What is a Mumpreneur?  No, really? Is it an entrepreneur who is also a Mum? And do we even like the word?   When I began The Mumpreneur Lawyer, I wanted to work with Mums who had started businesses, and who were entrepreneurial, so when I came across the word Mumpreneur, I was quite sure it encapsulated the people I wanted to serve. It is a convenient label for women in business. Like girlboss, bizqueen, and many other womeninbiz hastags #! But I’m not oblivious to the fact that some people really don’t like it. That it is patronizing, that being an entrepreneur should be gender free. When I started serving Mumpreneurs, it was not in the dictionary, and certainly not in the Oxford Languages and Google dictionary. Now it is, and it defines a Mumpreneur as a woman who sets up and runs her own business in addition to caring for her young child or children. Which of course leads us to the question, why not Dadpreneur? There are plenty of men who set up and run their own businesses in addition to caring for young children. And I say, why not dadpreneur?! Highlighting our parenting role, be that

There are many reasons young girls choose to study law, and then become lawyers. Maybe it is to help others? An intellectual challenge? Social justice? To effect change, and write new laws? Work in a prestigious firm? Earn lots of money?  Work in the family firm?  Of course the reasons are numerous. However, whilst Australia is one of the top countries in terms of education for girls, and young women are graduating from law schools in droves and a rate higher than male graduates, the statistics show that women are still underrepresented at prestigious levels, and well paid roles. Less than 35% are judges, less than 25% are made partner, and even less that that are at the bar*. That looks rather like an incredible waste of intelligent women in Australia. Here’s some idea of what has happened to date. You graduate from law school. You get a job offer (hopefully). You are told that your pay is confidential, and you must not under any circumstances discuss it with anyone else. In fact, in many cases it is reason for dismissal. You go silent. Meanwhile, behind closed doors, men are getting higher pay rises, more promotions, and generally giving a

The moment you become a parent you see the gift of life more vividly than ever before. You quite literally hold new life in your hands. Life that didn’t exist 9 months before. Indeed, becoming a parent is life changing. But the very act of creating life, sharpens our focus on the circle of life; reminds us that one day it will be taken away. If the pandemic has taught us anything, it is to value our health and the time we have with our family and friends. By showing us how quickly life can be taken away, how we are not invincible, how we don’t know when “our time will come”, the pandemic has highlighted our mortality. So what happens to our family if we die? Ultimately, who is going to look after our children if something happens to us sooner than we thought? It’s not a question that is easy to answer. If we die whilst our children are still minors,  we really want them to be looked after by someone who has the same values as we do, so that our kids grow up in the way we would like them to. Perhaps it could be a

Usually when we hear the word startup, we think of a scalable business. A business that intends to grow bigger than just us, the founder. But whilst some startups get off the ground and expand quickly, others may take years. Of course, startups sit in uncertainty. There are no guarantees. There are no short cuts. And chance and timing can play a big part. You may have come up with a novel idea, or a new solution to a problem, but unless you can get the product to market successfully, it may fail. Founders are dreamers, lawyers will keep you grounded Founders are big dreamers, but it is important to stay grounded. To help you, it is wise to have a mentor, and professional team you can trust. No matter what the idea, and no matter how fast you want to grow, a professional team on your side can ensure a degree of certainty and control in an otherwise very uncertain environment. Mentors will guide you and impart entrepreneurial skills and professional expertise. Financial advisors can assist with financial planning, and lawyers can ensure your ideas are protected and you are complying with the law. Whilst you are dreaming of

Things go wrong in business, we know they do, but how can you lessen the impact? How can you limit your legal responsibility, or as lawyers like to say, limit your liability? Is it by using disclaimers?  The best way is always to be proactive. To understand the legislation that applies to you and your business, to ensure compliance, and to have tight, well drafted legal agreements – with disclaimers in place. You may also decide to structure your business in a way that helps you to benefit from limited liability, such as setting up a company.   In Australia, the most important legislation that you should be aware of as a small business is the Australian Consumer Law. When you understand what your obligations are under this law, you can take responsibility when you need to, and avoid responsibility where you don’t. For example, if you didn’t know that it’s not necessary under the law to give refunds when a customer changes their mind, then you may end up losing out. Knowing that a refund is not required means that where a customer does change their mind, you can tell them with confidence, “no refunds”. If you want to give a refund to a customer that changes their

Choosing a good trademark can be one of the best business decisions you will ever make. So when you start looking into branding as a startup, it should definitely be something you turn your mind to, and a trademark lawyer can help you. Most startups register their business name and domain name, some social handles and stop there. Of course these registrations are necessary, particularly your business name, (which should be registered with ASIC if it is not your own name) but these registrations do not stop other businesses in the market using the same or a similar name to you. By taking one extra step and registering your trademark, you will get exclusive rights to use your mark. This means you can stop other businesses using the same or a similar mark to you. When you have the exclusive rights to use your brand it also means you can license it, and sell it; it therefore becomes a very valuable asset on your balance sheet. A trademark lawyer doesn’t just help you to protect your own brand, but also helps ensure you don’t infringe on other brands. They can make sure that you are not investing  $$$ in branding

