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Start
Structure, founders, first contracts, the brand.
Sydney · New South Wales · Commercial Law
The contract records who won. The deal decides it.
Most legal advice arrives after the critical decisions have already been made. Docet Legal works earlier.
A full-service commercial practice for businesses across New South Wales, outside the courtroom. Contracts, structuring, deals, people, property, compliance, disputes and succession, from one lawyer. Direct advice. Fixed scope. No unnecessary correspondence.
The deal decides it
Most deals are decided before the lawyer enters the room.
By the time a contract arrives for review, the real negotiation is already over. The leverage was set in earlier conversations. The key terms were agreed in principle. The document is just recording who won.
What we do
One practice for the whole life of a business.
Thirteen areas of work, outside the courtroom. Here they are by the stage a business is at, because that is how the questions arrive.
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Grow
Deals, premises, people, franchising, a retainer.
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Protect
Terms, privacy, debtors, disputes, the family.
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Exit
Selling the business, succession, the estate.
Contracts
Every business runs on a handful of documents.
Terms of trade. A service agreement. The contract with the biggest supplier. A shareholders agreement. Get those right and most legal problems never arrive. The practice reads the ones sent to you, writes the ones you issue, and negotiates the ones that matter.
Who we help
Businesses, and the people who run them.
- Business owners buying or selling
- Founders setting up and raising
- Employers, and employees when it goes wrong
- Franchisees and franchisors
- Commercial tenants and landlords
- Businesses that want a lawyer on retainer
- Owners planning succession and estates
- Professional referrers
Working together
Straightforward from the first email.
Docet Legal takes on matters selectively and works directly. No hand-offs. No unnecessary layers. This is how an engagement runs.
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A short conversation
Send a note about what is happening, or call. You will hear back within one business day. There is no obligation and no charge for finding out whether the matter is a fit.
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Scope and fee, in writing
Before any work starts, you receive the scope and the fee. Fixed, in writing. If the matter changes shape along the way, the fee is revised with you first, not billed after.
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The work itself
You deal directly with the lawyer doing the work. Advice arrives in plain English and ends with a recommendation, not a menu of options to decode.
Worth knowing
Fixed fees
Most matters are quoted as a fixed amount before work begins. The engagement terms are published openly, not sent on request.
Costs and engagement →One business day
Initial enquiries receive a reply within one business day, usually sooner. If the matter is not a fit, you will be told plainly and pointed somewhere better.
Get in touch →Persian · فارسی
Advice is available in Persian. The practice has served Sydney's Farsi-speaking business community since it opened.
صفحه فارسی →Leasing, Australia-wide
Lease matters run through The Leasing Lawyer, the practice's dedicated leasing site. Online, for landlords and tenants in every state.
theleasinglawyer.com.au →Free resources
A pre-signing lease checklist, a plain-English client guide, and a plain-terms glossary, free to read and print. No email required.
Resources →Insights
Short pieces on contracts, leasing, and franchising. Written to be used, not skimmed. Reading time is printed on each one.
Read the insights →On retainer
A fixed monthly fee, and the practice becomes the place the question goes first. Contracts, staff, compliance, debtors, and the dates that matter, tracked for you.
Outsourced general counsel →Outside the courtroom
The practice does not litigate. Tribunals, commissions and mediation, yes. When a matter needs a court, it is handed to a litigator on the panel, with no referral fee either way.
What is handed on →Thirteen areas
From the first contract to the sale, the succession and the estate. Contracts, structuring, deals, property, franchising, employment, IP, compliance, debtors, disputes, wills, a retainer.
The practice →Advice in plain English and in Persian, for the people building businesses across Sydney and beyond.
The name
The name is Latin: docet means he or she teaches.
Good legal counsel brings clarity to a question, not only an answer to it.