Robert Toth
Partner
I was admitted to practice in the Supreme Court of Victoria in 1982 and
the High Court of Australia.
After some years as an Associate with a St Kilda firm, I commenced practice
as a Partner of Toth & Gauld Lawyers for seven years.
In 1994, I commenced my own practice as Toth & Company Commercial
Lawyers with a focus on commercial, business, franchising and property
law.
I merged my practice of Toth & Company with Wisewoulds Lawyers in
January 2003 and I am a Partner in the Firm.
In 2000, I became a Law Institute of Victoria Accredited Business Law
Specialist after completing further studies. I have developed expertise in:
- Franchising – acting for both Franchisors and Franchisees;
- Franchise dispute resolution acting for both Franchisors and Franchisees;
- Mergers and Acquisitions;
- Commercial retail leasing and property and development projects involving joint venture syndicates;
- Partnership, company, shareholder arrangements and buyouts;
- Distribution, commercial and contractual agreements, including software licensing and development agreements;
- General commercial, corporate advice and consultancy;
- Corporations Law Act matters involving director’s duties, corporate compliance and ASIC prosecutions of directors;
I hold the following memberships and associations:
- Member and panel advisor with the Franchise Council of Australia (“FCA”);
- Member of the International Franchise Lawyers Association (“IFLA”);
- Commercial Law Section of the Law Institute of Victoria;
- Member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors (“MAICD”);
- Board member and Company Secretary in charge of corporate compliance of the Elwood Community Bank, established under franchise of the Bendigo Bank;
- Honorary Solicitor to the Bonnie Babes Foundation Inc.
I have developed considerable business expertise allowing me to provide
clients with practical and strategic advice relating to all aspects of
business operations from my own experience in retail business working
in the Teds Camera Stores Group and advice and consultancy to business
in a wide range of industries.
I look to further increasing my involvement and specialisation in Franchising
and Business Law to support business clients to meet their legal and statutory
requirements, minimise their risk and to secure their commercial opportunities
profitably and successfully.
I enjoy a challenge and enjoy finding lateral solutions and operating
with clients in an open and transparent manner but I do not take myself
too seriously.
I am an advocate of taking the first step if a commercial dispute arises
and calling the other side to meet with a view to resolving a dispute
and allowing clients to get back to their core business activities.
My personal interests revolve around my family. My wife Janelle is also
a lawyer, which makes for interesting night time discussion and debate
and I enjoy listening to music, song writing, playing guitar, as well
as competition and recreational sailing.
Over the past 23 years I have been involved in a wide variety of matters, including:
- Acting for Franchisors in establishing their franchised systems;
- Dispute resolution as between Franchisors and Franchisees;
- Acting for many and various Franchisees including KFC, Pure ‘n’ Natural, Cash Converters, Optus World, Telstra Shop, Domino’s Pizza, World Wide Online, Oz Design and Jani King to name just a few;
- Presented papers on Franchising, prepared a “Guide for Franchisees”, and a “Guide to Establishing a Franchised System” for Franchisors and written numerous articles on Franchising for media and business journals;
- Legal and strategic advice to clients involved in mergers & acquisitions, management buy-outs, corporate restructuring;
- Complex joint venture and commercial agreements, service and supplier contracts, distribution and development agreements;
- Delivery of a paper at Sigma Pharmaceuticals on “Pharmacy – Sale of Business and Retirement”; and
- Commercial mediation of disputes involving claims ranging from $40,000.00 to $50 million.
