Archive | October, 2012

How does a court determine whether the negotiations for a lease have ceased and agreement has been reached?

October 18, 2012

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My friend and colleague Bill Stark has just posted on his blog a useful summary of the New South Wales Court of Appeal’s decision in BBB Constructions Pty Ltd v Aldi Foods Pty Ltd [2012] NSWCA 224. In that case, the developer unsuccessfully sued Aldi for damages after Aldi withdrew from lease negotiations.  Executed leases had not […]

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Mark Brennan appointed as inaugural Federal Small Business Commissioner

October 17, 2012

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Mark Brennan, Victoria’s inaugural Small Business Commissioner, has been appointed as the inaugural Federal Small Business Commissioner. Mr Brennan conducted the review of the Retail Tenancies (Reform) Act 1998 (Vic) which led to the Retail Leases Act 2003 (Vic) and the Small Business Commissioner Act 2003 (Vic). Mr Brennan was then appointed as Victoria’s first Small Business Commissioner.  He served […]

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More on the Willmott decision – disclaimer of a contract of sale of land?

October 11, 2012

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For those interested in the Court of Appeal’s recent decision in the Willmott case, the decision was referred to recently by Beach J in the Victorian Supreme Court decision of Grant v Harlgate Pty Ltd & Anor [2012] VSC 464 (9 October 2012). The decision is also relevant to conveyancing lawyers faced with an insolvent […]

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Tenant seeks to overturn VCAT’s exclusive jurisidiction

October 10, 2012

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Originally posted on The Property Law Blog:
In Ireland v Subway Systems Australia Pty Ltd and Subway Realty Pty Ltd [2012] VCAT 1061 a tenant contended if an agreement (which it contended was a licence) was held to be a lease then the dispute had to be determined by an arbitrator pursuant to an arbitration clause…

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Willmott special leave to appeal application filed

October 4, 2012

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The Australian Financial Review today published an article reporting that an application for special leave to appeal the Court of Appeal’s recent decision in the Willmott case was filed last week. The Court of Appeal held that a liquidator of a land owning company can use the disclaimer power in the Corporations Act to disclaim […]

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