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Public examinations: a weapon for liquidators
Public examinations provide a powerful tool for liquidators to obtain information and establish facts about matters regarding a company's affairs, history and management.
The key provisions are set out in Sections 596A and 596B of the Corporations Act 2001 (Cth) (Act) and provide liquidators with the power to examine company officers or other parties, which have been involved with the affairs of the company.
Types of Examination
There are two different types of examinations a liquidator can apply for, being:
Mandatory examinations under section 596A of the Act; or
Discretionary examinations under section 596B of the Act.
Generally, liquidators have a right to examine current or former officers or provisional liquidators of a company in relation to that company's examinable affairs under the mandatory examination provisions. If the liquidator meets the requirements under these provisions, then the court has no discretion and must issue the summons for examination. A mandatory examination must, however, be issued to serve any purpose that will benefit the company, its creditors, its members or the public generally.[1] In any case, the court will not permit the examination to proceed if it is evident that it is an abuse of process to do so.
On the other hand, discretionary examinations provide a mechanism for liquidators to examine a person, beyond an "officer" of the company, if that person is able to give information in relation to the company's examinable affairs. The court has wide discretion to issue a summons under the discretionary examination provisions, and must be satisfied that the person:
has taken part or been concerned in examinable affairs of the corporation and has been, or may have been, guilty of misconduct in relation to the corporation; or
may be able to give information about examinable affairs of the corporation.[2]
An application for a discretionary examination should be accompanied by an affidavit in support of the application.[3] The affidavit should identify the reason the examination is sought and why the proposed examinee should be examined. The affidavit in support can be filed as a confidential affidavit that is not available for inspection by the proposed examinee unless the court orders otherwise.[4]
An examination is generally an inquisitorial or investigative exercise and therefore the scope of questioning can be potentially broad. Although the examination must relate to the company's examinable affairs, the examiner may be permitted by the Court to ask questions about the company and its examinable affairs as it see's fit.
Questions in relation to the company's "examinable affairs" may include:
the promotion, formation, management, administration or winding up of the corporation; or
any other affairs of the corporation (including anything that is included in the corporation's affairs because of section 53); or
the business affairs of a connected entity of the corporation, in so far as they are, or appear to be, relevant to the corporation or to anything that is included in the corporation's examinable affairs because of paragraph (1) or (2).[5]
An examinee generally cannot refuse to answer questions even if it may incriminate the person or make them liable to a penalty. The purpose of this rule is due to the fact that in some cases public examination is the only way a liquidator may be able to obtain information about the events leading to the failure of the company.
However, an examinee may claim privilege over some answers. In this case, a liquidator cannot use these answers as evidence to prosecute the examinee.[6]
A Balancing Act
The Courts have identified that examinations are an important tool for liquidators to gather information which would not generally be available. However, the provisions confer broad powers on liquidators and it is important that liquidators ensure that examinations are conducted for a proper purpose, particularly considering the powers provided under section 596B of the Act. If the examinations are being conducted for an improper purpose, it may be considered an abuse of process and the examinee may be able to apply to the Court to have the orders for examination set aside. Rule 11.5(2) of the Federal Court (Corporations) Rules 2000 allows a person served with an examination summons, within 3 days, to make an application to the Court for it to be set aside.[7]
In deciding whether the orders for examination should be set aside, the Courts will ensure that an examinee is not oppressed by the procedure or unfairly disadvantaged.
In the matter of Queensland Nickel Pty Ltd (In Liq) v Parbery, in his capacity as Liquidator of Queensland Nickel Pty Ltd (In Liq) [2016] FCA 1048 ((Queensland Nickel) the court considered an application to set aside aspects of the examination summons on several bases, including an application that it was unconstitutional. It was found that the power conferred under the mandatory and discretionary provisions make it clear that the examination process falls under the direct supervision of the Court to ensure the process is not abused or conducted oppressively.[8] This was also examined in Saraceni v Jones [2012] WASCA 59; [2012] HCA 38, which was confirmed in Queensland Nickel. The conferral of the power for examinations was not regarded to be unconstitutional and the examination summons in this case were not set aside.
It is important to note that to set aside an examination summons, an applicant must clearly demonstrate that the examinations are not for a proper purpose. Therefore, liquidators should ensure that there are reasonable grounds for the belief the person they wish to examine may be capable of giving information about the company's affairs or may be guilty of misconduct. liquidators should be cautious when considering the parties it wishes to examine and be mindful to ensure the rights of the party are not oppressed by the procedure.
If you are a liquidator seeking advice on examinations or have any questions please contact us on 02 8239 9600 or email [email protected] to discuss how we may be able to assist you.
Written by Kristina Ghobar,
[1] Kimberley Diamonds Ltd, in the matter of Kimberley Diamond Company Pty Ltd (in liq) [2016] FCA 1016
[2] Section 596B(1)(b) of the Act.
[3] Section 596C of the Act.
[5] Section 9 of the Act.
[6] Section 597(12A) of the Act.
[7] Rule 11.5(2) of the Federal Court (Corporations) Rules 2000.
[8] Queensland Nickel Pty Ltd (In Liq) v Parbery, in his capacity as Liquidator of Queensland Nickel Pty Ltd (In Liq) [2016] FCA 1048 at 44
Tips on the intersection of the Privacy Act and the Spam Act with Direct Marketing
1. The Privacy Act and Direct Marketing
Pursuant to the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) ("the Privacy Act"), an entity to which the Australian Privacy Principles apply is known as an APP. If it discloses, or collects, personal information about another individual for a benefit, service or advantage then it will be considered an APP.
What is direct marketing?
The term 'direct marketing' refers to the promotion of goods and/or services, by way of communication sent directly to an individual through the use of disclosed, personal information.
Personal information is described as any information which identifies or could reasonably identify a person.
Some common examples of where an organisation and/or its agents may use personal information for the purposes of direct marketing include; sending special offers addressed personally to the individual at their residential address or targeted advertising on online platforms, such as Facebook or Google using information of the individual.
When is direct marketing allowed?
Whether or not you are permitted to use direct marketing will be dependent on the type of communication you intend to use and your organisation type.
For example, telemarketing companies must ensure they comply with the Do Not Call Register Act 2006 (Cth) (DNCRA), by not contacting (by phone of fax) any numbers on the Do Not Call Register, noting that some exemptions do apply.
Organisations which transmit communication or messages by way of email or SMS, of a commercial nature, must ensure they are complying with the Spam Act, compliance with which is explored in this article.
When is APP 7 triggered?
In the event neither the Spam Act, nor the DNCRA apply, organisations must ensure that they comply with APP 7.
APP 7 will apply to:
all businesses and not-for profit organisations with an annual turnover of more than $3 million;
small businesses which buy or sell personal information; and
any direct marketing communication not covered by the Spam Act or the DNCRA.
Accordingly, APP 7 will commonly be triggered in the following circumstances:
any direct marketing calls or faxes when transmitted to numbers not on the DNCR or where the call or fax is transmitted by a registered charity
any direct marketing sent by post
any door-to-door direct marketing
targeted marketing online where personal information is used or disclosed
Compliance with APP 7
APP 7 places restrictions on the circumstances in which you may use or disclose personal information of an individual for the purposes of direct marketing.
Where an organisation intends to use "sensitive" personal information of an individual, i.e. information about their health, political opinions, ethnic origin or sexual orientation, for the purposes of direct marketing, the individual must have provided the organisation with consent to do so.
In using or disclosing personal information of an individual, an organisation will comply with APP 7 in the context of direct marketing if:
The organisation collected the information directly form the individual and the individual would reasonably expect the use or disclosure of their personal information for the purposes of direct marketing;
The organisation received consent of the individual to use or disclose their personal information for the purposes of direct marketing;
It was impractical for the organisation to obtain consent of the individual to use or disclose their personal information for the purposes of direct marketing.
In participating in direct marketing, an organisation must do all of the following in order to be compliant with APP 7:
Provide a simple opting out method
Upon the request of the individual, cease the use and disclosure of the individual's personal information
Upon the request of the individual and within a reasonable time, inform them of where you obtained their personal information
NB: where there is a reference to reasonable time, this will generally mean no more than 30 days.
Requirements for facilitating direct marketing
APP 7 will also apply to any organisation or entity that collects personal information to facilitate direct marketing by other organisations. That is, any organisation or entity that collects personal information of an individual and provides that personal information to other organisations or entities, must comply with APP 7.
Importantly, these types of organisations or entities facilitating direct marketing must cease to do so upon the request of the individual.
2. Legal ramifications for using customer details from competitor's websites, with respect to Privacy Act
You need to ensure the entity that owns the website is operating in compliance with the Privacy Act and their own privacy policy.
This can safely be assumed where you are taking information from a website which has a specific privacy policy published on the website.
If there isn't a published privacy policy you are at risk of breaching the Privacy Act by using any data from that website.
The APP does not prohibit entities from using publicly available information, however the entity is required to comply with APP 7, and specifically, the requirement for the individual's consent to use or disclose the personal information.
3. Corporate and individual penalties for a breach of the Privacy Act
Following recent amendments to the Privacy Act, penalties for all entities covered by the Privacy Act will increase to, the higher of either:
$10 million; or
three times the value of the benefit obtained by the entity directly linked to the misuse of information; or
10% of a company's annual domestic turnover.
In relation to any failure to resolve minor breaches, individuals may face infringements of up to $12,600, and up to $63,000 for body corporates.
Where a dispute is settled between the parties, no fines are imposed against the breaching entity.
4. Legal ramifications of a breach under the Spam Act 2003 (Cth) ("the Spam Act")
The operation of the Spam Act is triggered where an entity sends an electronic message to an electronic address or where an entity has engaged a third party to send on its behalf, on or more of the following, for the purposes of conveying an offer to supply, provide, advertise or solicitor goods and/or service:
An email; or
An SMS; or
An MMS; or
An instant message.
To ensure that you are not in breach of the Spam Act, we recommend contacting the marketing company which sold the customer list for the purposes of ensuring that the list has been legally obtained and that the entities on the list have provided consent with respect to receiving electronically transmitted messages.
Pursuant to the Spam Act, prior to sending the electronic message, you must ensure that:
You have permission or consent (can be express or implied) from the recipient to transmit the message;
The messages contain the name and contact details of the entity that authorised the transmission of the message; and
An avenue, which is clearly visible, for the recipient to withdraw its permission or consent by way of an "unsubscribe" or "opt out" function.
You must ensure that in each electronically transmitted message, your contact details are provided. Contact details may include, an address, email address and contact number.
These contact details must be current for at least thirty (30) days following the transmission of the electronic message.
Avenue to "unsubscribe" or "opt-out"
With respect to the "unsubscribe" or "opt-out" avenue, in accordance with the Spam Act, you must have:
instructions on the face of the electronic message which are visible and clear for the recipient of the message;
a process which is either free or low cost to the recipient;
a process which is functional for at least thirty (30) days; and
the request to "unsubscribe" or "opt out" must be actioned within five business days.
6. Review of current Privacy Policy
We suggest that you contact us to review your current privacy policy to ensure it is up to date and that it adequately takes into account the requirements of the Spam Act.
Written by Rod Lindquist,
Michell v Onroad Offroad Pty Ltd [2018]: A Case Study
Under Section 5(1)(a) the Limitation of Actions Act 19578 (Vic) ("the Act") a party is barred from bringing an action in contract, including contract implied in law, more than six years after the date on which the cause of action arose.
