How Visitation Rights Are Determined By A Family Court

Pynt Partners

Whenever a couple who have children go through a divorce, there can often be such discourse between them, that they try to use their children as bargaining chips, despite advice from their family lawyer saying that doing so will more likely harm their cause, than help it.

One way in which this manifests itself is that the parent with the greater financial resources will demand that they see their children whenever they please, and if not, they threaten to not pay any child support.

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10 Steps For Law Firms Who Wish To Add Video To Their Digital Marketing Campaigns

Pynt Partners

Anyone who has spent time online recently must have noticed that videos appear everywhere, and that is why so many businesses include video as part of their digital marketing. That is also true for law firms, so if your law firm is not yet using video for online marketing purposes, then it needs to start doing so soon.

You can be sure that many of your local competitors are using video, and that it will be boosting their efforts to gain authority, trust, and new clients. Every new client local competitors gain is one you have likely lost forever.

Now that you know the importance of online video to your law firm, below we have outlined ten steps to including and optimising videos within your digital marketing campaigns.

Research What Your Competitors Are Doing: You are not going to steal their video content and use it as your own, but, instead, research competitors who have had success with videos and seek to emulate their best practices.

Create A YouTube Channel: This is essential if you are going to have any impact online with your videos. YouTube channels are free and relatively simple to set up. Having a YouTube channel is also an excellent opportunity to bolster your branding.

Determine Your Target Audience: Logic states if you are targeting a local client base then your video should relate to local matters. Also, if you practice law within a legal niche then you want to take that into account when determining your audience demographics.

Plan Your Video Content: TV and movie executives research what audiences want first and then create those shows or movies. Likewise, you want to determine what sort of videos those seeking lawyers or who are interested in legal matters would want to view.

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Mothers Rights After They Separate From Their Child’s Father

Pynt Partners

One of the subjects that a family lawyer will be most asked about will come from mothers enquiring what their rights are regarding their children should she and the child’s father be going through a divorce. Often these questions come from the mother wrongly believing that she has more parental rights than the father.

It usually comes as a surprise to learn that far from the mother being the one who has sole responsibility for her children, that, instead, both she and the children’s father have joint parental responsibility. This was introduced in 1975 by legislation called the Family Law Act. This brought into the arena of parents. Children and divorce are the principle of equal rights for both parents.

It would seem this was a curtailment of the assumption that mothers would automatically be granted custody of a child, and with control came their right to choose and make decisions that affected that child. The Family Law Act did not remove that entirely but instead moved it to where both parents had those rights jointly.

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What Is The Process For Getting A Divorce?

Pynt Partners

It is a simple fact of modern-day life that couples get divorced, which is why family lawyers are never in danger of being bored through lack of work. Whilst it is possible to proceed with a divorce on your own and without legal representation, but it is not advised.

As with most other countries, there are a number of legal rules and relations relating to divorce in Australia, which if you get wrong, can mean your divorce is delayed, or worse, refused.

The main legislation that applies to divorce in Australia is the 1975 Family Law Act, and rather than ploughing through it and trying to understand what sections and paragraphs apply to your situation, you are best to seek legal advice or representation.

One of the first things to establish with your lawyers, is whether or not you are eligible to apply for divorce. An application for divorce can be made solely or jointly and eligibility and what documents who need to produce can differ depending on your residential status.

In all cases, you must be resident in Australia, and be able to show that you consider it your permanent home. If you are an Australian national, you must be able to produce a valid birth certificate.

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I’ve Been Fired Unfairly – What Can I Do?

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Australian employment laws are quite strict, and they provide a strong level of protection against unfair dismissal. If you’ve been fired or otherwise let go from your job without good reason, you may be eligible to make an unfair dismissal claim against your former employer.

In successful cases, these can result in significant monetary payouts, so it’s worth pursuing if you feel you’ve been wronged. There are a few different options available to Australians who are the victim of unfair dismissal, and we’ve covered these in the rest of this article.

