Whelan Lawyers

Whelan Lawyers is a commercial and franchising law firm based in Australia, trusted by business owners and franchisors nationwide. With over a decade of experience across private practice and in-house legal roles, we understand how to balance legal risk with commercial reality. Clients come to us for our responsiveness, direct approach, and deep expertise and stay because we prioritise long-term relationships over short-term gains. Franchising We support franchisors with the legal work required to build, operate, and grow a franchise network. This includes franchise structuring, preparing disclosure documents and agreements, code compliance, franchisee on-boarding and exits, dispute resolution, and managing day-to-day legal issues across the network. We’ve helped develop and roll out franchise networks across food, hospitality, retail, fitness, education, childcare, professional services, financial services and home services. We’re often called in to clean up the mess when franchising goes wrong. Our ability to see around corners (and tell it like it is) has earned us a reputation as trusted long-term partners, not just legal technicians. Commercial Law We advise on all aspects of commercial law, including business structuring, mergers & acquisitions, business sales, commercial leasing, contracts, employment, intellectual property, insolvency, privacy law and disputes. Construction Law We assist developers, architects, builders, consultants and subcontractors with contract preparation and review, project risk management, variations, payment claims, and dispute resolution. Our experience spans domestic and commercial construction matters. What sets our practice apart is our Practice Manager’s background as a registered architect with extensive project delivery experience. His insight into the day-to-day realities of construction allows us to give legal advice that reflects how projects actually run, bridging the gap between legal theory and on-site execution.