Melbourne Business & Commercial Lawyers

Our Melbourne commercial lawyers provide comprehensive legal services to assist you at every stage of your company’s lifecycle.

Attwood Marshall Lawyers’ business lawyers offer local knowledge and expertise to ensure your personal, family, and professional interests are always protected.

We work with start-ups, entrepreneurs, right through to owners and directors of small companies and large corporations. Having the right legal team support you throughout your endeavours can help you avoid making critical mistakes or exposing yourself to risk.

Our Melbourne commercial lawyers cover a wide range of areas, including:

  • buying and selling companies
  • retail and commercial leasing
  • buying and selling management rights
  • partnership, shareholder, and unitholder agreements
  • commercial transactions
  • structuring
  • franchising
  • trusts and company law
  • medical and dental business transactions
  • succession planning
  • loans and securities

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Our specialty services include:

Buying & Selling Businesses

Buying or selling a company is a huge decision and will be one of the biggest investments you ever make. It is important to do your due diligence and to take all the necessary steps to make the transaction proceed smoothly. We can help you do the relevant investigations for buying a company, or legal preparation for selling one so that the transaction can go ahead with as little disruption to operations as possible.

Retail & Commercial Leasing

Retail and commercial leases can be complex documents filled with confusing terms and conditions. If you do not get a lease right from the outset, it can be an extremely costly exercise to renegotiate or change the lease later on. It is imperative that you get the right legal advice when entering into this type of agreement to ensure that you fully understand your rights and obligations under the lease.

Franchising

Ensure your business is compliant with The Franchising Code of Conduct by speaking with one of our experienced Melbourne lawyers today. Our business lawyers can assist with you with completing the required documents you need to comply with The Franchising Code of Conduct, which applies to all franchise businesses in Australia.

Business Succession Planning

A business succession plan will take into consideration the risks to the continuity of the business, and its profits, if an owner or partner exits the business in unexpected circumstances, such as an illness, accident, or death.Regardless of your business’s size, every business should have a comprehensive succession plan in place to provide security and peace of mind to all parties involved in the business and to ensure the business can continue to grow and thrive, even in the unlikely event something unexpected happens.

Our Melbourne business lawyers also represent clients for:

When it comes to selling and buying management rights, there is a lot to consider. There can be issues with negotiations, financial figures, valuations and finance, fees, not to mention difficulty with dealing with the body corporate committee.

We can help you negotiate the terms of the sale with the body corporate committee, as well as ensure all the documents required are completed correctly so that the deal can proceed promptly without risk of delays. It is important to get the right legal advice if you are selling management rights in Melbourne, to ensure all aspects of the transaction are managed correctly and that you have set yourself up for a successful outcome.

Partnership Agreements (or Shareholder or Unitholder Agreements) are recommended if there are two or more parties involved in a business partnership together.

A Partnership Agreement should stipulate:

  • The name of all partners
  • The contributions and percentage of ownership of all partners
  • Allocations of profits and losses
  • The business structure and decision-making powers of all partners
  • The day-to-day operations of the business
  • Dispute resolution strategies
  • Exit strategies if one party chooses to exist the business at any time or on death
  • Processes for admitting new partners
  • Any other relevant details agreed upon by all partners.


Partnership Agreements can be tailor-made to suit the specific needs of your business and its partners. These documents can provide security and peace of mind and can help give clarity and transparency to everyone involved about their obligations and responsibilities to the business. 

Our Melbourne lawyers can help you with all business and commercial transactions. It is important to be aware of relevant legislative and Council requirements that may apply to your transaction, as well as any fees or costs that you may incur. We are dedicated to delivering practical and timely legal advice to help your transactions proceed seamlessly.

Structuring your business correctly is crucial. You may choose to set up your business as a trust, partnership, or sole trader. There are advantages and disadvantages you need to consider for each type of business structure, and it is important to understand that different entities are bound by different tax obligations and asset protection rules. Our business and commercial lawyers can provide you with advice on the best business structure to suit your needs to ensure you set your business up for future success and comply with all relevant legislation.

Trusts are commonly used to conduct a business in Australia. However, there are different types of trusts you can setup for different businesses. Our team can help you understand which trust type is the most appropriate for you to provide you with the best tax relief and asset protection.

We can help you set up:

  • Family trusts
  • Hybrid trusts
  • Unit trusts

Attwood Marshall Lawyers offer specialist advice in medical and dental business transactions. We have helped many Melbourne practitioners buy and sell their medical practices, veterinary clinics, or dental practices.

These types of business transactions are very complex, and it is important to seek advice from an experienced lawyer who has a thorough understanding of the different rules and legislation that applies.

Careful consideration must be given to the agreement between the buyer and seller. Our Melbourne lawyers will ensure a thorough due diligence process is conducted to reduce the legal and financial risks associated with purchasing medical, dental, or veterinary businesses.

If you are entering into a private loan agreement with a relative or another third party, our team can help ensure the agreement is drafted professionally and that adequate security is provided.

The Personal Property Securities Act gives people the opportunity to register an interest on personal property for the security of loans, outstanding amounts due, and any personal property items bought on a payment plan. When you register an interest, it means you will be first in line if there are any liquidation or insolvency events.

We can help you register an interest on personal property or document private loans and securities to ensure your interests are protected. For more information contact our Melbourne team any time on 1800 621 071.

Meet the Property & Commercial team

Jeff Garrett - Legal Practice Director - Wills & Estates, Estate Litigation, Property & Commercial, Compensation Law, Commercial Litigation, Criminal Law, Racing & Equine Law

Jeff

Garrett

Legal Practice Director
Commercial Litigation, Compensation Law, Criminal Law, Estate Litigation, Property & Commercial, Racing & Equine Law, Wills & Estates
Jess Kimpton - Department Manager - Property & Commercial Attwood Marshall lawyers

Jess

Kimpton

Department Manager
Property & Commercial
Taylah is a Senior Paralegal in our Property and Commercial team. Taylah holds a double degree in Bachelor of Laws and Bachelor of Criminology and Criminal Justice from Griffith University. She joined Attwood Marshall Lawyers in 2023 after working as a law clerk at another Gold Coast firm. There she built up experience assisting partners and senior associates with off-the-plan, residential and commercial sales and purchases, business transactions and business structuring and mortgages and securities.

Taylah

Lein

Department Manager & Senior Paralegal
Property & Commercial

Tobie

Mitchell

Senior Associate
Property & Commercial
Mieke Elzer - Lawyer - Property & Commercial

Mieke

Elzer

Associate
Property & Commercial
Alexandra Hughes Property and Commercial Lawyer

Alexandra

Hughes

Lawyer
Property & Commercial
Hannah Roach is a Property and Commercial Lawyer, with a focus on the sale and purchase of properties in Queensland. Hannah graduated with a Bachelor of Laws from Southern Cross University, and a Graduate Diploma in Legal Practice from Bond University in 2021.

Hannah

Roach

Lawyer
Property & Commercial
Jorja Brewer is a diligent administration assistant and paralegal with considerable knowledge of the legal industry Jorja joined Attwood Marshall Lawyers in February 2023, jumping at the opportunity to gain valuable work and life experience and to kickstart a career in the legal industry.

Jorja

Brewer

Paralegal
Property & Commercial

Contact our Department Manager

For expert legal services, contact our Melbourne business lawyers today.

Taylah

Lein

Message our Department Manager, Taylah