About
A commercial practice built the way we would want one built for us.
HarbourView Legal exists because good commercial legal work is not actually scarce — access to it, at a price a growing business can plan around, is.
Why the firm is structured this way
Large firms carry large overheads, and those overheads end up inside the hourly rate. For a business that needs a shareholder agreement, a lease reviewed or a supply contract negotiated, that arithmetic rarely works.
We took the training and kept the standard, then removed the parts of the model that were making the work expensive rather than good. A lean practice can quote a fixed fee, because a lean practice knows what the work actually costs.
Who we act for
Small and medium Australian businesses, and overseas clients — often from across the Asia-Pacific — establishing or running operations here. Most of our work arrives by referral, which tends to keep both sides honest.
How we think about the work
Commercial law is a means to a commercial end. The advice that matters is the advice you can act on, which is why we write in plain English, tell you when something is not worth doing, and say so early when a matter is outside what we should be handling.
What we do not do
Some work belongs with someone else.
We do not take on personal injury, family law or criminal matters. If you come to us with one, we will tell you promptly and, where we can, point you toward someone who does that work properly.