A cause of action for breach of contract arises at the date on which a party to a contract commits the breach. By way of example:
A and B enter into a contract ("the Contract");
B breaches the Contract on 20 November 2019 ("Breach Date");
A's cause of action arises on the Breach Date; and
A's entitlement to bring an action against B for the breach terminates on 20 November 2025, exactly six years after the Breach Date.
The restriction imposed by Section 5(1)(a) is, in most cases, fatal to the claim of a potential litigant seeking to bring an action after the limitation period has elapsed. Using the above example, A would be barred from bringing an action against B as of 21 November 2025.
An exception to the restriction imposed by Section 5(1)(a) is contained in Section 24(3)(b) of the Act which states as follows:
"Where any right of action has accrued to recover any debt or other liquidated pecuniary claim or any claim to the personal estate of a deceased person or to any share or interest therein and the person liable or accountable therefore acknowledges the claim or makes any payment in respect thereof – the right shall be deemed to have accrued on and not before the date of the acknowledgement or the last payment"
To illustrate, if B breaches their contract with A on 20 November 2019, but, in acknowledgment of their debt to A, makes a part payment to B on 20 November 2022, A's cause of action will arise on the date of that payment and their entitlement to bring an action against B will then expire on 20 November 2028.
In Stephen John Michell v Onroad Offroad Pty Ltd [2018] VSC 648 ("Michell v Onroad"), Justice Digby of the Victorian Supreme Court provides important guidance on the circumstances in which a party is entitled to rely on this exception.
Hill was the sole director of Onroad Offroad Pty Ltd ("Onroad") in the period from 1998 to 2014.
Hill was declared bankrupt in 2014 and Michell was appointed as her trustee in bankruptcy.
Michell alleged, based on his review of Onroad's books and records, that on or about 17 June 1998 Hill made a loan to Onroad of approximately $1,292,005.88.
Michell commenced proceedings against the Company in 2017 seeking to recover the Loan funds.
Michell was unable to adduce any documentary evidence of the Loan, however he argued that an agreement should be inferred from Onroad's books and records.
Limitation Defence
As part of its defence, Onroad argued:
Michell's cause of action arose on the date of the Loan; and
Michell was barred by Section 5(1)(a) as almost 19 years had elapsed since that date.
Michell sought to rely on Section 24(3)(b) and to that end, adduced evidence of payments made by Onroad to Hill in 2013. Michell argued that:
the payments were loan repayments;
the payments were an admission that the Loan was due and payable to Hill by Onroad;
his cause of action arose in 2013, not 1998 as a result of the alleged loan repayments; and
he was entitled to bring proceedings in 2017, as only four years had elapsed since his cause of action arose.
Justice Digby rejected Michell's argument with respect to Section 24(3)(b) and offered the following commentary:
to trigger the operation of Section 24(3)(b), a Plaintiff must "establish a causal link between the payments and the alleged debt";
it was insufficient for Michell to merely identify payments made by Onroad to Hill and assert that these were tantamount to an admission;
Michell was required to establish that the payments were specifically and/or identifiably made by Onroad in respect to, and in reduction of the Loan, only then would they be construed as admissions for the purposes of the Act; and
Michell was unable to establish that the payments were made specifically for that purpose; as such, his action was barred as of 17 June 2004.
The implications of this case are clear with respect to Section 24(3)(b); it is insufficient for a party to rely on mere inference, rather, they must be able to clearly establish that payment from a debtor is made in connection with and in reduction of the debt the subject of the dispute.
Written by Joshua Flory
NSW Security of Payment reforms – what you need to know
The New South Wales government has announced the Building and Construction Industry Security of Payment Amendment Act 2018 (NSW) (the Amendment Act) commenced on 21 October 2019.
The Amendment Act only applies to construction contracts entered into after the commencement date.
The amendments are broad and include the following significant reforms:
The 'reference date' concept has been abolished:
The most significant amendment has been the simplification of the progress payment and payment claim provisions through the removal of the 'reference date' concept which was previously used to determine the date on and from which a claimant could claim a progress payment.
A claimant is now entitled by default to serve a payment claim on and from the last day of each month in which they first commenced construction work or supplied related goods and services, with each subsequent payment claim being able to be served on and from the last day of each subsequent month. The amendment serves to prevent respondents from delaying a progress payment by providing for a different regime of reference dates under their contracts.
If, however, a construction contract expressly provides a payment claim can be served on an earlier date in any particular month, then the claimant may serve the payment claim on and from that date.
Payment claims after termination
If a construction contract is terminated, the Amendment Act now provides a claimant with a statutory entitlement to serve a payment claim on and from the date of termination of the construction contract.
The re-introduction of endorsement
Importantly, the Amendment Act once again requires claimants to endorse payment claims expressly stating they are made under the Building and Construction Industry Security of Payment Act 1999 (NSW) (the Act).
The reduction in the due date for payment to subcontractors
Under the Amendment Act, the maximum payment period by which a head contractor must make a progress payment to a subcontractor has been shortened from 30 business days to 20 business days.
There is no reduction to the time for payment of 15 business days from a principal to a head contractor.
The ability to withdraw an adjudication application:
A claimant is now able to withdraw an adjudication application at any time after its lodgement, but before the appointment of an adjudicator.
If a claimant seeks to withdraw an adjudication application after lodgement and after an adjudicator has been appointed, a claimant will not be able to withdraw its application in circumstances in which the respondent objects to the withdrawal and the adjudicator considers it to be in the interests of justice to uphold the objection and proceed with the determination of the adjudication application.
An adjudication determination may be partly severed
Historically, the Supreme Court of NSW held an adjudicator's determination was wholly invalidated if a jurisdictional error had been made by the adjudicator.
The Amendment Act now provides the Supreme Court of NSW with new powers enabling it to sever and set aside any part of an adjudication determination which it deems to have been affected by jurisdictional error. The amendment ensures the enforceability of an adjudication determination is not affected in its entirety and removes the incentive for minor jurisdictional errors to be challenged in an attempt to set aside an entire adjudication determination.
Corporations in liquidation
Consistent with recent case law, the Amendment Act now prohibits a claimant corporation in liquidation from taking steps to recover payments under the Act. The Amendment is a policy consideration to prevent a respondent which has made a payment to a claimant in liquidation under the Act from not being able to recover the payment on the basis it has formed part of the liquidation distribution pool for all creditors of the claimant.
JHK Legal can provide expert advice with regards to the above topics. If Kathleen's article may be relevant to your circumstances and you would like further information, please call us on
02 8239 9600 to discuss how we may be able to assist.
Written by Kathleen Faulkner
Employment Law Litigation – I have received a Fair Work Claim, what do I do?
While the scope of this article focuses on unfair dismissal claims in the Fair Work Commission (the Commission), it is important that employers and employees take legal advice regarding the issues discussed within this article.
In particular, employers should always consider their legal position including their rights and obligations under the Fair Work Act carefully before dismissing employees given the adverse consequences for employees, as well as the time and cost involved in any prospective litigation.
It is a Friday afternoon, you are looking forward to kicking back and heading home for the weekend to see your family and friends.
It's been a tough week, and amongst other things, you were, as a manager in the team, asked or had to dismiss an employee for serious misconduct at a work function earlier in the week.
While it was a tough conversation to have, you and your boss thought you had dealt with it appropriately and that the employee understood the position and where you were coming from.
You haven't thought about it again, and then you receive an email from the Commission attaching a legal notice that requires you to respond to the notice which contains lots of information that you do not understand, within a very short time frame.
This scenario happens every day in business to employers and also employees (who have to take those steps where they feel they have been wrongfully dismissed). You should not rest on your laurels and or consider that this is something that will "blow over" or "go-away".
It should be given the respect it deserves, and early intervention is key so that your legal rights are not prejudiced.
Early intervention also opens up the opportunity for the dispute to be resolved sooner rather than it becoming protracted, and more complicated.
So, what should you do? The short answer is to call an employment lawyer straight away.
Was the employee dismissed?
Under the Fair Work Act, an employee will have the right to lodge an unfair dismissal application to the Commission if he or she was dismissed from their position.
The merits of that application are decided at a later date.
The term "dismissal" means a person's employment has been terminated at the employer's initiative.
Importantly, "dismissal" does not (without limitation) mean a voluntary resignation, or a demotion (unless there has been a significant reduction in duties or remuneration), or employees who are on a contract for a specified time or task.[1]
Another important initial consideration is whether the employer has been correctly named on any notices from the Commission. Any claim must name the employer against who the claim is made and not some other entity.
In large businesses, sometimes the corporate structures are so large and complex, that identifying the employing entity is difficult. In those circumstances sometimes the wrong entity maybe named. If that is the case, then that fact ought to be noted.
Time limitations for lodging unfair dismissal claims with the Commission
Under the Fair Work Act, any unfair dismissal application must be lodged with the Commission within 21 days after the dismissal takes effect.
Importantly, the 21-day time limitation does not take into account the day the dismissal took effect. An employee or an employer should note the exact date that the employee's dismissal took effect with this in mind.
Time limitations for responding to an application with the Commission
Under the Fair Work Commission Rules 2013, an employer must then lodge a response to the application (together with any supporting documents) within 7 calendar days after the employer was served. This is a short timeframe to prepare a response, which means seeking advice as soon as possible after being served with an application is important.
If I am an employer, how do I respond, what do I write, what should I do?
The employer's response needs to be carefully considered. Each case and the merits of the claims and or allegation will be different depending on the facts. In short, there is no "one size fits all" approach that can be utilised.
For example, as an employer, you may have terminated an employee as a result of a genuine redundancy or restructure rather than performance issues, but the employee's perspective may be that the termination was not a genuine redundancy.
If the employee's position is found to have been terminated as a result of a genuine redundancy based on the facts at hand, then the employee's application will not be successful.
Further, depending on the allegations in the application, the employer may also have to conduct further internal investigations to ascertain the truth or otherwise of the allegations being raised.
As such, given the tight turnaround in responding, as an employer, you will need to give your urgent attention to considering what allegations are being made, and more importantly, what your legal position and response is to those allegations are or will be.
After the response is lodged with the Commission, the Commission will usually schedule a conciliation conference where the employer and employee are requested to both try to resolve the dispute.
The conciliation conference is conducted by trained Commission staff called "conciliators". Conciliators help the parties reach a resolution, assist in narrowing the issues in dispute between the parties.
Sadly, but sometimes inevitably, employee and employer relationships will breakdown irretrievably during the employment relationship.
The breakdown in the employer/employee relationship will often lead to conflict with allegations being made about each party which then lead to one party asserting their legal rights over the other (for example by dismissing an employee, and or by the employee lodging a Fair Work application and seeking monetary or reinstatement relief).
Other times, it may come as a complete surprise even if it seems as though an employee who has been dismissed properly understands that they have been dismissed for genuine reasons (as noted in the scenario above).
While all employers and employees should strive to resolve any disputes without first reaching for the levers of the unfair dismissal regime, often it is the only way to resolve disputes.
There are also important cost and commercial considerations for employers resolving employment disputes early given the Commission is a "no cost" jurisdiction.
Accordingly, if you have received an unfair dismissal claim, or any other notice from the Commission or you have been dismissed from your employment and you believe that you may have a claim, you should seek independent legal advice and or contact JHK Legal for legal advice about your position.
