Tim Benjamin and Benjamin Lawyers have acted for me personally and for my business for several years. They successfully sued a landlord for damage caused to one of our premises caused by water penetration where liability was initially strongly denied. Since then they have acted in commercial conveyancing and leasing matters as well as providing general business law advice. Tim gets quickly to the heart of commercial and legal issues and explains things in an easy to understand way but without sacrificing accuracy or thoroughness. He and his team are great to work with and I value their advice and services immensely.
Our business has been a client of Tim Benjamin for the past 10 years.
During that period his firm has advised on, and very effectively managed, a wide variety of work for our business, ranging from commercial leases, to new trading agreements, copyright infringements, partnership and HR disputes, an acquisition, and the eventual sale of the business to our current multinational owner (Roca Corporación Empresarial S.A.) who continues to retain their services.
Throughout our association, Tim Benjamin and his team have invariably provided us with solid commercially relevant advice, and when required, they have executed actions on our behalf to achieve the best results available to us.
Benjamin’s communicate well, in order to fully understand our position and objectives, and on several memorable occasions have recommended innovative solutions that have achieved the desired results much more economically than expected.
For any business that values a long term legal relationship that offers commercial intelligence, integrity, consistency and excellent value, I would be very comfortable to recommend this firm.
The legal team at Benjamin Lawyers have delivered exceptional results for us over the years. They are committed to addressing our concerns, protecting our commercial interests and will offer lateral solutions in addition to a traditional legal path. We look forward to continuing our beneficial relationship with Tim and the team
Tim Benjamin and his team at Benjamin Lawyers have been providing Global Shop Direct with high quality commercial legal service for over 8 years now, predominantly in the areas of IP infringement and contracts. I and the team at Global Shop Direct have worked very closely with Tim and his colleagues and can always depend upon them to be highly practical in their approach and to be charged fairly and reasonably when considering the expertise and high quality advice and legal services that they deliver. Tim is well respected for his open and honest approach to working through any issues that may arise during the course of doing business and we look forward to continuing to work with him in the future.
Benjamin Lawyers have proven themselves the ideal legal specialist for my business. The breadth of my business in services and products requires a legal counsel that can match that diversity of practices and procedures, not only specific to my industry but tailored to our unique requirements as clients.
Benjamin Lawyers continue to deliver comprehensive, valuable solutions for my business that are in step with our goals and keep pace with our program.
As the old saying goes, no one likes to talk to their lawyer. However, Tim Benjamin is the only lawyer I have ever loved in my 25+ years of business. Honest, direct, keen to assist, but knows how to really get something resolved with the best outcome at a value for money price. One particular issue we had, was to get out of a long term contract that the supplier was failing to deliver on; Not only did Tim release us of that contract, but was able to negotiate a large refund of money already paid that not only covered his fees, but returned far more than we had ever expected. Excellent organisation and I would highly recommend!
Tim and his team at Benjamin Lawyers have advised SSS on IP matters for many years. Their work is extremely professional, commercially focussed and efficient. This is the best IP firm and team I have ever come across and worked with. I have no hesitation in recommending them.
Our company Chemcorp Pty Ltd and I have engaged the services of Tim Benjamin and his team for over 10 years in both a commercial and personal capacity. Tim has always shown the highest level of professionalism - ensuring our goals are met in the most cost effective manner.
A new client came to us after he had signed up to invest in an agricultural scheme, in order to defer an income tax liability to future years. This involved borrowing from a financier and paying management fees in advance – at commencement and each year thereafter – in return for the profits from agricultural production on land leased by him.
By developing a cogent argument that the Trade Practices Act (as it then was) applied, we were able to negotiate a settlement under which our client paid less than one third of the amount claimed, saving him a significant sum. Although we were confident of winning a fully litigated case, we advised our client to settle because he would have spent more money fighting the case (even if he had won and obtained a costs order which was satisfied) than the amount he ended up paying.
A retailer was sued in the Federal Court for infringement of a trademark, plus misleading and deceptive conduct.
We mounted a defence based on the fact that the public would not have been confused by the similarities, as each business catered to a different market. The case settled at compulsory court supervised mediation, allowing our client keep the disputed keyword in its brand name with only minor amendments so as to make clear the difference between the two businesses. A major win for our client in the settlement was the fact that we were able to keep the legal costs to about a third of that of the opposing party.
An importer-distributor and online retailer of authorised fast moving consumer goods was plagued by competitors importing and distributing goods from China that were either counterfeits or were marketed using packaging, images and text in breach of copyrights in which our client had exclusive rights.
We launched a campaign to stop these infringers. An important part being the lodgement of objection notices with Customs. Under this procedure, Customs will seize and destroy goods that match the description in the objection notices, unless the importer claims the goods within a defined period. We were successful in having infringing items forfeited and destroyed, even when the importer claimed the goods. This victory was highly significant to our client as the business strongly relied on large-value contracts, which may have been put at risk had our client not taken the necessary and appropriate action to protect the position of the genuine articles.
Distributors and agents are often left empty-handed when their supplier or principal terminates their exclusive agency – sometimes after many years. It may be due to a trade sale of the principal, generational change in its management or aggressive tactics from a competitor. The courts can imply significant notice periods of six months or so – but this is not much consolation for all the effort that the agent has expended in building the goodwill surrounding the product in its territory.
For one client, we were able to lessen the impact by negotiating and documenting a minimum term, plus a watertight mechanism that ensured our client continued to receive commission after the exclusive contract was terminated.
In another case, we drafted a clause under which termination triggered an obligation to acquire the distributor’s goodwill in the product, significantly reducing any financial loss for our client.
Our client, a security company, was being prosecuted by the Security Licensing and Enforcement Directorate of the New South Wales Police (SLED) for various offences which they alleged against our client following the breaches of a renegade employee.
We defended the six charges in the Local Court and the Supreme Court and the matter was eventually disposed of by SLED dropping of all charges bar one to which our client pleaded guilty without a conviction being recorded.
