About Services Full Capability Contact

Full capability suite

What we can
do for you

A comprehensive legal and commercial advisory practice built around the real-world needs of hotel owners, operators, property developers and investors.

Luxury hotel — AC Advisory

Our approach

I bring a rare combination of legal expertise, operational understanding, governance experience and executive-level judgment, enabling clients to move quickly, negotiate effectively and manage risk with confidence.

Legal & Commercial Hotel Advisory

Extensive experience advising on, negotiating and structuring hotel transactions and operations across Australia and New Zealand. Having acted for both operators and owners, this practice brings genuine perspective to every side of a hotel relationship.

Hotel Management Agreements

Advising on, drafting and negotiating HMAs, Technical Services Agreements, Licence and Royalty Agreements and associated landowner, financier and lessor deeds — for both hotel operators and owners.

  • Full HMA negotiation and documentation
  • Technical Services and Licence Agreements
  • Landowner, financier and lessor deeds
  • Performance test clauses and remedies
  • Operator transition and termination management

Franchising

End-to-end franchise documentation and structuring for hotel franchisors and franchisees, including the establishment of entirely new franchise programs.

  • Franchise agreement drafting and negotiation
  • Disclosure documents and compliance checklists
  • Franchise manual drafting and review
  • Franchisee onboarding and compliance set-up
  • Franchise dispute strategy and resolution

Owner–Operator Relationships and Operator Selection

Navigating the complex dynamics between hotel owners and operators, whether establishing a productive relationship from day one or resolving a dispute that has broken down.

  • Operator selection process and assessment
  • Relationship management frameworks
  • Impasse and dispute resolution strategy
  • Compliance frameworks and monitoring
  • Termination and transition management

Hotel Openings & Project Management

Managing the legal and operational workstreams required to open a hotel, from pre-opening compliance through to staff engagement, licencing and operational readiness.

  • Opening project management and process design
  • Liquor, gaming and regulatory licencing
  • Body corporate and strata compliance
  • Supply and vendor contracts
  • Brand and IP compliance at opening

Compliance & Regulatory Advice

Establishing and reviewing compliance frameworks that give hotel businesses confidence they are meeting their regulatory obligations across multiple jurisdictions.

  • Compliance framework design and review
  • Regulatory interpretation and risk assessment
  • Short-term letting and strata law compliance
  • Privacy, WHS and employment law compliance
  • Regulatory investigation management

Dispute Strategy & Resolution

Experienced in managing hotel-related disputes efficiently — whether through negotiation, mediation or litigation, with a focus on commercial outcomes rather than prolonged adversarial processes.

  • Pre-litigation strategy and risk assessment
  • Mediation preparation and managing external lawyers
  • Brand protection and injunctive relief
  • Franchise dispute management and preparation for mediation/trial
Hotel pool — AC Advisory

Transactions & Development

Extensive experience leading the legal workstreams on hotel and property acquisitions, divestments and development projects, from initial due diligence through to settlement and opening. Having sat on both the owner and operator sides of major transactions, this practice delivers advice that is genuinely informed by commercial context and provides a “right sized” approach to acquisitions and divestments.

Acquisitions & Divestments

End-to-end transaction management for hotel and property acquisitions and sales, including leased hotels, freehold hotels, management rights and business sales.

  • Transaction structuring and deal advice
  • Due diligence — legal, operational and regulatory
  • Contract negotiation and documentation
  • Conditions satisfaction and settlement management
  • Post-acquisition integration and compliance

Management Rights

Advising on management rights acquisitions and disposals in Queensland, including caretaking agreements, letting agreements, lot owner negotiations and body corporate matters.

  • Management rights acquisitions and disposals and due diligence (purchaser and vendor due diligence)
  • Preparing for sale (collating documents, building datarooms and preparing sale contracts)
  • Caretaking and letting agreement review
  • Body corporate engagement and consents
  • Lot owner negotiations
  • Compliance and assignment processes

New Builds & Conversions

Legal support for new hotel developments and conversions, including mixed-use developments, master planned communities and hotel repositioning projects.