Specific time limitations apply in responding to either being dismissed, or being served with an application and if you do not consider the application, or seek advice immediately, you could be inadvertently prejudicing your position.
JHK Legal have an experienced litigation and employment law team that pride themselves on accuracy and being up to date with the latest decisions. If you need assistance with an Unfair dismissal matter or an employment law matter generally, please contact our office on 07 3859 4500 or visit our Website HERE.
Written by Daniel Johnston
[1] While there are exceptions, they are limited and specific, and therefore we will not consider them in detail in this article.
Liquidators' struggle to get their remuneration approved is confirmed once again
Practitioners' remuneration has been under extensive scrutiny by courts, and liquidators continue to struggle to get their remuneration approved without having to adduce extensive evidence of the necessity of the work conducted and the reasonableness of their remuneration.
In recent years there has been much focus on insolvency practitioners' fees, including whether the tasks conducted by those practitioners and the professional (lawyers and barristers) engaged are necessary and appropriate in the circumstances.
In 2017, the NSW Supreme Court in Re Sakr Nominees Pty Limited [2017] NSWSC 668 considered the evidence given by the liquidator, and noted that although such evidence at first instance 'provided assistance in determining the amounts claimed by [the liquidator] and how they were made up', however they provided 'little basis for determining whether they were reasonably incurred, and, in particular, why the liquidation of a relatively small company which held three properties had resulted in claims for remuneration by [the liquidator] in the order of $260,000'. Ultimately, the liquidator adduced further and satisfactory evidence and the Court made the orders sought.
Again, earlier this year, the Federal Court of Australia delivered a judgment in Lock, in the matter of Cedenco JV Australia Pty Ltd (in liq) (No 2) [2019] FCA 93 ("Cedenco") where it clearly stated that although there is no strict rule in respect of the evidence to be adduced in support of the remuneration, sufficient information must be provided so that the Court can discharge its statutory function of determining liquidators' remuneration.
In Cedenco, the Court held that, although the remuneration reports produced by the insolvency practitioners were based on the form recommended in the ARITA Code of Professional Practice, such reports were deficient in that, amongst other things, the description of the work undertaken was at such a 'high level of generality that creditors could not make an assessment of whether the remuneration claimed was reasonable'.
In Cedenco, not only was the amount of remuneration claimed by the liquidators challenged, but the nature of the work being conducted was also scrutinised. Indeed, the Court considered expert evidence from a senior insolvency practitioner about whether the work for which remuneration was claimed would have been undertaken by reference to a standard of a "competent and prudent insolvency practitioner', and eventually held that it wasn't, and reduced the liquidators' remuneration accordingly.
The Cedenco judgement arose in circumstances where the practitioners' remuneration was under direct attack by ASIC. However, even where there is not necessarily a dispute about remuneration, courts have taken a very strict approach when it comes to approving insolvency practitioners' remuneration.
The courts' strict approach has recently been confirmed once again by the Federal Court of Australia in Sprowles, in the matter of Triumph N Triumph Pty Ltd (in liq) [2019] FCA 1461 ("Triumph"), where the liquidator has "attempted" to have his remuneration approved in respect of the sale of the real property owned by the insolvent company in its capacity as trustee of a trust.
Given the clear view of the courts as expressed in numerous judgments in the past few years, the fact that Justice Yates in Triumph has not made orders in respect of the liquidator's remuneration and has in fact requested more details of the work involved in the sale of the property is all but surprising.
In these premises, evidence to be adduced by insolvency practitioners when seeking remuneration's approval ought to include:
An itemised account showing details of the work done, the person who completed the work, the time taken and the total amount claimed for each item of work, as it is not the court's role to review schedules of work-in-progress without such details being provided;
An explanation as to why the work was necessary in the circumstances;
An explanation as to why it was appropriate to use several staff members, by reference to their level of seniority;
If a particular issue required substantial investigation, an explanation as to the additional time required and details of the complexity;
Details in relation to the value and nature of the company's property and the work involved to finalise the sale of such property.
Given the increased tendency of courts to extensively scrutinise insolvency practitioners' remuneration and the increasingly active role of ASIC in investigating and intervening in proceedings where insolvency practitioners' remuneration is in issue, we recommend liquidators be prepared and ready to adduce satisfactory supporting evidence when seeking orders in respect of their remuneration.
Our suggestion is always to first attempt to obtain creditors' approval, as court applications can be costly and time consuming.
If you are an insolvency practitioner seeking advice on your remuneration, or a creditor who is concerned about the remuneration being claimed by an insolvency practitioner, we can assist.
Written by Chiara Becattini
Aggregation of duty and estate planning
A recent decision of the Queensland Supreme Court has relevance to duty considerations for estate planning.
In Queensland, the assets of a deceased person are subject to potential family provision application claims. The result of any such claim is that the Court is able to reallocate and redistribute the assets of a deceased having regard to the needs of those with standing under the Succession Act 1981 (Qld) regardless of the terms of any will of the deceased.
One way to have some certainty in the context of estate planning is to dispose of assets prior to death, know as inter vivos dispositions.
An example of where an inter vivos disposition can be useful would be a father concerned about one child making a family provision application claim following his death in circumstances where he did not intend to make any gift to that child. To remove the potential for dispute, the father could elect to transfer property to his other children prior to his death. Once he was to die, the transferred assets would be beyond challenge of any family provision application claim.
In the above example, if the property transferred was land, the transfers would usually be subject to duty. Assuming that the transfers were effected as gifts and without other consideration, the dutiable value on which duty would be assessed would be the unencumbered value of the land at the time of the transfer based on the usual duty rates.
The two transfers would usually be assessed for duty separately unless they were to become subject to aggregation under s 30 of the Duties Act 2001 (Qld). Under that provision, transactions which "together form, evidence, give effect to or arise from what is, substantially 1 arrangement" are assessed together, usually at a higher rate of duty.
In 2014, Office of State Revenue, on reassessment of duty on certain transactions, took the view that gifts in circumstances like the example above ought have been aggregated due to:
the relationship of the transferee, being family members;
the timing of the transactions, having occurred at the same time;
the location of the property, being adjoining land.
Office of State Revenue's position was the polar opposite of the generally accepted position that inter vivos dispositions of that type ought not be aggregated when the transactions were brought to duty for assessment unless there was some "unity of purpose" by the transferees (e.g. the transferees intended to use the land together).
The position has now been clarified by Bowskill J in Wakefield & Ors v Commissioner of State Revenue [2019] QSC 85 (4 April 2019), who has confirmed that the relevant transactions ought not have been aggregated. His reasoning included:
Logic that, ".. if the transfers to the family members had instead been made to … strangers, on the same day, … there would be no question of s 30 applying;
An acceptance of Office of State Revenue previously published "long standing principle … that taxpayers in similar circumstances are treated consistently and equitably regardless of how transactions may be structured or documented or the number or type of properties involved".
That is, whilst the family relationship between the parties was a factor to be considered for aggregation purposes, it was not, of itself, definitive. The decision is welcomed as it provides a consistent approach for inter vivos disposition for estate planning purposes.
It ought be noted that, in addition to duty, inter vivos dispositions can also result in taxation consequences and can also effect pensions and other government entitlements. Accordingly, inter vivos dispositions require careful consideration and financial planning.
JHK Legal's commercial team can provide business and commercial structuring and estate planning advice to ensure that your business, asset holding and testamentary intentions are met. If you consider this advice relevant to your circumstances, please call us on 07 3859 4500 to discuss how we may be able to assist.
Written by Niall Powell, Special Counsel.
What is probate and when is it needed in Queensland?
As Benjamin Franklin wrote in 1789, "nothing can be said to be certain except death and taxes".
We've come a long way since then and with some more positive certainties in life; happiness, love and Netflix were just a few that sprung to mind.
Unfortunately Mr Franklin's famous saying still prevails today and at some point during our lives we all experience the loss of a loved one. It is always a difficult time when we lose someone close to us and if you are a named executor in your loved one's Will or if your loved one has died without a Will it can also be a confusing time to understand what needs to happen with the deceased's property and what even is probate?
What is a Grant of Probate?
A grant of probate is the Supreme Court's recognition that a will is legally valid. If there is no will, or the executors named in the will are unable to act, the Supreme Court can grant letters of administration to personal representatives to deal with the estate of the deceased person.
Probate provides the personal representatives with protection to deal with the deceased's assets. It also provides protection to third parties so they know they are dealing with the correct personal representative of the estate.
There are 3 types of probate that can be applied for in Queensland:
Grant of probate – this is when a valid Will exists and the executor or executors named in the Will are making the application.
Grant of letters of administration of the Will – this is where a valid Will exists and someone other than the named executors is making the application. For example: when the named executor has died or is incapacitated and otherwise unwilling or unable to act.
Grant of letters of administration without a Will – this is where no valid Will exists. This is known as dying intestate.
The 3 types of probate have specific requirements that must be strictly adhered to before the Court will issue a grant of probate however there is a similar process to follow for all 3.
Does every personal representative need a Grant of Probate?
There is no legal requirement that probate be procured in Queensland. However, there are some reasons why a personal representative would obtain probate, including:
Personal protection – If it was to eventuate that there was some other Will and the personal representative should not have been dealing with the assets of the estate, probate would protect the personal representative from personal liability from any claim that they "intermeddled" with the deceased's estate. This can be crucial in some estates where it is likely the estate will be subject to a family provision application.
Dealings with others – Some entities that hold the deceased's property (e.g. Banks, share registries, superannuation funds and aged care homes) will not release those assets until probate has been granted. This is so the entities can be assured they are handing over the assets to the appropriately authorised person.
Below are some scenarios where it would be unlikely that probate would be required.
Joint assets
If all or majority of the deceased's assets are owed jointly with someone else as joint tenants.
For example: Ross and Rachel are married. They own the family home together as joint tenants, hold all bank accounts jointly and have a joint share portfolio.
Ross died leaving a valid Will naming Rachel as his sole executor and beneficiary.
The only assets in Ross' sole name are his motor vehicle and his personal belongings such as his phone and clothes.
As majority of Ross' assets were jointly owned with Rachel, upon his death full ownership of these assets automatically transfer to Rachel through the law of survivorship and as a result, fall outside his estate.
Rachel would need to advise the relevant entities and authorities of Ross' death so that the assets can be recorded as being in Rachel's name alone. This could usually be effected by production of Ross' death certificate.
Low value assets
If a deceased's assets are of low value.
Financial institutions and share registries have their own thresholds to determine whether a deceased asset is considered to be of 'low value' and therefore probate is not required to be produced to them.
As a general rule, banks will usually not require probate if the total funds held in the deceased's accounts are in the vicinity of $20,000 to $50,000 (this is subject to change at the discretion of the relevant Bank).
Chandler and Monica are married. They are retired and have spent the last 3 years travelling the world together.
They do not own any real property and have no joint assets.
Monica died leaving a valid Will where Chandler is the sole executor and beneficiary.
Monica's only assets are a bank account with funds of around $15,000 and her personal belongings such as sentimental jewellery and clothing.
Monica's assets would usually be classified as 'low value'.
