Expertise

When it comes to legal issues, you need the right advice. At Astills, we practice in the following areas of law:

Property
Banking & Finance
Corporate
Litigation
Family Law
Intellectual Property
Insurance Law
Personal Injuries
Estate Planning & Succession

Detailed Services

Property – conveyancing, leasing, mixed use developments, low, medium and high density residential developments, community title schemes,  commercial developments, copyright, licensing, franchising.

Banking & Finance – commercial loan facility agreements for construction, joint  venture funding, term loans, negative pledge, profit share, non-recourse facilities and all associated securities.

The commercial law of securities is an area where particular expertise is required, especially when dealing with corporate borrowers and third party security providers. One also has to be careful when dealing with a “group” of companies. Recent court cases have indicated that financiers must now exercise a form of commercial morality when the circumstances require and can no longer ignore corporate management procedures as your obligation as a financier in commercial matters is to make “due inquiry”. In short, a greater legal standard is required of commercial financiers.

Our commercial lending expertise includes group lending, staged development acquisition and construction finance, corporate debenture and third party securities, vendor funding, inventory, debtor and chattel finance, factoring and all associated documentation which include: 

Loan facility Agreements incorporating Lump Sum Cash Advance, Revolving Cash Advance Facility, Multi Option Trade Facility, Progressive Drawdown Facility;
Bills of Mortgage (Freehold & Leasehold);
Bills of Sale;
Deeds of Guarantee and Indemnity (Corporate);
Fixed & Floating Charges and Mortgage Debentures;
Deeds of Priority;
Builder / Developer Side Agreements with Financier;
Deed of Subordination of Shareholder and Beneficiary Loan Accounts;
Corporations Law Director’s Minutes, Declarations and Shareholder’s Minutes;
Company Constitution and Trustee Powers Variation Deeds;
Non-Recourse Facilities;
Debtor Funding Facilities;
Negative Pledge and Profit Share; and
Joint Venture Agreements.

Recoveries, corporate work outs, receiverships, administrations, controller appointments, liquidations, forced sales for commercial and credit code recoveries, power of sale.

We have a wealth of experience in high volume residential mortgage processing of Securities and Credit Code loan contracts. We are completely “au fait” with all the compliance issues presented by the Code in respect of documenting and varying Credit Code facilities. As we represent a number of different residential lenders, we have developed some expertise in the regulatory Credit Code arena.

Corporate – private company, buy-outs, disposals, partnerships, franchises, joint ventures, trusts, shareholders agreements, revenue law.

Litigation – commercial, trade practices, building and construction.

Family Law – divorce, property settlement.

Intellectual Property – copyright and trademark protection.

Insurance Law – general and public liability, motor vehicle, maritime, occupiers, local government and policy wording advice.

Personal Injuries – motor vehicle accident, work-related injury, slipping cases and public liability.

Estate Planning & Succession Law – wills, testamentary discretionary trusts (“TDT”), corporate succession, retirements, buy-outs, annuities, challenging wills and trusts litigation.