We structure our support around the entire lifecycle of your commercial endeavours, offering deep, integrated expertise in the following key areas:
We act as your strategic legal partner from inception to completion. Our support encompasses initial commercial strategy and risk allocation, through to precise drafting, vigorous negotiation, and seamless execution. We provide ongoing advisory during implementation, manage variations and claims, and assist with dispute resolution or formal close-out. Our goal is to transform complex agreements into reliable frameworks for your success, ensuring legal integrity at every phase.
Proactive identification and management of legal, commercial, and fiscal risk is critical. We conduct meticulous audits of your contractual arrangements, operational processes, and transaction structures. Collaborating closely with you, we develop and implement strategic, pragmatic mitigation plans. This holistic approach safeguards your interests not only under contract law but also against potential tax exposures and regulatory pitfalls.
Clarity and strategic foresight in documentation are fundamental. We expertly draft, review, and negotiate a wide spectrum of agreements, ensuring your commercial and fiscal objectives are securely embedded. Our services include:
• Complex Commercial Agreements: Shareholder agreements, Joint Ventures (JVs), consortium arrangements, strategic alliances, and comprehensive supply/service contracts.
• Project & Construction Contracts: Engineering, Procurement, and Construction (EPC) contracts, design and construct agreements, consultancy deeds, and subcontractor packages.
• Procurement & Tendering: Legal design and input into Request for Proposals (RFPs), tender documentation, and bid submissions to establish clear, defensible foundations.
• Tax-Aware Structuring: Integrating tax efficiency into the very architecture of your deals, advising on GST, stamp duty, income tax, and structuring implications for asset purchases, business sales, and mergers.
We are skilled advocates focused on securing optimal commercial outcomes. Our approach to negotiation is informed, strategic, and results-oriented, aiming to finalise agreements favorably and efficiently. When disputes arise, we leverage deep expertise in alternative dispute resolution (ADR)—including mediation and expert determination—to achieve cost-effective solutions. We litigate decisively when it is the most strategic path to protect your position and assets.
Operational clarity is key to performance and compliance. We provide authoritative, practical advice on interpreting existing contracts, helping you navigate rights, obligations, and potential disputes. This extends to strategic commercial guidance, developing internal precedent libraries, and drafting critical correspondence. Furthermore, we provide ongoing tax law advice on the application of contracts, ensuring transactional decisions are made with a clear understanding of their fiscal consequences.
Protecting your cash flow is paramount. We develop and execute robust strategies for preparing, serving, and enforcing progress payment claims under security of payment legislation (including Queensland’s Building Industry Fairness (Security of Payment) Act 2017). We provide expert defence against disputed or invalid claims and offer structured support for complex debt recovery and claims management processes to secure what you are rightfully owed.
The modern business landscape is governed by a complex matrix of laws and regulations. We provide clear guidance to ensure your operations and projects comply with all relevant corporate, industry-specific, and statutory obligations. Our tax law services ensure rigorous compliance with ATO requirements, assist with rulings and disclosures, and navigate state-based duties and taxes, preventing costly delays, penalties, and audits.
We believe in empowering your team. We design and deliver customised training programs and interactive workshops on critical topics such as contract lifecycle management, effective negotiation, security of payment rights, directors’ duties, and key principles of commercial tax. Our training transforms legal knowledge into practical business skill, enhancing your organisational resilience and commercial acumen.
Contact SCD Lawyers today for a detailed consultation. Let our comprehensive commercial and tax law expertise provide the strategic foundation and proactive protection your business requires to thrive.
We are dedicated to understanding your business, its history, and its specific short- and long-term goals. By guiding you through each stage of the commercial dispute process, we become an extension of you or your organization, depending on whether you or your business is involved in the conflict.
Through our specialized solutions, we help companies effectively resolve conflicts while ensuring that you are informed about your legal rights and options for preventing or addressing violations.
Revenue agencies perform a variety of compliance reviews on taxpayers, which might be dangerous if you don't have help handling them.
Some assessments are so thorough that they are actually audits under a different name.
International transactions, possibly unreported income, input tax credit claims, employment taxes and superannuation, and taxes or levies on significant sale transactions are among the common topics for risk reviews.
We can assist you in comprehending the questions posed by the revenue agency, responding to their concerns, and effectively handling the repercussions.
Taxpayers' affairs are audited by revenue agencies, which typically involve thorough investigations into the taxpayer, their activities, and their compliance with tax requirements.
In order to gather information or records, or even to conduct an oath interview, many of these audits require the employment of mandatory notice powers.
Potentially unreported income, unexplained wealth, input tax credit claims with associates, transactions involving private companies or trusts, employer liabilities, and sales of significant assets are among the common audit topics.
We can assist you in handling these audits, comprehending the agency's objectives, addressing their worries, and handling the fallout.
The impacted taxpayers will frequently argue with a revenue agency's judgment over a tax or duty assessment, or even a private ruling.
Statutory objections, in which the taxpayer explains what they disagree with and why, are typically the first step in this procedure.
We can assist you in developing the most compelling arguments, the greatest supporting data, and the strongest grounds for your objection.
The authority to collect debts owing to revenue authorities is powerful.
Many taxpayers, frequently for valid business or personal reasons, are unable to pay their debts.
We can assist you in negotiating with revenue agencies and investigating their options to pay penalties and/or interest, adjust payment schedules, come to a payment plan, or even request debt relief or release.
Taxpayers who disagree with a revenue agency may have to file a lawsuit, whether the dispute concerns debt collection or substantive duty for taxes, fines, or interest.
Either by representing you directly or by collaborating with other attorneys on your behalf to get the best result, we can assist you in handling such litigation successfully.
Tax-related offenses, such as allegedly failing to file returns or other forms, making false statements, or maintaining misleading records, are frequently prosecuted by revenue agencies and prosecuting authorities.
Whether we represent you directly or collaborate with other legal experts to get the best result, we can assist you in defending yourself against such accusations.
In many cases, taxpayers must communicate with revenue agencies regarding their superannuation or tax matters.
By serving as your representatives when interacting with the revenue agency to address any concerns you may have and guarantee continued adherence to your taxation duties, we can assist you in handling this.
Disputes between taxpayers and revenue organizations, such as the tax office, are common.
We can assist you in assessing your case, facilitating communication with the revenue agency, and advancing the settlement of your disagreement with them.
People frequently neglect to consider an arrangement's tax implications before putting it into effect.
In order to prevent you from paying more tax than is required, we can assist you in structuring your transactions in the most tax-effective manner possible given your unique situation.
