Retail & Commercial Leasing: Issues & Disputes in the Current Market
Navigate the many recent & ongoing changes impacting retail & commercial leasing by staying on top of the latest legal issues while bolstering your dispute strategies. Gain knowledge in subleases & assignments, agreements for lease, make good provisions & insolvency issues. Develop essential skills for successfully navigating breach issues, dispute resolution and mediation from industry experts, including a VSB Panel Mediator’s perspective, as they prepare you for the next hurdle thrown at you. WEB2111V06
Description
Attend the full day and earn 7 CPD units including:
6 units in Substantive Law
1 unit in Professional Skills
This program is based on VIC legislation
Session 1
Leasing Updates, Drafting, Assignment & Financial Issues
Chair: Norman Mermelstein, Director, Law Ink Pty Ltd
9.00am to 9.05am Opening Comments by the Chair
9.05am to 9.50am Critical Case Update
Examine some of the key cases in retail and commercial leasing with the renowned Sam Hopper as he breaks down the facts of each case and the crucial takeaways you can add to your leasing knowledge base and repertoire.
Presented by Brenton Devanny, Barrister, Foley’s List
9.50am to 10.35am A Guide to Agreements for Lease
- Understanding heads of agreement
- Examining enforcement
- When should they be used?
- Practical tips on what to avoid
Presented by Robert Hay KC, Barrister, Dawson Chambers
10.35am to 10.50am Morning Tea
10.50am to 11.35am Subleases and Assignments: a Practical Primer
- Considerations from a landlord and tenant perspective
- Relevant cases and legislation
- Practical tips for practitioners
Presented by Samantha Taylor, Principal, Russel Kennedy Lawyers
Professional Skills
11.35am to 12.20pm THE ACCOUNTING PERSPECTIVE: Retail & Commercial Leasing: The Accounting Implications
- Examine key accounting requirements for leasing
- Overview of lease term considerations
- Discuss payment options and the impact on accounting
- The impact of modifying terms including for COVID related rent concessions
- The accounting for make good provisions
Presented by Patricia Stebbens, Partner and Daina Klunder, Director, KPMG
12.20pm to 1.05pm Insolvency Issues in Leasing
- Effect on leases of external administration
- Ipso facto clauses in leases
- Security deposits and bank guarantees
- Claims by liquidators and defenses to claims
Presented by Jamie Bedelis, Principal, Bedelis Lawyers; Accredited Specialist in Commercial Tenancy Law
1.05pm to 1.15pm Final Q&A and Closing Comments from the Chair
Session 2
Leasing Disputes: Prevention and Resolution
Chair: Jane Baddeley, Partner, Hall & Wilcox
2.00pm to 2.50pm Strategies for Dealing with Breach Issues
- Breach of landlord obligations
- Breaches of legislative obligations
- Correctly identifying relevant breaches
- Notice of default requirements: contents of notice, provisions of lease and Section 146
- Breaches not capable of remedy
- Calculation of damages
- Relief from forfeiture
Presented by Paul Nunan, Director, Eastern Bridge PTY Limited
2.50pm to 3.40pm Navigating Leasing Disputes: Tactics & Best Practices
- General strategies for avoiding and managing lease defaults
- Warning signs and important principles
- Lease termination
- Tenant restructuring
Presented by David Dickens, Partner, Hall & Wilcox
3.40pm to 3.55pm Afternoon Tea
Professional Skills
3.55pm to 4.40pm Dispute Resolution: A Mediator’s Perspective
- Dispute resolution for retail and commercial leases
- Mediation: insights and practical tips
- Good faith negotiations
- Closing the gap
- Dealing with high conflict personalities
Presented by Anna McRae-Anderson, Principal, McRae-Anderson Mediation, Accredited Specialist in Mediation, Panel Mediator, Victorian Small Business Commission
4.40pm to 5.15pm PRACTICAL PANEL DISCUSSION: Panel Discussion: Answers to the Questions that Matter Most
- What are some mistakes practitioners make and how can they be avoided?
- Best techniques and strategies seen during a dispute that have led to success
- Dealing with uncooperative sides when carrying out dispute resolution
- Common mistakes often seen in disputes
Presented by Paul Nunan, Director, Eastern Bridge PTY Limited, David Dickens, Partner, Hall & Wilcox, Anna McRae-Anderson, Principal, McRae-Anderson Mediation, Accredited Specialist in Mediation, Panel Mediator, Victorian Small Business Commission
Presenters
Norman Mermelstein
Norman is the principal of Law Ink Pty Ltd, and Property Investment Services Pty Ltd, an REIV accredited Owners Corporations Specialist, and for the past 14 years, co-author of the Owners Corporations Chapter of the Fitzroy Legal Service’s Law Handbook. After winning a 7-year legal battle in the High Court of Australia related to a fraudulent property transaction, Norman realised his passion in justice and became a solicitor specialising in owners corporations law, property law, wills and estates and commercial leases. Norman is widely recognised in the real estate and legal community. He is a Committee Member of the Owners Corporations Chapter and Members Council delegate of the Real Estate Institute of Victoria (REIV), a fellow of the Real Estate Institute of Australia, an accredited mediator and serves on three Committees at the Law Institute of Victoria.
Brenton Devanny
Brenton Devanny has a broad commercial practice. He has a focus on insolvency, banking and finance, commercial arbitration and corporations law. Brenton appears both unled and as a junior. He is a market leader in high-tech legal conferencing and remote appearances with state-of-the-art chambers in Melbourne. He often appears remotely throughout Australia and beyond. Brenton holds a Master of Laws from the University of Melbourne (with a focus on International Insolvency and Arbitration) as well as a Bachelor of Laws (with Honours) and a Bachelor of Commerce.
