So you have your business plan mapped out, have secured funding for your venture and are now ready to take a giant leap and secure premises for your operation. Before signing on the dotted line make sure that you know all there is to know about Retail and Commercial Leases. Firstly, Retail and Commercial Leases are governed by the Retail and Commercial Leases Act 1995 (SA). Before you enter … [Read more...]
Shining as an Estate Specialist: A Formula for Success
As a Principal at Welden & Coluccio Lawyers, this article explores my belief in the importance of expertise and how this motivated my decision to direct my energies towards the field of Estate Planning and Litigation. There is a tendency in the legal profession, particularly for small firms and sole practitioners, to accept any work which flows through the door. This activity, which is … [Read more...]
Law in the Technological Age: A Practical Reimagining
Jason Coluccio writes frankly about future directions in the legal profession, why law firms are facing huge challenges today and what he did about it. When I joined the legal profession in 2011 it was not as a fledgling, wide-eyed twenty-something graduate (with minimal life experience), but rather, as a reasonably savvy businessman with a proven track record in sales. It followed then, that … [Read more...]
Celebrity Wills Blog Series: (2) Heath Ledger
Updating your Will can be just as (possibly more) important than ensuring you have one in the first place. Celebrities are not immune from this either, take for example the ‘out of date’ Will of Heath Ledger. Everyone knows they should have a Will. Whether everyone actually has one is a different thing altogether. Whether it be apathy, laziness or fear of death, an alarmingly large number … [Read more...]
Real People, Real Law, Communicated Simply: What Makes Us Different
At Welden & Coluccio Lawyers we pride ourselves in having created, what we affectionately refer to as “a home-baked cookie kind of business”. I appreciate that this may seem like a long stretch. However, suspend your disbelief long enough to put aside your image of a lawyer (wig and gown clad if you wish), stooped over a stove, as the smell of freshly baked goods wafts gently in the … [Read more...]
There is no such thing as a ‘free’ Will’
While watching the footy one Sunday afternoon, an advertisement for an insurance company came on the television. In addition to selling insurance, the company told viewers that if they signed up within the next month they would receive, free of charge, a Will Kit. I imagine that a lot of people watching the advertisement thought it was a good offer. After all, who can resist a freebie? A Will is … [Read more...]
Celebrity Wills Blog Series: (1)Robin Williams
Every adult needs a Will. I say and write that repeatedly when speaking with new clients, current clients, friends or the public when presenting seminars or information sessions. So why do we not think that celebrities don’t have a Will? Of course they do. Celebrity Wills range from the complex, think Michael Jackson, to non-existent, Amy Winehouse or, (would you believe it?) Abraham … [Read more...]
“I’m uncomplicated so my Will should be pretty straightforward, right?”
If I had a dollar for every time someone said this to me I could retire right now. You see everyone thinks that their circumstances are straightforward and it follows then that they believe that their Estate needs will be easily satisfied with either a “cheap Will”, a blank template where you enter names and addresses; or, even worse, a DIY Will Kit. Truth is, few Wills actually are … [Read more...]
Top Excuses For Not Having a Will
When you are dead, you are dead. Nothing can be done from the grave to counteract what you should have planned for when you were alive. In spite of this, too many of our clients leave it until they are in their twilight years before making the appointment to have their first Will drafted. These are the lucky few in an all too common scenario of people who have delayed drafting a Will. The … [Read more...]
eConveyancing: Welcome to a Brave New World!
Without overstating matters the legal profession is reluctant to embrace change. Suffice to say that there are many legal procedures that have stoically remained in place for many years (sometimes a few hundred). Indeed it is this stubborn refusal to budge on tradition that is sometimes to our detriment as professionals. While some things are worth holding onto (we should perhaps keep our … [Read more...]