Chandler would need to advise the relevant bank of Monica's death and provide a certified copy of her death certificate and Will. The Bank would not require that probate be produced to release Monica's funds to Chandler.
Can I obtain probate myself?
A personal representative can apply for a grant of probate by themselves however a strict process must be followed to ensure that the Court does not reject the application.
It is strongly recommended that you meet with a solicitor to discuss you options prior to applying for probate.
JHK Legal can help ease the burden of being a personal representative during the difficult times and ensure that the strict requirements of the probate process have been carried out, if necessary.
If you have any questions or concerns about the following, please give us a call and we would be happy to assist:
Compiling a list of the deceased's assets and liabilities and determining how the deceased's property is held;
Reviewing the Will of the deceased;
Determining whether a grant of probate is required and/or recommended in the circumstances;
Making an application to the Court for probate or letters of administration;
Assist in the administration, distribution and finalisation of the estate.
Call JHK Legal on 07 3859 4500 and have a chat about how we can assist you.
Written by Simone Wilson
Leases – Unfair Contract Terms
Excellent news – you've decided to start up your own café (small business) and have found the perfect vacant premises! However, after reviewing the contract yourself, you notice some clauses which seem alarming including auto-renewal clauses, variation of rental prices at the landlord's discretion and unlimited indemnity clauses. With pressure mounting from the landlord to execute the lease, you're left with the ultimate dilemma; do you risk losing the property to another potential tenant and sign the lease now or take the time to have the lease reviewed by a solicitor in respect to unfair contract terms?
Since the Treasury Legislation Amendment (Small Business and Unfair Contract Terms) Act (Cth) came into effect in November 2016 (which made amendments to Schedule 2 of the Competition and Consumer Act 2010 (Cth) ("ACL")), the team at JHK Legal have been regularly assisting clients, in particular small businesses, in reviewing leases, identifying clauses deemed to be "unfair" and assisting with the negotiating to have these clauses removed and/or amended.
Is my lease regarded as a "small business contract"?
Your business can rely on this legislation where:
At least one party is a business that employs less than 20 people – whether that be you or your landlord;
Upfront price (including rent, operating costs and/or security deposits) payable does not exceed $300,000, or does not exceed $1,000,000.00 if the duration is more than 12 months; and
The contract is a 'standard form contract'.
All contracts are presumed to be a 'standard form contract' unless proven otherwise. A number of factors can be considered to infer that a lease contract is not standard in form, including:
Where both the landlord and tenant were involved in the preparation of the contract;
Both parties have the same bargaining power;
Unpressured choice to accept or reject the lease;
Ample opportunity to negotiate the terms; and
Where the terms of the lease take into consideration specific factors/characteristics of the party/lease.
If you have answered yes to a number of the above factors, your lease may not be subject to the unfair contract terms regime.
Australia Competition and Consumer Commission v Servcorp Pty Ltd [2018] FCA 1044
Since the introduction of the ACL amendments, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission's ("ACCC") powers have expanded to be able to investigate unfair contract terms used for the detriment of small businesses.
2018 saw the ACCC investigate the transactions of Servcorp Pty Ltd ("Servcorp") and bring proceedings in the Federal Court seeking a declaration that some of the terms contained within Servcorp's standard contracts were unfair and void. Servcorp specifically provided office spaces for rent.
What clauses should you watch out for?
In reaching the decision in Servcorp, the Court considered, among other things, the significant imbalance the inclusion of the clause would have on one party over the other – and in this circumstance, the imbalance the clause would have to the Tenant over the rights of the Landlord. Declarations were made that the following clauses were unfair and void:
Termination as a result of a breach
A landlord cannot terminate the contract without cause (and with no monetary compensation payable to the Tenant). In particular, this clause will be deemed unfair where the Tenant is not granted the same rights – i.e. to terminate the lease with one month's notice, without cause.
Example: The Landlord at any time has the right to terminate this Lease, with one month's written notice to the Tenant, without cause. The Landlord will not be liable for any loss or damage caused to the Tenant as a result of a termination under this clause.
Variations to Costs
Where a Landlord is granted the right to vary the price under a Lease agreement without notice or consultation with the Tenant.
Forfeiture of Security Deposits where there is no obligation from the Landlord to return it
In this scenario, a responsibility was placed on the Tenant to request the refund of the security deposit within 360 days of the termination of the lease, which if not complied with, would result in the forfeiture of the deposit. It didn't help that the lease itself did not provide the requirement for the security deposit to be refunded at all.
The Court confirmed that if a responsibility is to be placed on one party, the positive obligation of the other should follow. For example, the clause may not have been regarded as unfair had a provision been made in the clause to say, "where notification is provided within 360 days by the Tenant, the Landlord must return the security deposit, less any monies allowed to be withheld under the provisions of this agreement."
Automatic Renewal of Leases
Commonly seen in commercial contracts, automatic renewal clauses allow for a contract to be renewed where no termination notice has been provided by a certain date. In particular, clauses that lock a party into a higher price upon renewal.
Indemnity and Limitation of Liability
Clauses which limit the liability of the Landlord to no liability for any loss/damage caused are regarded as unfair under the terms.
Example: The Landlord will not be liable for any loss, injury, death, or damage (including consequential damages) to persons, property, or Tenant's business occasioned by … from any acts or omissions of any other occupant or visitor of the Leased Property, or from any other cause beyond Landlord's control. A Tenant cannot sue the Landlord for such damages.
Notice of Breach
It is common practice that a party to a contract generally, unless a breach is material, should have the opportunity to rectify the breach. Clauses which grant a broad right to the Landlord to terminate the lease, notwithstanding the type of breach and without any notice to the Tenant, will be deemed unfair and void.
We recommend always having every commercial/retail lease reviewed by one of our solicitors at JHK before executing. Sometimes negotiating clauses can be daunting and we can assist in ensuring that your rights are protected!
What about the Landlords? – Tips and tricks to avoid being investigated by the ACCC
To show the ramifications of what Servcorp meant for the Landlord, the Court ordered:
Servcorp (and its employees and agents) participate in a compliance program with the ACCC; and
Pay the ACCC's costs of $150,000.00.
As such, this places even greater responsibility on Landlord's to ensure they are considering all aspects of their lease, including:
Reviewing your Landlord structures;
Reviewing the status of your Tenant; and
Reviewing any Lease/standard form Lease.
If you're a Landlord who would like assistance in reviewing any of the above, please give the team at JHK a call on 03 9927 3600.
Written by Lawyer, Isabella Matassoni
How to write your own Will – DON'T!
Life sure is busy, huh?
Between work, kids' birthday parties, making sure there is food in the fridge, the bills are paid, you keep in touch with your family and friends and are up to date with your favourite Netflix show, there is a lot to do.
So, when someone says, "Hey, do you have a current Will?", it is no wonder why most people's response is something along of the lines of…
"No – why would I need to do that."
"That's so morbid! I don't want to think of things like that."
"I don't have anything worthwhile leaving to anyone – there is no point."
"I am young, fit and healthy – there's plenty of time for that when I am ready to retire."
"A Will?! What do I care?! I'll be in a better place – let the kids fight it out!"
Look, we get it. You have plenty of other things to worry about without having to think about what will happen once you have passed away. But look at it this way:
You will (or already have) spent your whole life working hard to build a legacy – don't you want to control where that legacy ends up and who benefits from it?
You have a young family, so wouldn't you want to know that they will be looked after, after you are gone?
You likely spend a good chunk of money on insurances – health insurance, house and contents insurance, car insurance, income protection insurance, pet insurance. Why? To protect your assets and your family, most likely. A Will is another, very important, way to protect your assets and your family.
While you might not care too much about what happens to your assets after you have gone, having a Will means that the people you love and leave behind don't have to worry about how you would have wanted to divvy up your things at the same time that they are dealing with the loss of you.
These things matter. And while Wills sound scary, our team at JHK Legal are ready to help you put in place the best plan for you and your family.
Some things to think about when making your Will
Now that you know why a Will is so important, let's talk about a few key things you need to think about when making your Will:
Your executor/s: This is the person or the people who will carry out your wishes under your Will. They will manage your estate, take care of all necessary arrangements, like paying your debts, and make sure things happen as you intended them to. Your executor should be someone you trust, like a family member or a good friend. It can also be professional person, like an accountant or a lawyer. You can choose more than one executor and have them work together in this role. We also recommend that you appoint an alternative executor if for some reason your primary executor cannot or is unwilling to act. You might like to choose your spouse, parent, sibling or best friend – and if you are having a hard time picking an executor – we are happy to talk this out with you.
Your beneficiaries: The beneficiaries are the people you want to benefit from your estate. This could be members of your family, your close friends or even a charity. Some people decide to leave their entire estate to their partner first and then to their children equally if their partner has predeceased (dies before them). On the other hand, some people like to leave parts of their estate to various members of their circle. You can leave different assets or shares of assets to different people – it is completely up to you and we are here to help you phrase your Will so that your wishes are clear.
Specific gifts: Your wedding ring, a collector's item or your household contents – you can make specific gifts to certain people under your Will. BUT, specific gifts can be a little tricky and it is ALWAYS a good idea to talk to us if you want to leave something special to your brother or your best friend. If you don't get advice, you risk the gift failing and your most prized possessions being lumped in with the rest of your estate.
Guardians: A VERY important consideration. If you die leaving minor children (that is, kids under the age of 18) and they have no other surviving parent, who will you appoint as their guardian? There is plenty of things to think about when deciding who will look after your children – where do they live, do your kids have a good relationship with them, what kind of parent are they/would they be? We are here to help – and we tend to think of all the practical things so you can focus on who you think will best look after your family for you.
Families: Everyone's family is different and that means that sometimes you need to consider how best to structure your Will to take into account these differences. For example:
Do any of your children have higher needs which will need to be accounted for in your Will?
Are your children very young? Should there be a testamentary trust in place whereby someone will manage your children's shares in your estate until they are older? What even IS a testamentary trust and do I need one?
Has one of your children benefited more during your lifetime and accordingly, you want your other children to benefit more from your Will? Do you think there is a risk that this could cause a dispute?
Do you have children from a previous relationship who you would like to provide specifically for in your Will?
We know that these types of considerations can be difficult and, in many ways, very emotional. Our approachable and knowledgeable team are here to help you with making tough decisions and can give you advice about how best to protect your assets and, as far as possible, avoid estate challenges.
Our top tips and tricks for making your Will
Ready to make your Will? Here's our top tips and tricks for you:
How to make your own Will – DON'T! You should always see a Wills and Estates lawyer when thinking about making a Will. Sure, you can buy a cookie cutter, DIY Will kit from the post office, BUT these tend to open you up for all kinds of issues, such as challenges about the proper construction of your Will, the failure of specific gifts and leaving you no room (literally, there are very small spaces to write in) to make your Will specific to YOU and your family.
Like Dr. Google, Google Lawyer can sometimes get it wrong. The internet is amazing, and you can get all kinds of wonderful advice about Wills and your estate planning from tons of awesome websites online (like this one, for example). But a word of caution, while reading this article is a great start, you should make an appointment to chat to a lawyer about you, your life, your assets and your loved ones before you go ahead and make a Will. There could be things you just don't think about that we will. That is what we are here for!
Make time to make your Will today. Don't put it off any longer.
Call JHK Legal on 07 3859 4500 and have a chat about what we can do for you to get your affairs in order.
Written by Lawyer, Chloe Blaney