Jane Baddeley
Jane has been a practising solicitor for over 20 years specialising in Real Estate law with a focus on leasing in the commercial, retail, industrial, education and government sectors in all Australian jurisdictions. Jane has a focus on corporate occupier work; acting for commercial tenants in major lease transactions including head office relocations, purpose built industrial premises, distribution centres and data centres. Jane is a long-standing member of both the Victorian Commercial & Corporate Real Estate Committee of the Property Council of Australia and the Law Council of Australia’s Australian Law Property Law Group, Victorian Committee.
Samantha Taylor
Samantha has experience in a variety of commercial property transactions including sales and acquisitions and commercial leasing. Samantha advises both landlord and tenant clients in all aspects of leasing transactions, across all Australian jurisdictions. In addition to her leasing work, Samantha advises clients in respect of commercial sales and acquisitions, including preparing and reviewing transaction documents. Samantha has broad commercial knowledge, having lectured in Commercial Law and Corporations Law at Monash Business School and Corporations Law at Melbourne Law School.
Robert Hay KC
Robert Hay KC has been a barrister at the Victorian Bar since 1992 and practice mainly in the area of property law including sale of land, owners' corporation disputes, mortgages and leasing. He also acts as a mediator in property law disputes. Robert has been engaged to provide advice to government bodies about legislation and property law issues. Robert has co-author the following leading texts - Bradbrook, Croft and Hay Commercial Tenancy Law (4 ed, LexisNexis); Croft and Hay The Mortgagee's Power of Sale (4th ed, LexisNexis); Croft and Hay Retail Leases Victoria (looseleaf)(LexisNexis). Before becoming a barrister he was a cadet journalist with "The Mercury" newspaper in Hobart and a solicitor at Arthur Robinson & Hedderwicks in Melbourne (now Allens) (1987 - 1992).
Patricia Stebbens
Patricia is a senior partner with more than 15 years’ experience providing technical accounting and advisory services. She is one of KPMG's leading professionals in the area of accounting for structured transactions and financial instruments. Her clients include large financial services and industrial entities. Patricia is responsible for identifying and resolving interpretative issues arising from the application of accounting standards on financial instruments and leases, including the newly issued AASB. She will be able to share insights on international and local interpretations and market practice gained from her experience. Prior to taking this position at KPMG, Patricia was a Senior Project Director at the Australian Accounting Standards Board (AASB) where she worked with board members of the US Financial Accounting Standards Board, International Accounting Standards Board and the Canadian Institute of Chartered Accountants on major projects.
Daina Klunder
Daina Klunder is Director of CFO Advisory, KPMG. Daina devotes her time to accounting change projects and the adoption of new accounting standards, and technical issues which include leasing, business combinations and revenue recognition. She focuses on a broad variety of multinational, globally listed companies within the retail, food and beverage, manufacturing, consumer markets and education industries. She is a member of the KPMG Leasing and IFRS network. Prior to re-joining KPMG Australia in early 2017, Daina was a Director within KPMG's New York Accounting Advisory Services team where she led a number of accounting change projects, and international buy side and integration projects related to convergence between IFRS and US GAAP.
Rochelle Castro
Rochelle is the principal of RC & Co Lawyers, an international and specialised boutique law firm with branches in Melbourne, Perth and Makati Philippines. She practices in the areas of strata, construction, property, litigation, insolvency and immigration. Rochelle is also a trainer of Strata Community Association providing strata education in all States in Australia and New Zealand. She also presents to a number of private companies of the commercial and strata sphere. She is a founding member of Club United Business Melbourne and is currently undertaking Masters in Construction Law at Melbourne University.
Jamie Bedelis, Principal, Bedelis Lawyers
Jamie Bedelis is the principal of Bedelis Lawyers, a property law and commercial law firm. He is accredited by the Law Institute of Victoria as a specialist in Commercial Tenancy Law, and practices in the areas of property and commercial law. He is a co-author of the Thomson Reuters loose leaf service Commercial and Retail Leasing in Australia. He is a member of the Leases Committee and the Property and Environmental Law Executive Committee of the Law Institute of Victoria.
David Dickens
David is a Partner in the commercial disputes resolution group at Hall & Wilcox. David frequently advises on property disputes, acting for national landlords, significant tenants, investors and developers in real estate disputes. As a commercial litigator, he regularly acts for clients in disputes involving complex contractual issues, trusts, misleading and deceptive conduct and regulatory obligations. He has appeared in the Supreme Court of Victoria, the Federal Court and VCAT and represents clients in mediations and arbitrations.
Anna McRae-Anderson
Anna has over 20 years commercial dispute resolution experience, is a nationally accredited mediator and Australian Legal Practitioner with Law Institute of Victoria accredited specialisation in mediation. Prior to becoming a mediator, Anna worked as a commercial litigator representing parties in all manner of commercial disputes across all jurisdictions, providing Anna with vivid insight into the challenges faced by participants in our legal system as well as the many benefits of mediation in dispute resolution. Anna brings to her mediations her compassion for those in dispute, specialist skills in negotiation and facilitation, an understanding of creative and commercial solutions, as well as her vast understanding of the law, court processes and strategies.
Paul Nunan
Paul has been a director of Eastern Bridge for over ten years. Paul is a property and commercial lawyer and is recognised and accredited by the Law Institute of Victoria as a specialist commercial leasing lawyer.