Practice areas
Commercial law
Business and company advisory on one side, commercial litigation on the other: structures, leases, sales and agreements, and debt recovery, statutory demands, winding up and disputes in the Magistrates’, County and Supreme Courts.
Free and without obligation. We tell you whether it is a matter for us, what it would involve and what it would cost.
Commercial law · 90 sec
Advice for business owners
Dinesh Joshi90 sec
Film in production
Client reviews
Commercial law clients, in their own words.
We engaged Joshi Lawyers for a business purchase and found them to be very professional, dedicated and helpful. Dinesh has a significant degree of knowledge in business and commercial law matters. We were advised about everything in detail and kept informed about our matter’s progress at each stage.
Anqi HuangBusiness purchase · Google review, 2017 Our first experience in Australia using any lawyer. All advice given was very fair and to the point. It was them who suggested the statutory demand process, which we used for a speedy recovery, and it worked.
GNS Group AustraliaDebt recovery · Google review, 2023 Dinesh solved my dispute in 4 months where the other lawyer I had prior took 12 months giving me no foresight on my case. Dinesh has a clear foresight in his cases and closes all objections with ease and makes you aware of your standing.
Dheeraj WadhwaniBusiness dispute · Google review, 2018 From business settlements to my recent land settlement, they have never failed to impress me. Thank you Dinesh and your team for taking the stress from us and dealing with all sorts of issues and disputes very professionally.
Aarti AroraBusiness owner and investor · Google review, 2017
Overview
The deals that build a business, and the disputes that threaten one.
Commercial work at Joshi Lawyers runs on two tracks, and most business clients use both over time. The first is advisory: the structures, leases, agreements and sales that set a business up properly and let it grow. The second is litigation: recovering what you are owed, defending what you have built, and resolving disputes on terms that hold.
On the advisory side, we have advised more than 600 businesses since 2010: cafés and restaurants, medical and dental practices, franchises, transport and logistics operators, builders, developers and professional practices, most of them owner-led or family-run. Most leases and agreements are delivered within five business days of instructions, and a business sale or purchase typically runs from heads of agreement to completion in six to ten weeks. You deal with a senior lawyer who understands how your business runs and who works with your accountant rather than around them.
On the litigation side, we have recovered more than $30 million in debts for clients and acted in several hundred commercial disputes. The tools are chosen to fit the debt and the debtor: letters of demand and negotiated payment plans; statutory demands under the Corporations Act, which recover most company debts within the 21-day period without a hearing; winding-up applications in the Supreme Court and bankruptcy notices and creditor’s petitions in the Federal Circuit and Family Court; and proceedings in the Magistrates’ Court (claims to $100,000), the County Court and the Supreme Court of Victoria. We also act for directors and businesses on the receiving end of each of these.
Whichever track you are on, the approach is the same: a strategy before the first letter, a written estimate before the work, and a preference for the outcome that costs you least in time and money. Most of our disputes settle within months rather than years. Where court is unavoidable, you will be the best-prepared party in the room.
Our commercial law experience includes:
Business and company advisory
- Companies, trusts and partnerships, set up with your accountant
- Buying and selling a business: due diligence, sale agreements and completion
- Shareholder, partnership and joint venture agreements
- Commercial and retail leases, for landlords and tenants
- Supply, service, distribution and franchise agreements
- Liquor licensing for hospitality businesses
Commercial litigation and debt recovery
- Letters of demand, negotiated settlements and payment plans
- Statutory demands and winding-up applications against companies
- Bankruptcy notices and creditor’s petitions against individuals
- Proceedings in the Magistrates’, County and Supreme Courts of Victoria
- Defending claims, statutory demands and winding-up applications
- Contract, lease, partnership and shareholder disputes
- Enforcing judgments: warrants, garnishee orders and charging orders
Your lawyers
Who you will deal with.
Matters are run by the people below, not handed down.
Questions
Frequently asked questions
Answers to the questions we are asked most often about commercial law, fees and how a matter runs.
What does it cost?
Most document work (leases, agreements, structures) is quoted as a fixed fee from the outset. Debt recovery is staged: a fixed fee for the letter of demand and for a statutory demand, then a written estimate for any court step. Larger matters such as a business sale or a contested proceeding are scoped and estimated in writing before we start, and you are told early if anything changes.
Someone owes my business money. What is the fastest way to recover it?
For a company debtor with no genuine dispute, a statutory demand: the company has 21 days to pay or apply to set it aside, failing which it is presumed insolvent and can be wound up. Most pay. For an individual, a bankruptcy notice works the same way once you have a judgment. For disputed debts, proceedings in the Magistrates’ Court (to $100,000) or the County Court. We tell you which fits on the first call.
I have received a statutory demand or a winding-up application. What now?
Call us the same day. A statutory demand must be paid, or an application made to set it aside, within 21 days; after that the company is presumed insolvent and the time cannot be extended. We regularly set aside defective demands and negotiate with creditors to stop a winding-up before the hearing.
Which court will my dispute be in?
In Victoria, claims up to $100,000 go to the Magistrates’ Court, larger claims to the County Court, and winding-up applications and the most complex matters to the Supreme Court. Bankruptcy is federal, in the Federal Circuit and Family Court. We act in all of them.
Do you work with my accountant?
Yes, and we prefer to. Structure, tax and succession decisions are better made together than in sequence.
Can you act for both my business and me personally?
Often, yes. Where your personal and business interests overlap, such as on separation or succession, we check for any conflict first and tell you plainly if separate advice is needed.
Other practice areas
- Property lawContract reviews, conveyancing and settlement for homes, investment property, off-the-plan, SMSF and trust purchases, subdivisions and commercial property, plus caveats, private mortgages and independent legal advice on guarantees.Explore property law
- Family lawSeparation, parenting arrangements and property settlements, including pools with businesses, trusts, investment property and superannuation.Explore family law
Next step
Let’s find the right next step.
Two offices, one team. Most first meetings are in South Yarra; Point Cook serves Melbourne’s west. Appointments are by arrangement, and most matters can run by phone, video and email.
South Yarra
Suite 501, 12-14 Claremont Street
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South Yarra VIC 3141Point Cook
Suite 7, Unit 114/22-30 Wallace Avenue
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Point Cook VIC 3030