Stephen Haarsma
Director
Stephen is not only one of Australia’s leading franchise lawyers, having acted for clients in the franchise industry for over 35 years, but has extensive commercial experience in franchising.
Stephen was on the board of directors of one of Australia’s largest franchise companies for over 10 years. Stephen played an integral role in developing the business from just a few franchisees to over 1,000 franchisees in Australia and New Zealand.
As a result, Stephen is in the unique position of providing advice and assistance using both his extensive business experience and his considerable experience as a franchise and business lawyer over the last 35 years.
Stephen has assisted many well known Australian brands to franchise their businesses, providing not only legal but relevant and experiential commercial advice.
Stephen is well known for his extensive knowledge of the franchise industry and he works closely with his clients to understand their commercial and business needs. He has been described as being at the “coal face” of franchising in Australia.
In addition to his commercial expertise, Stephen is an accredited mediator and a highly experienced litigator. Stephen appeared before the High Court of Australia in the leading misleading and deceptive conduct case of Yorke v Lucas [1985] HCA 65 and has acted in a number of other significant High Court cases.
Stephen is a panel mediator for the Office of the Franchise Mediation Adviser and the Supreme Court of South Australia. He is a member of the Law Society of South Australia. He lectures in franchise law and has presented papers in contact law. Stephen was awarded Australian Franchise Lawyer of the Year in 2016 by Lawyer Monthly.