• As a Melbourne-born business, Studio Legal is home to a team of keen food and drink lovers. Ask any of our solicitors to list their hobbies and you can guarantee that ‘visiting restaurants and enjoying good food and wine’ will be on there!

    We work with a wide range of hospitality clients, including restaurants, restaurant franchises, food retail franchises, cafes, bars, nightclubs, food caterers, chefs and more.

    We can help you with things like:

    • General business structuring and set up advice;
    • Liquor and food licensing requirements and other regulatory matters;
    • Commercial leases;
    • Agreements relating to ownership of hospitality businesses including shareholders agreements, partnership agreements, joint venture agreements and more;
    • Purchasing or selling hospitality businesses;
    • Reviewing and negotiating franchise agreements;
    • Agreements with suppliers, delivery agents and more;
    • General employment matters, including advice on applicable awards;
    • Product packaging, labelling and advertising advice;
    • Running promotions, competitions and lotteries;
    • Music licensing;
    • Trade mark registration and protection;
    • Debt recovery;
    • Disputes and litigation; and
    • Much, much more!

    Examples of work:

    • Providing general legal support to a leading Australian restaurant franchise, including handling all IP matters, commercial contract negotiations, advising on promotions and marketing law and running litigations in the Federal Court of Australia and the County Court.
    • Drafting and negotiating transaction documents, leases and assisting with due diligence for the sale and purchase of bars, restaurants and cafes.
    • Advising on trademark and general brand protection for a boutique online wine start up.
    • Assisting the founders of a start-up vodka/juice product (including structuring and brand protection advice) from product development through to launch.
    • Assisting the owners of a new hospitality marketplace platform, which connects chefs with hungry Australians, to navigate the laws around selling food from home, as well as drafting their privacy policy and marketplace terms and conditions for chefs, delivery drivers and users.
    • Assisting bars, restaurants and cafes with recovery of unpaid debts in VCAT and the Magistrates’ Court.