About
We're not a garden variety law firm. We do things differently.
Why choose Subcontractor Legal
The perfect balance of legal expertise and building industry experience
Any garden variety lawyer is qualified to take your case. But if they have never stepped foot on a building site, or worked a day in business in their life, how can they truly anticipate your needs and protect your interests?
Our expertise
We understand your business and the building industry
What we don't do
We don't act for builders, because we don't want to be conflicted from acting for a subcontractor that walks through our door, and we are not afraid to pick a side.
We won't charge like a normal law firm - we will cap or fix our fees so you always know what your investment will be up front.
We won't speak in legal jargon - we speak like construction industry professionals.
What we will do
We will act for subcontractors who work for commercial and residential builders, or civil contractors. If you hold a builder's licence but you are still a subcontracting business (such as a fit-out subbie), we are the firm for you.
Our fees are based on a fixed or capped basis, depending on the service. If the fee is fixed, we will get you an outcome for that amount. If the fee is capped, we will record our fees on a time basis. If we go over the cap because we took longer, we will only charge the capped amount. If we come in under on a time basis, you only pay for the time we took.
We will provide you with plain English, straightforward advice. We understand that you come to us for an outcome, and it is our job to help you understand whether that outcome is possible and how much it will cost to achieve it.
"As a business owner, a construction industry professional and a parent, I know you need a lawyer who understands all of the aspects of your world - and what a "win" truly looks like for you."
- Michelle Cirson, Principal Lawyer at Subcontractor Legal
Meet the Founder
Over a decade of experience in the construction industry
Michelle Cirson
Principal Lawyer
Founding Subcontractor Legal has been a decade long goal inspired by my time on construction sites working as a builders' contracts administrator.
If you had asked me a decade ago what I want to be when I "grow up", I would have said, "a construction lawyer that knows how to build."
Little did I know that the friendships I would build with subcontractors and the experiences I would have working for builders while I studied law, would see me crossing the picket line to dedicate all of my skills and knowledge to helping subcontractors.
Studying law while I was drafting and administering construction contracts gave me the context to industry exposure many lawyers lack. To me, it's the difference between seeing things in 2D or 3D - construction lawyers cannot gain an intimate knowledge of your business operations at law school.
Having been the person juggling the concrete truck and pump for suspended slab pours, coordinating road closures, working with subbies to overcome buildability issues in a site-based context, I understand quite deeply the commercial pressures you face ten days of the week.
Watch the video above for my full origin story.
"I met Michelle in 2015 on a construction site, now she is my lawyer!"
"It makes a big difference that Michelle has spent bulk time on building sites and understands how commercial projects are run.
When I come to her with a problem, she doesn't jump into a letter war between lawyers. Most of the time my builders don't even know she's in the background helping me work out what to do and say.
On the very rare occasion we have had to use Court, Michelle was able to keep my fees to a minimum and get me paid before we even had to have a hearing."
-Tiling Subcontractor, Queensland
"My builder's contract was a nightmare. We got them to agree to use an Australian Standard with three special conditions. It cost me less than a contract review!"
"My builder sent me through a contract that was so unfair towards us, it would have taken weeks to negotiate it back to some level of fairness. Michelle helped me write an email to the builder, and after reading it they agreed that the shoe didn't fit and we needed something different.
We suggested the same Australian Standard contract the builder's contract was based on, but with three very short special conditions.
The builder wanted some peace of mind we wouldn't be claiming delay costs, and we wanted peace of mind we could register our formwork gear on the Personal Property Securities Register.
Whole thing was sorted out faster than a contract review and it even cost me less.
Formwork Subcontractor - Queensland
"My builder was going broke, and Michelle helped me negotiate a deal where I got paid by the developer."
"I was stuck in a contract with a builder that kept defaulting on payment. It was having a major influence on my cashflow and my ability to forecast resources to jobs.
Michelle helped me negotiate the Deed so that we had a right to claim all future payments from the developer, and it was written in that the developer would indemnify us for preference payments. I got paid and I didn't even have to make a claim on my Trade Credit Insurance Policy, saving me thousands in possible increased premiums the next year."
- Passive Fire Subcontractor, New South Wales