Notaries Public. Commissioners for Oaths
An Employment Contract is an agreement by which an employer agrees to employ
another as his employee and the employee in turn agrees to serve his employer.
Generally, rights and obligations of employers and employees are governed by the
Employment Act but the following persons are excluded from coverage under the
Act:-
Unlike a contract of service or an employment contract, a contract for service (i.e.
independent contractor) does not create an employer-employee relationship. This person
is usually self-employed and provides his services on an adhoc basis for a fee.
Examples of such contracts for service are a taxi or Uber driver, a free-lance IT
consultant or an insurance agent. An independent contractor would not be entitled to the
usual benefits accorded to an employee unless the contract for service provides for
them.
If you have been involved in a dispute involving your employer or employee, contact us
and we will help you.
Typically, there is a tussle for control over the business arising from a good relationship turning sour and shareholders refusing to co-operate with each other. In order to determine a shareholders’ exit rights in relation to a private company, a lawyer may have to investigate the exit clauses in the Shareholder’s Agreement.
There may be occasions where a director is not acting in the interests of the other
shareholders or the company as a whole, or where there is a breach of fiduciary duties
by the director.
A shareholder who is also a director may carry out acts that hamper access of another
shareholder to the accounts, business operations or decision-making affairs of the
company. Such actions may constitute breaches of director’s duties and could even be an
offence in certain circumstances.
Parties may be deadlocked and the business may run into a stalled position where
disputing parties own an equal number of shares and have equal voting power and neither
party is prepared to compromise.
The investor wishes at the very least for recovery of the amount that he has invested,
but sometimes the business has suffered a considerable loss and there is a need to then
consider how best the investor may exit the situation with minimal loss.
The various options include offering to buy out a party, appointing an auditor to look through the accounts and to do up a valuation of the shares of the Company, voluntary liquidation and the appointment of a liquidator, attending a mediation session to explore ways of settlement, and in the last resort, the winding up of the Company.
Commercial Agreements cover a wide range and include:
A contract is a legally enforceable agreement between two or more parties.
Each party to a contract makes a promise to another (or others) to perform
certain acts, such as to supply certain goods or services or to pay a fee in
exchange. If one party fails to perform the contract as promised while the
other party has fulfilled all his own duties under the contract, the
innocent party is entitled to a legal claim.
Our firm can assist you to enforce your rights under the agreement and have
your dispute resolved or determined by the Court.
You may be entitled to a rescission of the contract i.e. to treat the contract as if it had not existed and to be put back to the position before the contract was made. Alternatively, specific performance may be ordered i.e. an order to compel the defaulting party to carry out his part of the contract. If you wish to prevent the defaulting party from carrying out some act to your detriment, an injunction may also be applied for in Court. Lastly, damages or an account of profits wrongfully earned may also be pleaded for in your case in Court.
Under the Limitation Act, a lawsuit must be filed within 6 years after the breach of contract occurred, unless there are exceptional circumstances. A party seeking a remedy for a breach of contract must file a lawsuit within the time limit or his application will be struck out.
Prevention is better than cure. The first rule is to always make sure you
have a properly written contractual agreement before signing it. This is
best done by appointing a solicitor to create a sound contract for parties,
or to vet your contract if it has already been prepared by the other party.
The legal costs you spend to have an agreement drawn up by a solicitor will
pay off in the long run, and could potentially save you time and money of
having to go to Court in case of any ambiguous terms in the contract.
A trained contract law lawyer will be able to identify the potential risks
and foresee unlikely scenarios so that it can be addressed in the contract.
Disputes can also be avoided if the rights, responsibilities and
entitlements of each party are spelt out clearly.
Shengkai International Law Firm is experienced in handling a wide variety of contractual
disputes and negotiations. Contact us and we will help you to resolve any
issues, whichever type of contract your case entails.