Commercial affairs counsel is a specialist in the fields of commercial affairs and government procurement.
He or she will advise the business on how to navigate procurement, business development and compliance.
They also offer advice on what the Government can and cannot do to help businesses.
Commercial affairs law expert Michael O’Sullivan says commercial affairs is a “high-level area of government”.
“There are a lot of people who work in commercial affairs that don’t usually get a lot out of it because they are often the senior people who are doing a lot more of the work,” he says.
“The commercial affairs sector is really a high-level business.
They have to have the capacity to make decisions about the future of the business and the future interests of the company.””
It’s about making decisions, and the decision-makers have to be very good at making those decisions.”
They have to have the capacity to make decisions about the future of the business and the future interests of the company.
“Commercial affairs is probably the biggest area of Government where you are looking at the biggest challenges in a large company.”
Mr O’SULLIVAN says the commercial office is often the first line of defence for the Government in the face of a major disruption to the organisation.
“When we are in an industrial dispute, there are a number of departments that are involved in industrial disputes, whether it’s the Royal Australian Mint, the Royal Mail, the Bank of Australia, the Commonwealth Bank, and it’s very often a lot easier to have commercial affairs counsel on that side of the negotiation than it is to have someone working on behalf of the corporate entity,” he said.
“You’ve got to have good negotiators who have got the skill to understand the business case, what the business wants, what is the risk and the opportunity, and what is it worth.”
The commercial office has also provided the Government with valuable advice on how best to negotiate a contract.
“It’s very important that you get a good deal for the business, and there is a lot about the business which is not as easy as you might expect,” Mr O’Shea said.
“So the commercial advice and the negotiation advice, it’s not that difficult to get through.”
The commercial advice is very critical in terms of how you negotiate your contract with the business.
If you are a small business that is struggling with your own legal matters, they can be very helpful in terms the way in which you deal with those issues.””
Commercial affairs lawyers will look at the issues and the commercial issues, and they will be able to give you advice on the best way to deal with them,” he told 7.30.
“If you are a small business that is struggling with your own legal matters, they can be very helpful in terms the way in which you deal with those issues.”
Mr McDonough said commercial affairs advice and negotiation advice was key.
“Businesses will often need some advice from commercial affairs experts in order to negotiate with the Government about their commercial affairs matters, and commercial affairs legal experts are very valuable in that regard,” he explained.
“Some of the commercial matters have very serious and complex legal issues, so they may need to have legal advisers who have expertise in those matters.”
Commercial Affairs lawyer Michael O Sullivan says commercial advice provides important advice on whether the Government should be making any procurement or contract decisions.
Topics:business-economics-and-finance,business-management,government-and/or-politics,government—state-issues,government,australia