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Corporate & Commercial

Contracts, structures and governance for businesses that need the paperwork to hold when something goes wrong.

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Buying or selling a business, from the term sheet and due diligence through to completion and the restraints that follow.

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Commercial disputes in the NSW, ACT and Federal courts, resolved early where that is possible and run properly where it is not.

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Your product scales digitally. Your contracts have to scale with it.

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A regulated business, on solid legal footing.

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Articles

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Modern award coverage: what a high salary does not buy

Pathological arbitration clauses in Singapore

Auditor liability in Singapore and Australia

Guide: directors’ duties and the compliance calendar

Guide: shareholder agreements

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Germany

A German desk for businesses moving between Australia and the German-speaking market.

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Singapore

Singapore law where it governs the contract, and the arbitral seat that carries much of the region’s work.

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Market entry, supply arrangements and dispute resolution for Vietnam.

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Worth reading first

Vietnam arbitration

Defective arbitration clauses in Singapore

European privacy law for Australian business

Award coverage for German employers

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Fabian Hoffmann, a lawyer from Australia
Principal

Fabian Hoffmann

Principal of Boettcher Law. Corporate and commercial law, and cross-border work between Australia and the German-speaking world. Admitted in the Australian Capital Territory as a barrister and solicitor. Notary public on the Australian Capital Territory and New South Wales rolls. Works in German and English.
Professional bodies

Memberships and appointments

The Law Society of New South Wales
Law Society of the Australian Capital Territory
Society of Notaries of New South Wales
The Australian and New Zealand College of Notaries
Singapore Institute of Arbitrators
Profile

Practice and background

Fabian Hoffmann is the Principal of Boettcher Law. He holds the First State Examination in Law from the University of Bielefeld and a Juris Doctor from the Australian National University. He works in German and English.
His practice is corporate and commercial law, and cross-border work between Australia and the German-speaking world. It covers Australian subsidiaries of German and Austrian groups, Australian businesses establishing in Europe, shareholder and joint venture arrangements, commercial contracts, and disputes arising from them.
He is admitted in the Australian Capital Territory as a barrister and solicitor and is entered on the Register of Practitioners of the High Court of Australia, which carries the entitlement to practise in the federal courts. He is a notary public on the Australian Capital Territory and New South Wales rolls. He sits as arbitrator and is a member of the Singapore Institute of Arbitrators.
Credentials

Qualifications, admissions and appointments

01

First State Examination in Law, Bielefeld

The academic stage of the German legal qualification, completed at the University of Bielefeld and examined by the state rather than by the university. It is not a German practising qualification. It is what allows German law to be read in the original and German documents to be drafted in German.
02

Juris Doctor, Australian National University

The Australian qualifying law degree, completed at the Australian National University. It is the basis of the admission below and of all work conducted under Australian law.
03

Tutor in contract law, ANU College of Law

Tutoring contract law at the Australian National University College of Law from July 2020 to November 2024. The subject covers formation, construction, breach and remedies, and is taught in the Juris Doctor programme.
04

Barrister and solicitor, Australian Capital Territory

Admitted unrestricted. The admission permits practice as a lawyer in Australia. The Australian Capital Territory profession is fused, so it also permits appearance in court without counsel.
05

Practitioner of the High Court of Australia

Entered on the Register of Practitioners of the High Court of Australia. Under section 55B of the Judiciary Act 1903 the entitlement to practise in the federal courts depends on that entry, so it is the step that opens the High Court, the Federal Court and the Federal Circuit and Family Court.
06

Notary public, Australian Capital Territory

Appointed notary public in the Australian Capital Territory. Notarial acts performed in the Territory are done under this appointment, which is separate from the New South Wales appointment below.
07

Notary public, Society of Notaries of New South Wales

Appointed notary public in New South Wales. Notarial acts performed in New South Wales are done under this appointment. Certificates are drawn from the Society of Notaries of New South Wales form set.
08

Vertrauensanwalt, Federal Republic of Germany

Vertrauensanwalt to the mission of the Federal Republic of Germany in Australia. The mission instructs him directly on its own legal questions, under section 3(3) of the Konsulargesetz. The position cannot be applied for. The mission chooses the lawyer it will rely on.
09

