnyside (Mackay) won the scholarship thanks to his leadership qualities, academic achievements and commitment to pursuing a career in law.

“Access to the Hill Family Scholarship means I can place a greater focus on my studies, rather than worrying about where the money for textbooks or costs of living away

Results Legal was born out of a desire to refocus on clients and their business decisions.

A key emphasis in the Results Legal way is providing clarity and certainty.  Hill highlights the challenge of making business decisions when legal costs are unpredictable. While outcomes can’t always be guaranteed, Results Legal commits to offering clients

We recently celebrated our 15-year milestone with the launch of a new brand and website.

This short video provides context to our new brand and the meaning behind our new byline ‘We stand for you.’

It reflects the fact we work as one team to deliver not only great results, but also a great experience for our clients.

While we are a leading commercial litigation, insolvency and debt recovery firm, the way we do things is different.

We apply a client centric approach, backed by a commitment to delivering strategic clarity, fee transparency and pragmatic, commercial advice.

In what our MD Karl Hill said was one of his favourite moments of the year, he and his wife Sarah returned to their alma mater to present the Hill Family Scholarship.

Karl and his wife Sarah established the $5000 scholarship in 2021 to assist students hoping to study law, accounting or commerce with expenses such as accommodation, textbooks, day to day living and travel costs.

We at Results Legal live by the ‘work hard, play hard’ mantra. So when two of our graduate intake lawyers were promoted to Principal (in 6 ½ years – a exceptional achievement), we thought it was well worth gathering the team and our Brisbane-based clients for a celebration!

We are pleased to announce the recent promotion of Charlotte Evans and Kate Molkentin to Associates.

Over the course of last financial year, Charlotte and Kate achieved outstanding results for their clients and contributed to the continued growth of the firm.

Results Legal Managing Director, Karl Hill and his wife Sarah Hill announce the first recipient winner of the Hill Family Scholarship Program.  

As former students at Mackay State High School, Karl and Sarah Hill were delighted to return to award recipient winner, Pushti Shah with her scholarship certificate. 

On 15 September 2021, the District Court of New South Wales handed down a judgment in Hume Plasterboards v Best Interiors[1] which reaffirmed the ‘wives’ special equity’, otherwise known as the Yerkey v Jones[2] defence. Even though the ‘wife’ (or de facto partner) of the company’s director signed a guarantee, the successful use of the defence meant that she was not liable for the debt incurred.

In the recent Court of Appeal case of Rowe v Metroll SA Pty Ltd[1] a guarantor (the appellant) was unsuccessful in arguing that he was not liable to the respondent under a guarantee that he signed in 2018. His two primary grounds of appeal were around the law of agency and the wording of the guarantee.

The case provides valuable lessons for businesses to ensure they have an effective credit agreement and guarantee and indemnity in place, and to individuals when executing a guarantee and the obligations contained within it.

Businesspeople will be familiar with the process of implementing shareholders agreements to govern the relationship between shareholders to set them up for a successful business relationship.  These agreements should be customised to ensure they are fit for purpose.

An often overlooked but important consideration for businesses relates to the intellectual property (IP) being created, including securing how the company owns it and having a strategy in place for how it is to be protected and commercialised.

When it comes to written agreements in a commercial context, attention is often paid to the drafting and scope of terms. However, evidence suggests, that often, “incorporation” of those terms is key.  In other words, the scope of the terms has no weight if they are not properly incorporated into the contract.

On 1 January 2021, new insolvency reforms to support small business commenced and COVID-19 temporary insolvency protections came to an end.

This is good news for creditors who can now more easily proceed with creditor’s statutory demands in the usual course as well as bankruptcy notices, provided company debtors have not applied for temporary relief.

On 1 January 2019, the Modern Slavery Act 2018 (Cth) (Act) commenced and introduced a new statutory requirement for eligible companies to assess and report on the risks of modern slavery identified in their operations and supply chains (as well as the steps taken to address those risks).

Modern slavery occurs in circumstances where coercion, threats or deception are used to exploit or undermine an individual’s freedoms. Human trafficking, slavery, servitude, debt bondage and forced marriage or labour are all examples of modern slavery.

The Federal Government has enacted the Payment Times Reporting Act 2020 (Cth) (Act), which is set to commence on 1 January 2021.

The Act imposes obligations on large businesses and government enterprises with over $100 million in annual turnover to publish information on their small business payment times and practices.

A recent test of the ‘good faith’ defence in resisting a preference claim highlights the effectiveness of having your recovery processes in order and faithfully following them.

Creditors are often faced with disputes by guarantors over the validity and enforceability of a guarantee following a failure by the principal to pay a debt.

Poorly drafted and ambiguous personal guarantees can give rise to guarantors being wrongfully released from liabilities, or alternatively documents being signed which are unenforceable and ultimately worthless.

When Personal Guarantees Provide Radically Different Outcomes.

A well executed personal guarantee can be the holy grail of debt recovery tools, but one overlooked detail can bring the whole thing to its knees.

Significant Differences Between Liquidations, Voluntary Administrations and Receiverships

The appointment of an insolvency practitioner to a debtor usually strikes fear into the hearts of creditors, as it is considered to mark the death of the company with zero return on any outstanding debts. 

The job of your outsourced legal provider is to get you results and make your life easier.

Living in a digital age, clients have a right to expect that their legal team will adopt technological advancements so as to streamline the working relationship with the legal team, increase efficiency, reduce costs and, most importantly of all, make your life easier.