Law office desk

Insights

Insights & Updates

Practical legal commentary from the Abbots Legal team.

Latest articles

Retail shopfront and commercial tenancy

Commercial Leasing

Am I a Commercial or Retail Tenant? And Why Does It Matter?

The classification of your lease changes your rights, your obligations, and the laws that apply to you – often in ways that carry significant financial consequences. Many tenants assume this is a straightforward question. It is not.

May 2026 · 4 min readRead Article
Legal documents on a desk

Wills & Estates

Lost Trust Deed: What Happens and What You Must Do

The trust deed is the founding document of every family trust. Without it, the trust has no rules. Losing it can be expensive, disruptive, and – in some cases – fatal to the trust itself.

June 2026 · 3 min readRead Article
Business meeting in boardroom

Business

Shareholder agreements: the document founders always wish they had earlier.

What a shareholder agreement does, why a template will not cut it, and the clauses that prevent the most disputes. Most business disputes that end up in litigation could have been avoided – or resolved far more cheaply – if a properly drafted shareholder agreement had been in place from the start.

March 2026 · 7 min readRead Article
Lease contract negotiation

Commercial Leasing

The Australian Consumer Law and Leasing: What Tenants Should Know

The ACL gives tenants a powerful tool that operates independently of lease exclusion clauses. Here is what landlords and tenants should understand before signing — or disputing — a lease.

June 2026 · 3 min readRead Article
Retail shopping centre exterior

Commercial Leasing

Rent review caps survive: Court of Appeal draws the line

Whether a retail lease may cap the extent to which rent increases on review has been a source of uncertainty for landlords and tenants in Victoria. The Court of Appeal's refusal of leave in Northcote Shopping Centre v Aldi Foods makes the position considerably clearer.

June 2026 · 3 min readRead Article

Let's start the conversation today.

Tell us about your matter - we'll respond within one business day.