Vertrauensanwalt, Republic of Austria

Vertrauensanwalt to the mission of the Republic of Austria in Australia. A second government, choosing separately and on its own assessment. Neither choice follows from the other, and both are current.
10

Member, Singapore Institute of Arbitrators

Member of the Singapore Institute of Arbitrators. Appointments as arbitrator are accepted after a conflict check under the IBA Guidelines against the matters of the firm and against prior disclosures.
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01 / 10
First State Examination in Law, Bielefeld
The academic stage of the German legal qualification, completed at the University of Bielefeld and examined by the state rather than by the university. It is not a German practising qualification. It is what allows German law to be read in the original and German documents to be drafted in German.
The First State Examination is the first of the two examinations that together make up the German legal qualification. It closes the university stage of it.
It follows a full course of legal study, at the University of Bielefeld, and is sat in two parts: a focus-area assessment set by the university, and written and oral examinations set and marked by the state examination office rather than by the university.
It is the prerequisite for the Referendariat, the period of practical training that leads to the Second State Examination. That second stage is not held, so this examination carries no right to practise in Germany, and none is claimed. German law advice is given as foreign law, and German lawyers are engaged where German law advice is required.
What it does is allow German law to be read in the original and German documents to be drafted in German rather than translated from an English draft.
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02 / 10
Juris Doctor, Australian National University
The Australian qualifying law degree, completed at the Australian National University. It is the basis of the admission below and of all work conducted under Australian law.
The Juris Doctor is the Australian postgraduate professional law degree.
It is a graduate programme and covers the areas of knowledge prescribed for admission to the Australian legal profession, including contract, torts, property, equity, company law, evidence, procedure and ethics.
It satisfies the academic requirement for admission. With practical legal training it leads to the admission recorded below. Holding it alongside the German legal education means a matter with elements in both systems is conducted by one lawyer.
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03 / 10
Tutor in contract law, ANU College of Law
Tutoring contract law at the Australian National University College of Law from July 2020 to November 2024. The subject covers formation, construction, breach and remedies, and is taught in the Juris Doctor programme.
A teaching appointment in the College of Law at the Australian National University.
Four years and five months, from July 2020 to November 2024, tutoring contract law in the Juris Doctor programme, covering formation, construction, breach and remedies, undertaken alongside practice.
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04 / 10
Barrister and solicitor, Australian Capital Territory
Admitted unrestricted. The admission permits practice as a lawyer in Australia. The Australian Capital Territory profession is fused, so it also permits appearance in court without counsel.
Admission as a barrister and solicitor of the Supreme Court of the Australian Capital Territory, held without restriction.
Admission follows the academic qualification and practical legal training, and is granted by the Supreme Court.
It permits practice as a lawyer in Australia. The Australian Capital Territory profession is fused, so the same admission permits appearance as an advocate in court without briefing counsel. Counsel is briefed where a matter warrants it.
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05 / 10
Practitioner of the High Court of Australia
Entered on the Register of Practitioners of the High Court of Australia. Under section 55B of the Judiciary Act 1903 the entitlement to practise in the federal courts depends on that entry, so it is the step that opens the High Court, the Federal Court and the Federal Circuit and Family Court.
The Register of Practitioners is kept at the Registry of the High Court by its Chief Executive and Principal Registrar, under section 55C of the Judiciary Act 1903.
Admission in the Supreme Court of a State or Territory carries, in the words of section 55B(1), the like entitlement to practise in any federal court. But section 55B(3) provides that the entitlement does not run unless the practitioner’s name appears on the Register. Entry is the separate step that makes it effective, and it is made on application to the High Court.
It also carries a right of audience in any State court exercising federal jurisdiction, and in any court of an internal Territory. Read with the fused Australian Capital Territory admission above, it means appearing in the federal courts without briefing counsel.
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06 / 10
Notary public, Australian Capital Territory
Appointed notary public in the Australian Capital Territory. Notarial acts performed in the Territory are done under this appointment, which is separate from the New South Wales appointment below.