text:
Joe Rospars is one of the founders of  Blue State Digital and formerly the "Chief Strategist" for Elizabeth Warren's 2020 presidential campaign.  Rospars was the New Media Director for Barack Obama's presidential campaigns in both 2008 and 2012. Rospars also was Barack Obama's principal digital strategist and adviser. He managed the digital integration of fundraising, communications, and mobilization of grassroots effort. Prior to Obama's campaign, he worked with Governor Howard Dean at the Democratic National Committee, Dean's campaign for party chairman, and at Democracy for America, and on Howard Dean's 2004 presidential campaign. Rospers has a bachelor's degree in political science from the George Washington University.

References

Barack Obama 2008 presidential campaign
Barack Obama 2012 presidential campaign
Columbian College of Arts and Sciences alumni
Living people
1981 births
Place of birth missing (living people)
American company founders
American chief executives

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


Airfares are headed higher, or at least that's the hope at United Airlines, but they inadvertently took a sudden detour this week.
United sold nearly 1,000 roundtrip tickets at only $5 each on Tuesday after an Internet clearinghouse accidentally posted the wrong price for about an hour, said Rono Dutta, president of Elk Grove Township-based UAL Corp., the carrier's parent. United will honor the tickets sold, a UAL spokeswoman said.
On a more positive note, United is starting to see an increase in tickets purchased just before a flight, a sign that full-fare business travel is picking up, chairman and CEO John W. Creighton Jr. told shareholders at Thursday's annual meeting.
However, it's not clear whether that will lead to a year-to-year increase in revenue per seat because overall fares are so much lower than they were a year ago.
United's planes were 72% full in the first quarter, 4% higher than they were in the same period last year. That's partly due to the sharp reduction in flights after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks turned a travel slowdown into a severe slump.
"Logic would say, with load factors increasing, fare increases will follow," Mr. Creighton told reporters after the meeting. United is also restoring capacity gradually, adding 127 flights in April and another 77 to serve its Chicago hub, starting next month.
But with United continuing to lose $5 million in cash a day, the immediate focus is on controlling costs, especially labor costs. United lost $510 million in the first quarter, which was less than analysts were predicting, but losses are expected to continue this year. In 2001, United lost more than $2.1 billion, or about $40 per share, on revenues of $16.1 billion. vs. net earnings of $50 million on nearly $19.4 billion in revenues during the prior year.
By next week, United Airlines hopes to start talks with its unions to reduce labor cost, Mr. Creighton said after the meeting.
It is "too early in our discussions" to know if all unions will participate in a financial recovery plan, but "my objective is to get everybody."
After a preliminary meeting with United executives late last month, United's pilots agreed to begin discussions with the company but flight attendants balked. Machinists boycotted the session, arguing that they wouldn't discuss concessions while they still had unresolved labor contracts.
Since then, those contracts have been ratified and signed, including language that commits the International Assn. of Machinists to engage in good-faith negotiations if the company presents a plan to reduce labor costs.
Therefore, "I would assume they will enter into negotiations," said Mr. Creighton. "It will be as soon as possible."
Mr. Creighton declined to specify how much the company needs in labor savings, which could be a combination of pay cuts or productivity improvements. But "there needs to be a cash component," he added.
"We are one of, if not the highest cost producer in the airline industry," said the CEO, who plans to step down sometime after mid-summer, after a search for a new CEO is completed. "That is the key fundamental problem."
At the meeting, shareholders ignored the board's opposition and approved several non-binding resolutions to make management more accountable to shareholders. The directives urged the board to separate the roles of chairman and CEO, link executive pay to a restoration of capacity and require airline acquisitions to be approved by shareholders.
The measures won about 11% to 12% of the common stockholders' vote, but shares held in trust for employees, who control 55% of the vote, backed the measures that won by wide margins.
Separately Thursday, United said it will pay a $31.1 million fine to Indianapolis and the state of Indiana for failing to meet its commitment to invest $800 million over 10 years in its aircraft maintenance center at Indianapolis International Airport, one of three the airline has across the country.
A United spokesman said the fine will be paid in the next 45 days. United was about $250 million short as of Dec. 31.
United also may face another fine if it misses a deadline to create 6,300 jobs in Indianapolis by 2004. So far, the United spokesman said the struggling air carrier has created about 3,000 positions.


