Did you miss our previous webinars? 

In this month’s webinar, Ashley was joined by Brent Lodding for an interesting discussion. Brent is a Partner at Robert James Lawyers in Melbourne with over 20 years of experience in commercial litigation and dispute resolution. Brent practices in all forms of commercial dispute resolution including commercial negotiation, mediation and litigation with specialty areas including contractual disputes, insolvency and restructuring, building and construction and banking and financial disputes.​ Brent and Ashley will be exploring the topic and implications of company grouping and its relevance for directors regarding company debts. Whether it be the State Revenue offices, Workcover, ATO and many other agencies there can be significant ramifications for directors and there company group. It is sure to be a fascinating discussion.

Our first webinar for 2024 on Thursday 22 February 2024 featured the annual conversation between the dynamic duo, Ashley Shield and Hank de Jonge, focusing on what we can expect for the year ahead, lessons learnt over the last year as well as some interesting recent case studies.

We all know the old riddle “How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time.” While the team at de Jonge Read provide strategies and improved outcomes for any size business, our upcoming November webinar focuses on several of the larger matters (elephants if you will) that we have helped our clients through in recent times. This will include client examples such as an international company with multiple jurisdictions, who unfortunately lost their legal case after years in the courts. Another is a large restaurant chain with over 15 companies affected by the pandemic, where de Jonge Read’s strategy used a little-known tool (a joint VA and DOCA) to manage the costs and bring the group of 15 companies through to continue trading. Ashley Shield will be joined by Corey Cole from our Victorian office. Corey is a CA who has more than 20 years experience in advising and managing all types of formal and informal personal and corporate insolvency administrations and turnaround engagements. Our discussions on this webinar will include how de Jonge Read’s advice and expertise can help any sized client to achieve better outcomes, irrespective of the size of their balance sheet or business.

Have you ever spoken with a potential new client seeking advice on a sticky situation and wondered whatever happened to them??? Perhaps you provided some free advice but for some reason or other, the client decided to take a different path. At de Jonge Read, we face this scenario infrequently. This is because we tend to hear again from many of those clients when the proverbial hits the fan. You know the type, people desperate for a solution who gratefully accept our free consulting advice before falling under the spell of slick, on-line promises of less scrupulous advisors. They choose their approach sometimes based on initial fee quotes without really recognising the value of the relatively modest investment in our representation and guidance. Unfortunately, this lesson can be an expensive one for these clients and they return to us seeking help, often in an even worse position having unnecessarily cost themselves many thousands of dollars by not engaging de Jonge Read in the first instance. These aren’t “we told you so” moments – instead we focus on how we can help these clients get out of their even stickier situations – some we can salvage, for others the hole is too deep. This month, our experienced Strategist Terry Finn will be joining Ashley Shield to share some client scenarios and highlight how much the investment in proper representation can mean for our clients in a practical sense, to their livelihoods and their financial futures.

In this month’s webinar, Ashley will be joined by Darren Addison, one of de Jonge Read’s experienced strategists whose extensive business banking experience has proven an invaluable resource for many of our firm’s clients. American psychologist, Abraham Maslow, had a favourite saying along the lines of “When all you've got is a hammer, every problem looks like a nail.” This saying has come to be known since as the Law of the Instrument. What he meant was, when it comes to problem-solving, we tend to get locked into using familiar tools in expected ways. de Jonge Read tend to take the opposite approach and in our next webinar, Darren and Ashley will explain why and how we do this. They will be discussing the relative merits of different insolvency strategies and interventions and why one may be favoured over another because of the specific circumstances an individual client finds themselves in. ATO Commissioner Chris Jordan warned this week that small business owed more than its share of collectable debt and that a rising number of profitable businesses with the capacity to pay were choosing not to. Jordan was “unapologetic” about the ATO’s tougher stance on collectable debt so we know to expect further increases in ATO collection activity. If you are looking for ways to ensure that your client has access to the best possible tools and strategies for their specific circumstances, we welcome you to join us for what will be a robust and enlightening webinar.

In this month’s webinar, Sophie Cowie, one of the experienced Strategists from our Brisbane Office will be joining Ashley. In addition to Sophie’s business acumen and experience, her legal background is also of great value to her clients and their advisors. Over the past couple of webinars, we have focused on looking at ways that proactive advisors can identify risks and recommend protective strategies for their clients. In this month’s webinar we take a look at asset and business protection strategies for those who have realised how essential it is to proactively manage potential risks. We will also have a look at the importance of having the insight and skills to alter strategies when unexpected events require it. We will take a deeper look at the legal processes which directors will unfortunately need to deal with as the pressure of creditor action continues to escalate. If you are looking for ways to enhance your client’s protection and build on your understanding of what all the legal notices mean and there their impact, then this will be a must-see webinar! Get CPD points! Our webinars contribute to Continuing Professional Development (CPD) programs. Attendees will receive a CPD certificate after the webinar.

In this month’s webinar, Cassie Skreblin, one of our experienced Strategists from our Brisbane Office will be joining Ashley. In the past we have spoken at length about the value of a plan B. In this context, a Plan B is the optimal back-up strategy that the Owner/Director can utilise if their attempt to continue to trade the business through their current difficulties doesn’t deliver what they expect, or even worsens their problems. In this month’s webinar we will look at the impact on Owners/Directors of either having or not obtaining this “Plan B” and what can still be done. We will delve into the impact of the (misplaced?) “optimism” that many Directors had after receiving DPNs last year at the start of the ATOs resurgent crackdown on businesses. This will include a discussion of Director’s believing they will get through their circumstances and we’ll look at strategies to help protect them against negative impacts when things are not as “Rosie” as they thought. As we close out the financial year gone, our focus will be on what can be done now to ensure your client’s companies and personal assets are protected as best as possible for the expected turbulence that the coming financial year may have in store.

In this month’s webinar, James Leslie-Watt from our Sydney Office will be joining Ashley. With the ever-increasing insolvencies this year we are seeing an increase in directors wanting to deal with issues in their company. This month’s webinar will focus on looking at balance sheet items that are likely to cause your clients significant issues if an insolvency event occurs to their company. Division 7A loans, inflated stock figures, asset values and loans will be among the topics discussed. We will look at recent case studies where the increased threat of audits for Superannuation, R&D and other areas have impacted businesses and what we did to assist.