A notary public is a public officer appointed to authenticate documents, certify copies, verify identity, administer oaths and attest signatures, principally for documents intended for use outside Australia.
Appointment in the Australian Capital Territory is made by the Supreme Court under the Notaries Public Act 1984 (ACT). It requires an unrestricted practising certificate, a month’s notice, service on the Attorney-General and on the law society, publication, and an oath or affirmation on appointment, after which the name is entered on the roll. There is no administrative pathway.
Acts performed in the Territory are performed under this appointment. It is separate from the New South Wales appointment and the two are not interchangeable.
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07 / 10
Notary public, Society of Notaries of New South Wales
Appointed notary public in New South Wales. Notarial acts performed in New South Wales are done under this appointment. Certificates are drawn from the Society of Notaries of New South Wales form set.
The same office, held separately for New South Wales.
Appointment is made by the Supreme Court under the Public Notaries Act 1997 (NSW). It requires five years’ standing as a lawyer and the examination set under the rules of the Legal Profession Admission Board, and the appointment is entered on the roll of public notaries.
Acts performed in New South Wales are performed under this appointment, and certificates are drawn from the Society of Notaries of New South Wales form set. The authentication that follows, whether an apostille through the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade or consular legalisation, is arranged from the same office. Australia does not issue electronic apostilles, so the document is lodged and returned in hard copy.
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Vertrauensanwalt, Federal Republic of Germany
Vertrauensanwalt to the mission of the Federal Republic of Germany in Australia. The mission instructs him directly on its own legal questions, under section 3(3) of the Konsulargesetz. The position cannot be applied for. The mission chooses the lawyer it will rely on.
A foreign government’s own lawyer in the host country. Section 3(3) of the Konsulargesetz allows a career consular officer to take the advice and assistance of a lawyer admitted in the receiving state and in whom the officer has confidence, and the German mission in Australia instructs him on that footing. The client is the state.
The position cannot be applied for. The mission chooses the lawyer it is going to rely on, against its own criteria of professional competence, reliability and trustworthiness, and it keeps or ends the arrangement as it sees fit. It is held for as long as the mission keeps instructing him.
So the assessment behind it goes to two things: the quality of the work, and whether the person doing it can be trusted with a government’s own business. It is a different thing from the list of lawyers a mission publishes for its nationals, which names lawyers known to the consular section and says expressly that it is not a recommendation.
The work is conducted in German.
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09 / 10
Vertrauensanwalt, Republic of Austria
Vertrauensanwalt to the mission of the Republic of Austria in Australia. A second government, choosing separately and on its own assessment. Neither choice follows from the other, and both are current.
The same position, held for a second government. Two missions, two separate assessments, and neither follows from the other.
Austrian practice differs from German practice in one respect worth knowing. The Austrian foreign ministry’s missions use their Vertrauensanwaelte both for their own legal advice and as the lawyers to whom they direct Austrian nationals who need legal help. Where a national is directed in that way the fees are the client’s own and are not borne by the mission.
Austrian and German company law are closely related but not identical, and the difference is read rather than assumed.
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Member, Singapore Institute of Arbitrators
Member of the Singapore Institute of Arbitrators. Appointments as arbitrator are accepted after a conflict check under the IBA Guidelines against the matters of the firm and against prior disclosures.
The Singapore Institute of Arbitrators is the professional body for arbitrators practising in Singapore. Membership is held at member grade.
Appointments as arbitrator are accepted after a conflict check under the IBA Guidelines on Conflicts of Interest, run against the matters of the firm and against prior disclosures, before acceptance rather than after it.
Most arbitration work in this practice is seated in Singapore, which is why the firm’s published writing on arbitration is mostly Singapore law.
Worth reading first
Related expertise
Writing

Articles by Fabian Hoffmann

Newest first.
The whole library
Related

Areas of law he practises

Corporate & CommercialMergers & AcquisitionsEmploymentIP & TechnologyInternational TradeInternational ArbitrationBanking & FinanceInsolvency & RestructuringLitigation & Dispute ResolutionNotarial ServicesThe track record

Enquiries

Direct line (02) 6232 0606. Email fhoffmann@boettcherlaw.com.au. Send the contract, the clause or a description of the matter. You will receive an assessment of what is involved, an estimate of cost, and advice on whether another adviser should be engaged first. In German or English.
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