Commercial Lawyers for Financial Planners and Advice Practices
Ongoing service agreements, authorised representative arrangements, equity and succession documents, client book sales and licensee disputes — handled by lawyers who work in regulated financial services every week.
Know what you need? Request a fixed-fee quote and upload your documents. Not sure of scope? Book a short call with a senior lawyer instead.
Who we help
Financial planning practices carry two layers of legal risk at once: the regulatory layer that comes with holding or operating under an AFSL, and the ordinary commercial layer of running a business with staff, equity holders, referral relationships and a client book that is the practice's main asset.
Envision Legal acts for advice practices on both. That includes ongoing service and fee consent documentation, corporate authorised representative agreements and licensee negotiations, responsible manager and compliance arrangements, employment and adviser contracts with restraints that hold, equity buy-in and succession documents, and the sale or purchase of a client register.
Many planners also refer clients to us — for shareholder agreements, business sales, estate-adjacent commercial structures and contract work — because we do not provide financial product advice and have no interest in the advice relationship. The client comes back to you.
How we help
Legal services we provide
- Learn more→
AFSL, CAR and licensee arrangements
AFSL applications and variations, corporate authorised representative agreements, licensee change negotiations and responsible manager arrangements.
Ongoing service and fee documentation
Service agreements, fee consent and disclosure documentation reviewed against current ongoing fee arrangement obligations.
- Learn more→
Adviser employment and restraints
Employment and contractor agreements for advisers and paraplanners, with non-solicitation wording drafted to actually protect the client book.
- Learn more→
Equity, buy-in and succession
Shareholder agreements, staged equity buy-ins, vesting, valuation mechanics and exit terms for multi-principal practices.
- Learn more→
Buying or selling a client register
Client book and practice sale agreements, retention clawbacks, transition support and restraints.
- Learn more→
Referral and introducer arrangements
Referral agreements with accountants, brokers and lenders drafted so conflicted remuneration and disclosure rules are respected.
- Learn more→
Privacy and client data
Privacy policies, collection statements, offshore paraplanning terms and data breach response planning.
- Learn more→
AML/CTF readiness
Program design and customer due diligence procedures where designated services are provided.
Common legal issues
Situations we are usually brought in on
“An adviser leaves and starts contacting their clients.”
Whether you can stop it turns on the restraint and confidentiality wording in the contract they signed, and how quickly you act. Broad non-competes often fail where a tight non-solicitation clause would have held.
“You are buying a retiring planner's client register.”
Retention over the first two years is the deal. The agreement needs a workable clawback, a genuine transition period and consent mechanics that respect privacy obligations.
“A licensee changes its terms mid-agreement.”
Fee splits, PI cover, run-off protection and exit notice periods are all negotiable. Signing the new terms unread is where practices lose leverage.
“A principal wants out of a three-partner practice with no agreement.”
Valuation, payment terms, client allocation and post-exit conduct all become disputes at once. A shareholders agreement settles them in advance.
“A referral arrangement with an accounting firm needs papering.”
It can be done properly, but it needs to be documented with disclosure and remuneration rules in mind rather than a handshake.
Documents we can help with
- Ongoing service agreement and fee consent documentation
- Corporate authorised representative agreement
- Adviser and paraplanner employment contracts with restraints
- Shareholders agreement and equity buy-in deed
- Client register or practice sale agreement
- Referral and introducer agreements
- Privacy policy, collection statement and offshore processing terms
- AML/CTF program and due diligence procedures
- Confidentiality and IP assignment deeds
When to involve a commercial lawyer
- Before signing or renewing a licensee or CAR agreement
- When admitting a principal or buying into a practice
- At heads of agreement stage on any client book purchase or sale
- Before an adviser departs, and immediately if clients start moving
- When establishing a formal referral arrangement
- Before rolling out new client service and fee documentation
Why Envision Legal
Commercial context, not just legal risk
- Senior commercial lawyers do the work — you deal directly with the person advising you, not a rotating cast of juniors.
- Our lawyers have worked inside businesses as well as in law firms, so advice is framed around the commercial decision, not just the legal risk.
- Fixed fees for scoped work, agreed before we start, so legal spend is predictable.
- Plain-English drafting and advice that your team and your customers can actually use.
- A technology-enabled service model — secure document upload, client portal and fast turnaround — without the overhead of a large firm.
- Ongoing support is available through fractional general counsel arrangements when a business needs more than one-off documents.
Related legal services
FAQs
- Do you provide financial product advice?
- No. We are a commercial law firm. We advise on the legal and regulatory documents behind an advice business, and we do not compete with your advice relationship.
- Can you help negotiate licensee terms?
- Yes. Fee arrangements, professional indemnity and run-off cover, exit notice periods and client ownership on exit are the clauses that matter most, and they are usually negotiable.
- How is a client register sale different from a business sale?
- The asset is the client relationships, so consent, privacy, retention clawbacks and transition support carry more weight than plant and equipment. The structure is often an asset sale with earn-out style adjustments.
- Will a restraint stop a departing adviser taking clients?
- A well-drafted non-solicitation clause has a real chance; a broad non-compete usually does not. Enforceability depends on the wording, the adviser's role and how promptly you respond.
- Do you act for practices outside Sydney and Melbourne?
- Yes. We have bases in Sydney and Melbourne and act for advice practices Australia-wide. Financial services regulation is federal.
- How do you charge?
- Scoped work is quoted as a fixed fee in writing before we start. Practices wanting ongoing access use a fractional general counsel arrangement.
Talk to us
Need commercial legal support for your advice practice?
Send us a note about what you're working on. We'll respond within one business day and, if we're a fit, book a free 15-minute consultation with a senior lawyer.