Category: Commercial

What is a contract?  A contract isn’t just a piece of paper. It has specific, defined elements: it is an agreement entered into between two or more parties with the intention of creating a legal obligation. A contract gives both parties legal protection, in that the other party will be required to perform “their end of the bargain”.   When will you be bound by a contract? In order for a contract to be legally binding, there are a few requirements: There must be consensus between the parties, which means a “meeting of the minds”, or agreement, regarding the respective obligations...

What is corporate espionage? While it conjures images of a spy stealing top secret documents, Corporate Espionage, which is also referred to as industrial espionage, economic espionage or corporate spying, is a very real offence. Corporate Espionage means the unlawful theft of intellectual property of an organisation, such as any key trade secrets, patents, business or manufacturing techniques, business processes, or even ideas or formulas. While most successful companies gather information on their rival companies, in some instances, this practice of information gathering can step over the line and be illegal.  What are examples of corporate espionage?  All of the...

What is syndicated finance? A syndicated loan, or a syndicated bank facility, is simply a loan agreement concluded between an individual borrower and several different lenders. A syndicated business loan involves several entities, namely the borrower of the funds, multiple lenders and the arrangers, who will locate the actual entities who will be loaning the funds to the individual borrower. The lenders are collectively known as a “syndicate”, and these entities work together to provide funding to the borrower. Who can take out a syndicated loan? The borrower can be anyone from a corporation, a large project or even a...

How can you get out of a lease? Generally speaking, there are a limited number of ways a tenant can get out of their lease without penalty. One of these ways is a “force majeure” or an act of God. This refers to any extraordinary circumstance, which is out of the control of the parties, such as a riot, war, earthquake or flood. In practise, this will generally suspend the agreement for the duration of the force majeure. These “acts of God” are usually clearly defined in your lease agreement, as well as each party’s respective obligations during that event. ...

What is Online Dispute Resolution? Since the onset of Covid, the world has shifted towards becoming more dependent on technology. Technology is such a key part in our lives and has even filtered into arbitration in the form of Online Dispute Resolution (ODR). ODR is essentially using technology for Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR). ODR can be seen as a response to globalisation, and essentially allows for dispute resolution without borders, meaning that a person is able to resolve issues with anyone, anywhere, at any time. The usage of ODR has many advantages such as streamlining in the backlog of cases...