Signed & Numbered Limited Edition 3D Artwork by. Image Size : 4 1/2" x 4 1/2" or 11.43cm x 11.43cm.
Approximate Frame Size : 12 1/2 " x 12 1/2 " or 31.75cm x 31.75cm. Published : 2001- Edition # 195/200.
A Certificate of Authenticity (COA) from Charles Fazzino included. Framed in a 1 inch Matte Black Wood Frame.
Matted in a 2 inch White Acid Free Mat with a 1/4 inch Inner Orange Color Acid Free Museum Mat. The item "Charles Fazzino Rockin Around The USA 3-D Art Signed & Number Framed" is in sale since Saturday, March 31, 2018. This item is in the category "Art\Mixed Media Art & Collage Art".
The seller is "middlevillageframeshoppe" and is located in Middle Village, New York. This item can be shipped worldwide.


Experience holy moments in the holy places where our forefathers have lived. Embark on a 13-day Pilgrimage to the Land of the Bible (Egypt, Holy Land and Jordan) with a Pilgrimage Chaplain leaving on October 22, 2019. May this unique spiritual adventure help you get closer to God.
Embark on a unique spiritual journey. Join a Pilgrimage to the Land of the Bible with a Pilgrimage Chaplain leaving on October 22, 2019. As a true pilgrim, walk prayerfully and devoutly in the steps of the Lord with openness to the movement of the Spirit of Jesus in your life.


2017-11-05 18:09:42.027  INFO 7708 --- [lerFactoryBean]] o.s.s.quartz.LocalDataSourceJobStore     : ClusterManager: detected 1 failed or restarted instances.
2017-11-05 18:09:42.027  INFO 7708 --- [lerFactoryBean]] o.s.s.quartz.LocalDataSourceJobStore     : ClusterManager: Scanning for instance "yuqiyu1509876084785"'s failed in-progress jobs.
2017-11-05 18:09:42.031  INFO 7708 --- [lerFactoryBean]] o.s.s.quartz.LocalDataSourceJobStore     : ClusterManager: ......Freed 1 acquired trigger(s).
2017-11-05 18:09:42.033  INFO 7708 --- [lerFactoryBean]] org.quartz.core.QuartzScheduler          : Scheduler schedulerFactoryBean_$_yuqiyu1509876579404 started.
2017-11-05 18:15:56.000  INFO 7536 --- [lerFactoryBean]] org.quartz.core.QuartzScheduler          : Scheduler schedulerFactoryBean_$_yuqiyu1509876953202 started.
2017-11-05 18:16:15.999  INFO 7536 --- [_ClusterManager] o.s.s.quartz.LocalDataSourceJobStore     : ClusterManager: detected 1 failed or restarted instances.
2017-11-05 18:16:16.000  INFO 7536 --- [_ClusterManager] o.s.s.quartz.LocalDataSourceJobStore     : ClusterManager: Scanning for instance "yuqiyu1509876579404"'s failed in-progress jobs.
2017-11-05 18:16:16.005  INFO 7536 --- [_ClusterManager] o.s.s.quartz.LocalDataSourceJobStore     : ClusterManager: ......Freed 1 acquired trigger(s).


12 CFR § 24.4 - Investment limits.
(a)Limits on aggregate outstanding investments. A national bank's aggregate outstanding investments under this part may not exceed 5 percent of its capital and surplus, unless the bank is at least adequately capitalized and the OCC determines, by written approval of a written request by the bank to exceed the 5 percent limit, that a higher amount of investments will not pose a significant risk to the deposit insurance fund. In no case may a bank's aggregate outstanding investments under this part exceed 15 percent of its capital and surplus. When calculating the aggregate amount of its aggregate outstanding investments under this part, a national bank should follow generally accepted accounting principles, unless otherwise directed or permitted in writing by the OCC for prudential or safety and soundness reasons.
(b)Limited liability. A national bank may not make an investment under this part that would expose the bank to unlimited liability.


In Strauss's "Capriccio," heard last week at Santa Fe Opera, the Countess settles on Gluck as setting the highest standard for opera. If only Santa Fe Opera had heeded her advice and replaced its annual Mozart opera with one by Gluck, as I suggested to Charles MacKay a few years ago. Mozart may be a staple at Santa Fe Opera, but Mozart is rarely the highlight of any season here. For the last truly extraordinary Mozart production at Santa Fe Opera, you would have to go back to "Lucio Silla" in 2005. This year's "Don Giovanni," last heard here in 2009, had that same feeling of routine Santa Fe Opera Mozart, mostly pleasant but with some inevitable disappointment. A nice staging of Gluck's "Iphigénie en Aulide" would have been just the thing to lift the season into something extraordinary.
The piece came to life a bit more in the recitatives, when Glenn Lewis took over on the fortepiano, seated at the left corner of the pit so he could see and interact with the singers. The superlative recording led by René Jacobs showed how the fortepiano, played with improvisational fancy, can enliven the recitatives in this opera. Lewis was not quite on the level of that recording, but he worked in witty allusions to other arias, for example, when some characters were mentioned.


What an appalling collection. The sayings are perfectly fine, even funny as I think about my own dad. The explanations and proffered translations, however, are insulting. Here's what we're to learn about dads everywhere: they just want to watch the game, work is lousy but someone has to do it so Mom can watch the Home & Garden channel all day, can someone please just let them watch the game, Mom is a nag, it's really pointless for kids to attempt to talk to them, and everyone needs to shut up so they can watch the game.This wasn't my dad. This isn't my spouse. And it doesn't resemble the many dedicated dads I know. It may be a product of a different generation, but that doesn't make it any more palatable to this reader. The goal might have been humor, but the stereotype of Dad as a benignly lazy, weary soul who doesn't get enough respect at home just left me annoyed.
As a father of two, I absolutely loved this book! It plays on the stereotypes brilliantly and had me laughing out loud more often than not!It's a quick read and a perfect gift.If you're the kind of person who finds humour that is obviously playing on stereotypes offensive, then do yourself a favour and get out of the humour section in the book store.If however you have any sense of humour and can appreciate this style of humour knowing it's written in jest, then give this a read!
Really cute book. Quick read. Fun for all.


Additionally, I remember when I was younger living in Japan, there was a policy of disposing of household grease by wiping cooking pans with newspaper -- this sounded dangerous and a fire hazard -- instead, it is better to save used cooking oil in a screw top jar, all the used oil can then be recycled as fuel for energy . . . .
Wood chip waste, or specially produced Wood chips ? One wonders if this would really be environmentally beneficial.
Now, were it to collect home bio-mass waste and use that as a source for energy... that would be something to talk about. Think about all the waste foods, bits of chopped vegetables , unfinished plates of food within the country simply being dumped. Surely something more productive could be done with that "waste".
Yes they're not particularly clean at all, producing as scrote said large volumes of CO2 and other pollutants incl dioxins.
They claim to be environmentally-friendly by being carbon neutral, because the trees from which the biomass originated from absorbed CO2, and the new trees planted to replace the sourced ones continue the CO2 absorption cycle.
But such long term carbon neutralization doesn't account for the consistent short term pollution from burning.
Companies establishing such, should explain all details openly as they are not truly "eco".
These wood chip burning power plants are terrible for the environment: their emissions are higher than coal-fired power stations, the particulates they release are similar to diesel cars, and burning wood releases CO2. Despite all the damage they do the government still pays a massive subsidy. These things should not be allowed.
This will have massive subsidies. I wouldn't be surprised if it is eternally nonviable without them. I'm all for eco tech, but only good eco tech. A solar panel will produce electricity without trucking in loads of woodchips and producing PM, from the trucks and the burning wood, and without needing somone, ultimately the ordinary consumer, to pay 40 yen a KWh for the power.
I hope they are using the waste heat too.