Before Covid-19 online law firms were often viewed with intrigue, but not taken seriously. “That model would never suit us” – “Our clients are different, they would only ever meet us in person”- “We couldn’t possibly have all our appointments online”. And “the cloud?! Oh well, that’s not secure”. Then, almost overnight, there was little other choice. Lawyers who wanted to continue to serve had to adapt, and quickly. Suddenly lawyers were asking – what’s that technology you use? You have an online law firm don’t you? How do I start? What do I do? Lawyers started using video conferencing software for appointments, and then realised that if they could do appointments and emails online, and they had an online client portal for documents then, was there any necessity for a bricks and mortar space again or at all?? If staff can work remotely and online, and clients can be served that way too, well… Online law firms began over 10 years ago. In 2015 there were less than 50 virtual law firms worldwide. In 2020 I can only guess; perhaps there is a new one set up every week, every day now even. Some have hundreds of lawyers behind

E-commerce? Well, we all know what commerce is… the buying and selling of goods and services. It’s been around for a while… well, almost as long as human kind has! It began with prehistoric people bartering, and became monetary based in the ancient world. So why all the fuss about “e-commerce”? Is it a e-volution?  What is e-commerce anyway? Adding an “e” really just means it’s the buying or selling of goods and services over the internet. It was in the late 70s when e-commerce began. The first e-commerce transaction was the selling of cannabis between students at Stanford, a dubious start no doubt. But then a secure online transaction processor was built and an online store shopping system was developed. In the 80s further development happened, and by 1995 Amazon and eBay had launched; even though we were still doing most of our buying and selling in actual stores. By the 2000s, billions of dollars were being generated by global e-commerce transactions, and now, over $30 trillion… That’s huge. And since Covid-19, undoubtedly that number has increased. So what does an e-commerce lawyer actually do? An e-commerce lawyer helps limit the legal risk of businesses that buy and sell

Being a woman and a lawyer has not always been easy. At law school in the early ’00s there were already more women than men studying law. But at the firm where I began working, first as a secretary, and then as a paralegal, I couldn’t help but notice that although there were similar numbers of male and female lawyers, there was only one female partner for the ten males. In fact all the senior positions were dominated by men, and I was one of many women who dominated the support staff. But the natural progression seemed to be self-evident; eventually, as all of us became more senior, there would logically be more women lawyers as senior associates and then more women partners. Right now, I’m looking at a recent AFR article, and women still only make up 27% of partners. Why is that? We’re losing intelligent, courageous, ambitious young women. In 2020, this is absurd. Women law graduates now outnumber male graduates 2 to 1. And there have been around equal numbers of women graduating as men for the last 2 decades. So why are there only 27% women partners? Because there is an unconscious bias that works against

Over the years we have heard – through the grapevine –  questions that people desperately want to ask lawyers, but usually don’t have the courage to. If you’re thinking lawyers are expensive, full of jargon, or you can do the job yourself, this blog post is for you… Why do lawyers talk in a language I can hardly understand? Lawyers can be forgiven for using jargon in the courtroom.  They might have to refer to a particular point in a particular case which can end up sounding rather foreign. Or they might have to refer to a particular section in particular legislation, which can end up sounding very formal. There are “affidavits,” “plaintiffs,” “claims,” and “exhibits”.  There’s even “my learned friend” and other wry and intimidating expressions. But outside of the court room, there is really no need. Affidavits can be statements, plaintiffs can be the person who is suing. The “gift of the gab” that may serve well in the courtroom, can quickly transform into arrogance and aloofness when talking with you, the client. If you can’t understand what a lawyer is telling you, remind them that they, as a child used to have their bum wiped too. And,

When you start growing your business, or even right at the idea stage, you might consider setting up a partnership or company, rather than going it alone. Often two heads are better than one, and it’s easier to attract investors and creditors with these structures rather than as a sole trader. But a partnership relationship is not a relationship to be taken lightly… would you marry them?? A general partnership can be much like a marriage in that each partner is liable for the debts of the partnership. It will mean that you share equal rights and responsibilities surrounding the business operations and management, but also have unlimited personal liability for the actions and debts of the other partners and business. (This is most like a marriage!). One of the best ways to make sure you protect yourself and make the relationship clear is to have a partnership agreement drafted. This will set out your relationship with each other, and really get to the nuts and bolts how it will work. For example, what amount of money is your partner allowed to spend on the business without telling you? And what amount of time and effort are each of you

The Australian Consumer Law is the law that you need to comply with when customers ask for a refund for online shopping. The law gives consumers rights or guarantees in relation to your products. These include that each product must be of an acceptable quality, that it matches the description you provide, and if you give any additional warranties they will be honoured, amongst other matters*. It’s important to know your obligations under the Australian Consumer Law, because the ACCC can issue fines for not complying. Products of acceptable quality The law tells us that the products you sell must be of acceptable quality, which means that the products do the things a customer would expect them to do. For example, if you sell women’s clothing online it must be wearable! And the garment must be free from faults (zippers and buttons must work), safe (not highly flammable) and durable (can’t fall apart after the first couple of wears). If there are potential issues that you see, make sure you inform the customer accordingly. Say you sell distressed jeans (ie purposefully ripped) you should make sure your description matches the garment, so it is clear that the rips, or any