Contract Disputes

Most business transactions involve a written or verbal contract. We are often approached to deal with contractual disputes of varying types, involving drafting demands and claims, conducting negotiations, commencing and conducting proceedings and providing representation in court, arbitration or mediation settings.

MC Lawyers has a comprehensive understanding of the law of contract and surrounding legislation, and our lawyers are adept at quickly determining whether the basic elements of an enforceable agreement are in place.

Debt Recovery 

Almost every commercial activity in the modern world involves the extension of credit by one party to another. A business that demands payment in advance is likely to be left behind by its competitors. Credit is everywhere.

When invoices remain unpaid there are two methods of debt recovery:

• Persuasion
• Litigation

Persuasion involves continually speaking and writing to the debtor, and essentially “harassing” them into paying. Creditors will usually start this process and, if unsuccessful, will either simply give up and write off the debt, or hand the matter over to a legal professional.

Litigation is the commencement of Court proceedings by a solicitor to recover amounts owed to you. Litigation moves through three distinct phases:

• Information exchange between the parties and with the Court.
• Hearing and judgment by the Court.
• Enforcement of that judgment through Court-controlled processes.

MC Lawyers handles all aspects of debt recovery. More importantly, we understand the importance of resolving issues efficiently and commercially. Our aim is to maximise your recovery and minimise your stress.

Pricing Options

We believe in offering our clients flexible and transparent pricing arrangements to suit their preferences and commercial imperatives.

Depending upon the matter, we can offer you the following pricing options:

1. Hourly rate pricing: this is the legal industry-standard method of billing. The amount of time spent working on a matter is the amount that will be billed, irrespective of outcome or value to the client. This option works best where there is a relationship of trust in which the scope of work is difficult to accurately price.

2. Fixed fee: this is an arrangement for the completion of defined piece of work at a fixed cost. This option gives the client cost certainty in terms of cost. This type of pricing is most suitable for reasonably simple matters lacking any unpredictable variables (e.g. a conveyance).

3. Capped fee: a capped fee is similar to the hourly pricing arrangement except the client stops paying after a certain “cap”. This provides costs certainty to the client as they will know the maximum amount that they will be liable to pay, with the possibility of a lower amount being payable if the work is completed more efficiently than the cap allows. This arrangement is generally suitable for medium complexity work with a limited number of material variables.

4. Risk-sharing arrangement: an arrangement whereby the law firm agrees to receive only a proportion of its professional fees billed with the balance payable on the successful conclusion of your matter. Disbursements are typically payable paid in full. This type of arrangement typically works well in complex large-scale litigation such as class actions.

5. Monthly retainer: this arrangement requires the client to pay a fixed amount every month in return for services which have a reasonably predictable steady flow. This is usually suitable for regular low complexity work with few to no variables.

Finalising Matters Early

Our lawyers specialise in being commercial which means, where possible, in settling disputes early. We know that a quick result is a preference for most people as they want to move on with their lives instead of spending time and resources engaged in protracted litigation.