text:
European drug regulator backs mixing COVID-19 vaccines
Pedestrians wear masks to prevent the spread of the COVID-19 as they walk past a store decorated as part of Christmas lightings, in Paris, Monday, Dec. 6, 2021. The new potentially more contagious omicron variant of the coronavirus popped up in more European countries just days after being identified in South Africa, leaving governments around the world scrambling to stop the spread. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena)
THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — The European Union drug regulator gave its backing Tuesday to mixing different types of vaccines in initial vaccination and booster campaigns to battle the coronavirus.
The European Medicines Agency said in a statement that using different types of vaccines together, known as heterologous vaccination, can provide protection against COVID-19.
The announcement comes as much of Europe is facing rising infection and hospital rates and concerns about the new omicron variant.
The EMA, together with the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control, said that a mix-and-match strategy could give nations more options in vaccination campaigns as much of the continent seeks to contain the latest surge in the pandemic.
"The evidence available so far with different types of authorized vaccines indicates that a heterologous booster appears as good as or better in terms of immune responses than a homologous booster," the agencies said in a statement.
"While research is ongoing to provide more evidence on long-term safety, duration of immunity and effectiveness, the use of heterologous schedules may offer flexibility in terms of vaccination options, particularly to reduce the impact on the vaccine rollout should a vaccine not be available for any reason," they added.
The agencies looked at data for mRNA vaccines like the Pfizer shot and so-called viral vector vaccines such as the one made by Johnson & Johnson. The two types of vaccines use different technologies to spur the body to fight the coronavirus.
U.S. and U.K. authorities have already given the green light to mixing and matching vaccines in booster campaigns.
by Molly Curley / Jan 20, 2022
ATLANTA (WSAV) – The search is on for a missing 17-year-old girl believed to be traveling from north Georgia to North Carolina.
The Chickamauga Police Department said Talyn Rae Kernea was last seen in the city Tuesday night.
Earlier this week, Goldman Sachs analysts said that oil could rise over $10 to $100 a barrel later this year, and go even higher in 2023.
UAB researchers achieve multiple world's firsts with pig-to-human kidney transplant
New businesses making their way to Chattahoochee County

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


The little landscape grouping is sure to impress your neighbors and your Homeowner's Association.
That Pink Flamingo/piranha hybrid is especially aggressive.
Watch as a group of vicious Pink Flamingos stalk their innocent prey.
Piranha attacks for real. Yuk.
Here's a few of our "Neighborhood Watch" Patrol-gnomes.


Rooms are available for hire at Archway Methodist Church. All areas on the ground and first floors are accessible to those with mobility disabilities.
The room rates are shown below. A key refundable deposit of £20 per key is charged refundable upon the return of the keys within 48 hours from the end of the event or by arrangement with the Administrator. A £80 refundable deposit is required for all parties and social gatherings where food is to be served.
We regret that we are unable to host parties or meetings where alcohol is to be served. Gambling (including raffles and tombolas) is not permitted. We regret that we can only accept bookings for worship, prayer meetings and Bible study for Christian groups that are members of the World Council of Churches.
To allow for the preparation of booking agreements/licences, please allow at least 7 days when making an application for one off hiring of premises or new longer term hiring arrangements.
Public liability insurance is required for all lettings at which members of the public are present, this will include groups and societies who have an open membership.
To hire premises please contact the Administrator or complete the Room hire request.
Available between 9.30 am - 4 pm weekdays only.
The Octagon is a small space suitable for meetings, community groups, play space or quiet room. It has access to a kitchenette (£5 flat fee).
Capacity: 30 seated (15 if tables are used), 40 standing.
Furniture: 30 stackable chairs, 5 small folding tables.
Room rate £18 per hour (Commercial) £12.00 per hour (Community/Concession).
The Chapel is a small chapel suitable for worship, formal meetings, small ensemble concerts.
Furniture: 50 Padded church type chairs, small piano, communion table, lectern.
It is suitable for meetings, children's parties, play space, exercise space.
Capacity: 25 seated, 30 standing.
It is suitable for meetings, children's parties, play space, exercise space, rehearsal space. An upright piano is available for hire (£10 flat fee).
Capacity: 100 seated (80 if tables are used), 125 standing.
Room rate £22.50 per hour (Commercial) £15.00 per hour (Community/Concession).
It is suitable for meetings, play space, exercise space.
It is suitable for large meetings, play space, exercise space, rehearsal space. The room is on the second floor and is not accessible to those with limited mobility.


text:
Today Is National HIV Testing Day: Have You Ever Gotten the Test?
Vitamin G
Let's talk about a serious topic for a sec: Have you ever gotten an HIV test? Today's a reminder to everyone to consider it...
By Sarah Jio
Today is National HIV Testing Day, a government effort to get the word out about being tested for the disease that leads to AIDS and kills too many people each year.
The latest stats are sobering. One in five Americans is living with HIV and isn't even aware of it. Worse: Statistics tell us that 40 percent of people with HIV aren't diagnosed until they have developed full-fledged AIDS, and that can take as long as 10 years after being infected.
Testing centers have been set up across the country, including one in Times Square in New York City. You can also use this national event as a reminder to make an appointment with your doctor to get the simple blood test.
__Have you ever been tested? Do you ever wonder? __
P.S. Could this AIDS-prevention *gel *really work? And, she spread HIV knowingly, and she wants to avoid jail time!
More Ways to Get Glamour:__
Visit ShopGlamour.com for cute stuff starting at just $10!
Download Glamour Magazine for your iPad--print subscribers, it's now part of your subscription plan!
Enter the latest Glamour sweepstakes!
TopicsAIDSHIVwomen health carewomen health concernswomen health issueswomen health tips


Alright well I apologize for the tardiness… I had a pretty busy past couple days. So hopefully I can keep us up to date with all the fun stuff I get to do… This is the point right? To at least share this with you and if not i can at least look back and everything and appreciate what i've done.
For those of you who don't know what a remote is its when a company hires a radio station to help promote their business. I've been endorsing cellular phones for Cricket Communications for a few years now. THANK YOU TO CRICKET FOR MAKING THE FEW YEARS GREAT. Well on this particular remote I got to hang out at the Cricket Store in Monroeville, Pa. We were promoting the new 29.99 CRICKET EZ phone. The thing I like best about these remotes is that really get to meet some of the listeners of our radio station. Being coup up in the studios all the time, I sometimes i forget the amount of people that are listening. So being able to interact our listeners is the best. That's what I love most about this job. This is why I do this. To leave an impression on the world, it starts at one person at a time!!!
Well so we all have social networks: Facebook, MySpace, Friendster, Blah Blah Blah… But nothing ever really feels like it's your own… So then I added a Blogspot to this mess and have sat on it for a few months now… So today I decided that i should just simply jot down a few words and post a pic of everything I do. It may be something simple like a gas station remote for the radio station or maybe a big time concert. I think I just let thing pass me by but don't realize that even in on it's simpliest level I should walk away from every experience with something. So i guess this is my attempt to record any little interesting thing i've been apart of…. Good Luck Bonics!!!!


text:
using UnityEngine;
using System;
using UniRx;
using UniRx.Triggers;

namespace PhotonRx.Triggers
{
    [DisallowMultipleComponent]
    public class ObservableOnPhotonMaxCccuReachedTrigger : ObservableTriggerBase
    {
        private Subject<Unit> onPhotonMaxCccuReached;

        private void OnPhotonMaxCccuReached()
        {
            if (onPhotonMaxCccuReached != null) onPhotonMaxCccuReached.OnNext(Unit.Default);
        }

        /// <summary>
        /// CCUの上限に達したため接続が切断されたことを通知する
        /// </summary>
        public IObservable<Unit> OnPhotonMaxCccuReachedAsObservable()
        {
            return onPhotonMaxCccuReached ?? (onPhotonMaxCccuReached = new Subject<Unit>());
        }

        protected override void RaiseOnCompletedOnDestroy()
        {
            if (onPhotonMaxCccuReached != null)
            {
                onPhotonMaxCccuReached.OnCompleted();
            }
        }
    }
}

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


text:
/**
 *
 */
package chapter2.sca.tuscany.demo;

import org.apache.tuscany.sca.host.embedded.SCADomain;

import chapter2.sca.tuscany.demo.impl.HelloWorldConsumer;

/**
 * @author Administrator
 *
 */
public class ConsumeService {

	/**
	 * @param args
	 */
	public static void main(String[] args) throws Exception{
		SCADomain.newInstance("consumeservice.composite");
		System.out.println("Client Started");
		HelloWorldConsumer consumer=(HelloWorldConsumer) SpringApplicationContextHolder.context.getBean("HelloWorldConsumer");
		System.out.println(consumer.execute("BlueDavy"));
	}

}


Looking to start a business? You may want to consider joining the lead generation industry. Most companies rely on a steady flow of leads in order to grow. Industries like insurance, mortgage, home improvement and loans are just a few examples that have a massive demand for leads.
Lead generation is part of the digital marketing industry. The U.S. will spend $120 billion by 2021 on digital marketing. If you want to start a business that has huge demand, can be run by a solopreneur, is mostly automated and has the ability to scale quickly, then this business is for you.
The first step is to choose an industry that needs leads. Nationwide industries are more desirable because it's easier to advertise a nationwide campaign online as opposed to a local campaign.
You also want to choose an industry that is currently in high demand. Take auto finance, for example. These lenders provide auto loans for used vehicles to consumers who are not able to get approved for a new car loan through traditional banks.
An astounding 107 million Americans — about 43% of the U.S. adult population — have auto loan debt. That's up from 80 million Americans in 2012, when those with home mortgages outnumbered those with auto loans.
The most popular paid marketing channels are Facebook, Google Adwords and YouTube. In most cases, Facebook is the cheapest way to generate leads today and has the ability to send more volume than other marketing channels.
Facebook targets specific audiences, and they do a great job at it. They make it possible to target your ads based on the type of car someone drives, their income or even their net worth. For auto finance leads, you'd want to target consumers with lower income and who are looking to buy less expensive used cars. Facebook makes this easy to accomplish.
Automation is key to success and is the best part about running a lead generation business. A lead is generated by placing an ad online. For example, let's say you place an ad on Facebook. The consumer sees the ad on Facebook, clicks on it and is redirected to your website. On your site, the consumer will fill out a form that sources various fields of information. Once they fill out the form, they are now considered a lead, and your lead buyer's customer relationship manager (CRM) will be automatically notified via your lead distribution software.
Once your advertising is set up, your lead buyers are in place and your software is configured — your business becomes completely automated. The only work that is required is managing your marketing campaigns to make sure your lead cost remains as low as possible to maximize your profits.
To monetize leads, you should have multiple lead buyers. You never want to put all your eggs in one basket. If one buyer stops accepting leads, you should have another one ready to go. If you are generating 100 leads per day, make sure your buyers can handle that level of volume. You never want to be stuck with leads you cannot sell.
You can also monetize your existing leads into other industries by adding additional fields to the form on your website. If a consumer is looking for an auto loan, they might be interested in auto insurance, too. So you should also ask the question: Are you interested in auto insurance? If the consumer says yes, you are now able to sell that lead to an auto insurance company.
If you are selling the lead to different industries (e.g., auto finance and auto insurance), you will not have a problem. But you want to be careful that you do not sell a lead too many times because then it will be harder for your buyers to close deals. Which means they will be less likely to order leads from you again.
Lead generation is the ultimate scalable business that you can operate very efficiently as a solopreneur. It is always in demand, is mostly automated and has a wide range of clientele. I highly recommend you research lead generation further if this business fits your skill set.


