Commercial & Corporate Law · Queensland
Your lawyer should be thinking about the deal, not just the clause.
Stone Group's commercial team advises Queensland business owners on structuring, buying, selling, and protecting what they have built. Pragmatic advice from a partner, not a form letter from a junior.
No cost, no obligation. Phone, video, or in person.
Gold Coast, Brisbane
30-minute initial consultation
Senior lawyers on your matter
Advice and litigation under one roof
Recognition & affiliations
Queensland Law Society 
Housing Industry Association 
Gold Coast Combined Chamber of Commerce 
Small Business Australia 
25+ years advising Queensland business The real cost
Most business problems were signed off years earlier.
The shareholder agreement nobody updated when the third partner joined. The lease with an option clause that quietly expired. The sale contract that looked fine until the earn-out was calculated a different way to the one you had in your head.
None of these felt like legal problems at the time. They felt like admin, or like the sort of thing you would tidy up when things got less busy.
The reason they persist is not that business owners are careless. It is that most commercial legal advice arrives as a document review, in language that tells you what the contract says without telling you what it will do to you in three years. You get a marked-up PDF and a bill, and you are no more certain than when you started.
Certainty is the thing you were actually buying.
How we work
We are commercial in our approach. That is not a slogan, it is the order we do things in.
Every matter starts with the commercial question, not the legal one. What are you actually trying to achieve, what would a good outcome look like in dollars and in time, and what are you prepared to trade to get there? The legal work follows from that answer. It does not replace it.
The second thing that shapes our advice is less obvious. Stone Group is a full-service firm, which means the lawyers who resolve commercial disputes work alongside the lawyers who draft commercial agreements. Every deal that goes wrong somewhere in Queensland teaches our litigators something, and that knowledge goes straight back into how we write your contract.
Most firms draft in one building and litigate in another, if they litigate at all. We think that is why so many agreements are technically correct and practically useless.
Commercial outcome first
We ask what you are trying to achieve before we ask what the document says. The advice you get is a recommendation, not a summary.
Drafted by people who have seen it fail
In-house dispute resolution means our agreements are written with the argument in mind, not just the transaction.
A partner on your matter
You deal with a senior lawyer who knows your business, not a rotating cast who re-read the file each time you call.
What we advise on
Commercial law, across the life of your business
From the structure you set up on day one to the sale you exit on, and the disputes and protections in between.
Business Structuring & Asset Protection
Set the business up so a claim against the trading company cannot reach the house, the investments, or the family. Trusts, companies, and holding structures built for what you own now and what you plan to own later.
Business Acquisition & Disposal
Buy the business you think you are buying. Due diligence, sale and purchase agreements, earn-out terms, and warranties that survive the handshake.
Business Succession Planning
Decide now what happens if a partner dies, leaves, or wants out, while everyone is still on good terms and the conversation is cheap.
Commercial Agreements
Supply, distribution, service, shareholder, and partnership agreements drafted to hold up when the relationship is under strain, not just when it is going well.
Funding Agreements
Understand what you are signing before you sign it. Loan terms, security, guarantees, and what the lender can actually reach if the year goes badly.
Intellectual Property
Protect the brand, the process, and the product that make the business worth something. Ownership confirmed, registered, and enforceable.
Personal Asset Protection, Wills & Estates
Business and personal wealth planned together, because a structure that ignores your estate creates the problem it was meant to prevent.
Migration Law
Employer sponsorship and skilled visas for the staff you need. Note: the free initial consultation does not extend to migration matters.
Fit
This will suit you if
- You run a small to medium Queensland business and the legal side has outgrown templates and goodwill
- You are buying, selling, or restructuring, and the number in the contract matters more than the elegance of the drafting
- You want a lawyer who will give you a recommendation, not three options and a disclaimer
- You have been burned by advice that was technically right and commercially useless
- You would rather spend money preventing a dispute than winning one
Who you will deal with
A partner-led commercial team
You will know the name of the person handling your matter, and they will know your business.
Nick Stone
Managing Partner
Dan Birch
Partner, Corporate & Commercial Law
Emma Griffith
Senior Associate, Corporate & Commercial Law
Christopher Manwaring
Associate, Corporate & Commercial Law
Danielle Downing
Paralegal | Conveyancer
Client reviews
What Queensland business owners say
"Nick Stone was incredibly proactive in helping builders navigate our tough industry. Dan Birch has also been a huge help with our matters."
"Consistently clear, prompt and professional. Excellent experience across a wide range of commercial matters."
"Proud to be a repeat client of Dan's and grateful to Nick and the team for their support with property contract reviews."
"Exceptional law firm. Berren Hamilton and Dan Birch were incredibly helpful and thorough."
"Our family highly recommends Stone Group Lawyers, especially Emma Griffith, Danielle Downing and Dan Birch."
"Emma Griffith was highly professional and courteous. I couldn't be more impressed with the service I received."
What happens next
Three steps, starting with a free conversation
You tell us what is going on
Send the form or call 1300 088 440. Tell us roughly what the matter involves. No documents needed yet.
We talk for 30 minutes, free
Phone, video, or in person at Southport or Brisbane. You get an honest read on where you stand and what it will take.
You decide
If we can help, we will scope the work and tell you what it costs before we start. If we cannot, we will say so and point you somewhere better.
Questions
Before you get in touch
Up to 30 minutes with a commercial lawyer, by phone, video, or in person at either of our Queensland offices. You describe the matter, we tell you where you stand and what the realistic options are. There is no cost and no obligation to proceed. The only exclusion is migration law, which is not covered by the free consultation.
It depends on the work, but you will not be guessing. After the initial consultation we scope the matter and give you costs in writing before any work starts. For defined pieces of work such as a shareholder agreement or a business sale, we can usually give you a fixed fee. You will not receive an invoice for something you did not agree to.
This matters more than it sounds. Costs are consistently among the most common complaints Queensland's Legal Services Commission receives about law firms, and almost always because they were not clear at the start. Putting them in writing before the work begins is how we stay out of that column.
No, and second opinions are common in commercial matters. If a deal is mid-flight or you are uneasy about advice you have received, bring it to the consultation. We will tell you honestly whether the position is sound. If it is, we will say so, even though that means no work for us.
No. Most commercial matters run entirely by phone, email, and video. We have offices at Southport on the Gold Coast and Eagle Street in Brisbane if you would prefer to meet in person, but it is not a requirement and it does not change the advice.
No. A large part of our commercial practice is small to medium businesses and sole traders. In practice the structuring and agreement work matters more at that size, not less, because there is less margin to absorb a bad outcome.
It stays with us. Stone Group handles commercial litigation and dispute resolution in-house, so you do not have to brief a new firm and pay for them to learn your business from the beginning. This is also why our drafting anticipates disputes rather than assuming they will not happen.
Free consultation
Tell us what is going on
A 30-minute conversation with a commercial lawyer, at no cost. We reply the same business day where we can.
1300 088 440Request your free consultation
Takes under a minute. No documents needed yet.
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Your details go to our commercial team only. We do not share them, and we do not add you to a mailing list.