  • Development agreement negotiation
  • Hotel conversion legal structuring
  • Brand and operator selection for new builds
  • PCG meeting attendance and stakeholder engagement
  • Planning and approval advice

Leasing

Extensive experience negotiating and documenting hotel leases — from straightforward accommodation leases to complex multi-layered ground lease and head-lease structures.

  • Hotel lease negotiation (operator and owner-side)
  • Ground lease and head-lease structures
  • Surrender and lease-back arrangements
  • Lease assignment and novation
  • Landlord and financier consents

Fractional General Counsel

Senior in-house legal leadership available on demand, without the cost or commitment of a permanent executive hire. This service suits businesses that need a high-calibre GC presence for a defined period, a significant project, or on an ongoing part-time basis. If you have an in-house team and someone is going on leave or you are between senior counsels/general counsels, we can help fill that gap temporarily. We can also provide ad hoc services on an as-needed basis, at a fraction of the cost of an external lawyer.

On-Demand Senior Legal Services

Full or part-time in-house legal coverage — including the day-to-day legal work of running a business — delivered with executive-level judgment and accountability.

  • Senior legal advice across all business matters
  • Temporary in-house legal services for periods of absence by existing legal team members
  • Board and executive team support
  • Contract review and approval workflows
  • Legal risk identification and management
  • Priority access and rapid response
  • Large matter management (management of one matter — such as a regulator investigation, major litigation matter or acquisition)

Crisis Management

Immediate legal response for businesses facing a legal crisis — data breaches, regulatory investigations, injunctions, media incidents or major disputes.

  • Data breach response and notification management
  • Regulatory investigation coordination
  • Crisis communications — legal lens
  • Injunction and urgent relief applications
  • Insurance claims management

Legal Team Transformation

Establishing new legal functions or transforming existing ones — including team structure, process design, technology implementation and capability uplift.

  • Legal team design and establishment
  • Contract automation and matter management
  • AI implementation in legal operations
  • Process design and operational improvement
  • Recruitment and capability planning

Education Sessions

Practical legal education for boards, executive teams and staff, delivered in plain language, tailored to the hotel and property context.

  • Director duties and governance
  • AI use — legal considerations and policy
  • Whistleblowing obligations
  • When emails and texts become binding contracts
  • Hotel Management Agreements demystified
  • WHS obligations for senior leaders

Governance Improvements and Compliance Programs

Drawing on experience as Company Secretary and Executive Director across major hotel and property groups, this practice provides governance and compliance frameworks that are practical, proportionate, and built for the way real businesses operate.

Governance Frameworks

Designing and implementing governance structures that give boards and executives confidence — from charters and delegation frameworks to board reporting and risk oversight.

  • Board and committee charters
  • Delegations of authority frameworks
  • Board reporting and meeting management
  • Governance reviews and gap analyses
  • Company secretarial services

Risk Management

Building risk frameworks that balance compliance obligations with operational reality, helping businesses identify, assess and manage legal and regulatory risk proportionately.

  • Risk framework design and implementation
  • Legal and regulatory risk registers
  • Risk appetite and tolerance frameworks
  • Risk reporting for boards and committees

Transparent fee structures

Flexible engagement models designed to suit the scope and nature of each matter. All fees are exclusive of GST.

Hourly Rate

On request

Standard hourly rate available on request. Suitable for discrete matters, transaction support, and ad hoc advice. As we do not have high overheads, our rates are very reasonable given the seniority of the advice provided.

Retainers & Daily Rate

By arrangement

For engagements of two months or more, a reduced daily rate or monthly retainer may be agreed. Retainers include priority access and ongoing advisory support.

Fixed-Fee Packages

Scope agreed upfront

Fixed fees available for defined scopes of work:

  • HMA review and advice
  • Acquisition due diligence
  • Staff training sessions
  • AI and software implementation
  • Fractional GC engagements
Angie Coleman — Principal, AC Advisory

Angie Coleman

Principal — AC Advisory

Senior executive legal advisor with more than 23 years of experience across hotel, property, construction and infrastructure. Former Executive Director, General Counsel and Company Secretary at Minor Hotels (Australasia), and General Counsel and Company Secretary at Springfield City Group, Queensland's largest master-planned community developer.

LLB — QUT BBus Accountancy — QUT BBus Management — UQ GAICD QLS Practising Certificate

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