text:
HomeHealthcareLighting the way from MND research to the…
Healthcare / MND Research / Models of MND / News
Lighting the way from MND research to the COVID-19 response
21 July 2020 20 July 2020 Research Development Team
Guest researcher blog post: My name is Sophie Nyberg and I am a neuroscientist currently working in the Lighthouse COVID-19 testing labs in Alderley Park, Cheshire, England.
Sophie Nyberg at Lighthouse lab, Alderley Park.
Back in April 2018, I commenced my postdoctoral research position at the Sheffield Institute for Translational Neuroscience (SITraN), on a project led by Dr Laura Ferraiuolo and Prof Dame Pamela Shaw and funded by the MND Association. I was investigating the role of micro RNA (miRNA) – small pieces of the cell's genetic code that regulate expression of instructions in our DNA – and how they could be used in possible new treatments for MND.
We know from many recent studies that stem cell transplants (grafts) show promising results in clinical trials, but it is unclear why they are beneficial. At SITraN, I was looking at whether stem cells could be rescuing motor neurons from dying by carrying miRNA in microscopic cargo carriers called extracellular vesicles, which are released by cells to communicate with other cells. If this hypothesis proved correct, we could potentially separate the carriers containing the miRNA from the stem cells and inject them directly, meaning surgery to implant stem cells would no longer be required. We did indeed find evidence supporting that extracellular vesicles from stem cells stopped motor neurons from dying in cell models in the lab. However, further investigations are required to get a complete overview of the content of these vesicles before they could possibly be used as a treatment.
In April this year, I started a new role with Medicines Discovery Catapult (MDC), a facility connecting the UK community to accelerate innovative drug discovery. As a result of the current pandemic, the MDC has been coordinating effort with industry and academia to advance the capacity of COVID-19 testing across the UK.
With my experience of working in scientific labs, I was immediately able to join the team to help with COVID-19 testing when the Lighthouse labs were still being set up at a staggering speed. I have seen the process scaled up from 1,000 samples a day to 20,000 which in itself is a huge accomplishment. Through this time, I have been a floor lead, overseeing many of the individual workstations in which samples are processed to detect whether RNA (molecules that carries the genetic instructions from DNA to form proteins) from the COVID-19 virus is present in samples from patients. We use a technique called PCR (polymerase chain reaction) to rapidly amplify a very small sample of RNA to a large enough amount to then study in detail.
Setting up the PCR machines for SARS-CoV-2 detection in Lighthouse Alderley Park.
It has been great to be involved in Lighthouse, not least because of the rapid pace of samples having to be processed accurately and swiftly to report results back within 24 hours. This is different from typical scientific research, which occurs over years rather than hours. However, the PCR test is a simple diagnostics test that essentially answers a yes/no question of "is the virus present?". Research questions are far more complex, requiring thorough investigation in cell and animal models. A case of evidence that a new treatment is safe and acts in the way we think it acts needs to be built up before it can be approved for testing in the clinic.
Some aspects have been the same as in research, with emphasis on refining methodologies and problem solving. In Lighthouse, I have also had the opportunity to take on new roles, such as managing several labs at the same time – including all the people working in them! I had never seen such a large lab team effort in my career, with hundreds of people working together on a given day, yet there has been seamless teamwork and coordination between all workstations.
Now that life is returning to normal, I am going back to my regular duties at MDC to develop 'complex cell models'. Most current cell models are grown on flat surfaces and are not exposed to any circulating fluid, which often does not provide the full picture when investigating disease mechanisms and drug responses. With advances in technology it is possible to create more complex models – often so-called organ-on-a-chip models – which incorporate aspects such as the flow of the cell culture media, a mix of nutrients in liquid that cells need to survive and grow, and also enables growing cells in 'tubes' resembling the inside of a blood vessel.
Organ-on-a-chip. Source and further reading: https://md.catapult.org.uk/news/humans-on-a-chip-the-future-for-research-and-drug-discovery
My focus will be on developing an organ-on-chip model of the blood-brain-barrier, a barrier that evolved to protect the brain and spinal cord from harmful components in the blood, but unfortunately also keeps out the majority of therapeutic drugs. I will also be using my experience gained in MND research to help set up neuroinflammation models, which for instance can be used to develop drugs that reduce the inflammation that is known to influence motor neuron damage in MND. Having more organ-on-chip models will significantly help with the development of new treatments in neuroscience and will also help to increase our understanding of disease.
Overall, I have had a fantastic experience working in the Lighthouse labs and I am proud to have been a part of this community and its large-scale response to the pandemic. At the same time, I look forward to returning to researching ways to enable drug delivery to the brain and spinal cord, wherein my passion lies.
We'd like to thank Sophie for taking the time to share her interesting journey with us. We hope you enjoyed reading about how she has used her experiences in research to work in Lighthouse labs during the COVID-19 pandemic and will now continue her role at MDC to develop complex cell models to investigate treatments for neurological diseases such as MND.
Watch Sophie's Lighthouse Lab Story through the UK Lighthouse Lab Network.
cell models, COVID-19, Lighthouse labs, Medicines Discovery Catapult, micro RNAs, PCR, postdoc, SITraN
Emerging Gene-Targeting Therapies for SOD1-ALS
Review of evidence suggests Riluzole treatment may lead to extended survival
About Research Development Team
The MND Association's vision is a world free from MND. Realising this vision means investing more in research, further developing partnerships with the research community, funding bodies and industry, while ensuring that advances in understanding and treating MND are communicated as quickly and effectively as possible. Our Research Development team, composed of 11 members, work hard to achieve this. Principally, the Research Information team within this are involved in communication activities including this MND Research blog.
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CLAMPRCB is a high-quality heavy-duty universal phone or camera clamp mount that facilitates the creation of overhead stable videos from your smartphone on a counter, table, podium, desk, or other clampable surface up to 2.25 inches wide.
CLAMPRCB is a high-quality heavy-duty universal phone or camera clamp mount that facilitates the creation of overhead stable videos from your smartphone on a counter, table, podium, desk, or other clampable surface up to 2.25 inches wide. This stand is less prone to tipping and is especially useful for any crafter who takes photos or creates demo videos, including nail artists, woodworkers, potters, bakers, stampers, or any hobby where you want to show an overhead view. The stand's arm easily extends upward from 17 inches to 29 inches in order to capture overhead views as well as eye-level views. The CLAMPRCB Remarkable Creators Clamp Phone or Camera Stand with Ring Light features three essential video products: Arkon's Pro Stand Clamp Mount for Live Video (Model CLAMPRV29), Tablet Clamp Mount Add-On (Model TAB131), and Clip-On LED Ring Light (Model SPLEDRING). A camera adapter is also included for use with pico projectors or MEVO cameras. The mount's phone holder securely fits phones with cases weighing up to 2 pounds and measuring up to 4" wide, including Apple iPhone XS Max, XS, and XR, iPhone X, iPhone 8 and 8 Plus, iPhone 7 and 7 Plus, Samsung Galaxy Note 9, Note 8, and Note 5, Galaxy S9, S8, and S7, Google Nexus 6 and Nexus 5, and LG G6, G5, and G4. Attach the TAB131 Tablet Mount to the shaft/pole portion of the Pro Stand and use it to log in to live video apps on a secondary device like an iPad to see comments or the view of the phone that's positioned overhead. The TAB131 clamp post tablet mount fits large tablets 7 to 18.4 inches in screen size, including Apple iPad Pro, iPad Air 2 and iPad Air, iPad 4, 3, and 2, Samsung Galaxy View, Galaxy Note 10.1, Galaxy Note Pro 12.2, Galaxy Tab 4 10.1, Galaxy Tab Pro 10.1 and 12.2, Galaxy Tab S 10.5, Nexus 10 and Nexus 9, and LG G Pad 10.1. This stand can also be used with the Switcher Studio app to create two-camera videos. Arkon's SPLEDRING clip-on ring light is a must-have accessory for achieving even and flattering professional looking lighting while streaming live video. Choose from three lighting settings as well as a brightness adjustment to achieve the perfect lighting. Just clip it on to your phone or tablet. No batteries needed—just use the included USB dongle to charge the light. Whether you're creating a live demo of your baking or nail art, or just want to add stability and height to your live broadcasts, CLAMPRCB is a must-have companion accessory for your Instagram or Facebook Live streams.