What Is Meant By Unfair Dismissal?

Before we go any further, let’s have a quick look at exactly what unfair dismissal is. In short, it’s whenever your employer terminates your employment in an unreasonable or unfair manner. For example:

  • Being fired without reason or notification.
  • Being fired for something unrelated to your job, such as a personal issue.
  • Being fired for a performance-related issue without being given reasonable opportunity to address the issues.

If you’re a victim of an unfair dismissal, you will be able to make a claim or pursue further legal action.

What Do I Do if I’ve Been Unfairly Dismissed?

If you feel like you’ve been unfairly dismissed, you can make a claim to the Fair Work Commission, as long as a few conditions are met:

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Hiring the Right Legal Advice can Help you Minimise Risks and Losses

Pynt Partners

As you embark on the exciting journey of starting your own business, it’s very important to hire the right legal assistance right from the start. Experienced commercial lawyers can help identify potential risks and protect your valuable assets from the threat of potential litigation. Hiring a competent lawyer, trained in Australian commercial law is crucial to any business and he or she can assist your business in several ways which are enumerated below:

  • They can offer expert guidance on compliance laws; many times, new business entrepreneurs may be unaware of existing laws that govern business operations.
  • Top lawyers can help protect you from the risks of trademark and copyright infringement issues. Australian law is stringent with regard to copyright, trademark etc and this may increase the risk of punitive action or penalties.
  • Having a good lawyer on your aide can also help reduce the risk of lawsuits and liability. Businesses are vulnerable to lawsuits and liabilities in several ways. A customer, supplier or vendor etc may choose to start legal proceedings. Having valid contracts in place helps improve your chances of getting what you deserve.
  • Business contracts and agreements often contain technical legal terms and verbiage that ordinary folks may not be able to interpret correctly. A dependable lawyer will help you understand the terms contained in the documents that you sign.

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Regulation of Hi-Tech Crimes Under Australian law

Pynt Partners

A report out says that high tech crimes, also known as hi-tech crimes, are defined in Commonwealth legislation within Part 10.7 – Computer Offences of the Criminal Code Act 1995 as specific computer related offences, such as computer intrusions, or, in other words, malicious hacking, unauthorised modification of data, involving destruction of data, distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks using botnets, and the creation and distribution of malicious software, such as worms, viruses, Trojans. In Australia, each state and territory has enacted its own legislative framework that regulates computer-related offences. These frameworks resemble the Commonwealth legislation.

Computer intrusion is the first and foremost type of high tech crimes under Australia’s law. Australian statutes define computer intrusion as any unauthorised access to any computer or network of computers. The crime of computer intrusion may be manifested in different forms. Thus, it might take the form of hacking of free email services. The State or Territory police usually deal with the matters of hacking in cases when the perpetrator resides in Australia. In the majority of cases, Australian law enforcement agencies will be devoid of jurisdiction to investigate and prosecute cases of hacking when the perpetrator resides overseas.

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Is a Shareholders’ Dispute Threatening to Disrupt Business?

Pynt Partners

Obtain Insights into your Rights and Obligations

It’s common for friends to decide to go into business together. However, as experienced commercial lawyers will tell you, it’s equally common for friends to fall out when they become business partners. Businesses are often started by friends who take a shared idea or vision forward and turn into a profitable venture. The initial excitement of starting up a new business often results in the partners turning a blind eye to the problems that may occur in the future. This is especially true when young and inexperienced entrepreneurs embark on a new business.

There is always a possibility that things may turn sour or the partners may have divergent visions for the business. In other words, it’s important to have a set of watertight business documents and an agreement that provides guidelines on various aspects of business. In fact, it’s fairly common to come across businesses that lack governing documents in cases of disputes. Most shareholders tend to consult a legal professional after the problems start rearing their heads. It’s a good idea to have a business agreement or governing documents in place because you will have a well-structured reference that contains solutions to contentious issues that may arise.

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