Commercial Contracts

Overview

Commercial contracts are fundamental to day-to-day trading activities and relationships

Contracts are part and parcel of running any business. We take the time to understand your business and commercial drivers, and help you negotiate contracts that secure your business objectives and manage your risks.

However, we don’t just stop there; we can help and advise you along the way, whether for a contract query or a dispute, and if you use our Legal Counsel Service, we are on hand every day to help you head off any issues before they turn into problems.

Our team comprises experts with extensive market knowledge and commercial experience, and we take a straightforward, cost-effective, and pragmatic approach. We take a light touch for the day-to-day, simple relationships, and provide in-depth assistance on your key strategic or high-risk contracts to help you achieve your desired goals.

Our services cover both simple and complex contractual requirements. We can also assist with the development and rollout of standard contracts, and contract management tools to enable you to work directly with routine suppliers and customers, so you only need to consult us when you absolutely need to. And we can develop and provide ongoing training.

Procurement

Whether you need terms of business to cover routine purchases and sales or whether you require agreements to cover strategic purchasing or supply, we will provide pragmatic and commercial advice. We will structure contracts to reflect your different commercial relationships from manufacturing, supply chain, wholesale, research and development, outsourcing, clinical trials management and IT.

Agency and Distribution

The use of agents or distributors is a common path for a business expanding into new markets or sales channels or simply wanting to outsource its sales function. Getting the terms of these appointments right is important to protect reputation and manage risk, and also to maximise sales and grow revenues. We advise a wide range of clients across many sectors on the appointment of agents and distributors, and the associated regulatory issues.

Advertising and Marketing

To make sure all your marketing complies with the relevant standards and does not break any laws we will do a compliance check for you. We will review copy, advise on the regulatory framework, prepare contracts for engaging with agencies, designers, creative suppliers and for distribution ensuring, where required, you obtain rights in the materials arising from those engagements. A compliance check will give you the comfort you need to run sales promotions and competitions, and social media campaigns, with confidence. We are also experienced in advising on sponsorships and endorsement deals.

Software and Technology

The technology market and related law is constantly evolving, and our team is on hand to provide specialist advice. From day-to-day software required to operate your business, to development projects and the use of innovative technology, you can benefit from our advice on development and licensing, outsourcing, joint ventures, reseller arrangements, software as a service, ecommerce, software development, hosting, procurement, and other technology-related agreements.

Privacy and Data Protection

The regulatory requirements for managing personal data are vast and we work with our clients to navigate the complex landscape of data protection.  We take the time to understand the specific needs and objectives of our clients and tailor our services to meet those, including:

• developing data protection policies and procedures;
• preparing contracts that are data protection compliant; and
• advising on data issues relating to marketing activities and ecommerce; and
• advising on data aspects of commercial and corporate transactions.

Digital and Internet Businesses

For digital and internet businesses the challenge is how to thrive and remain compliant with rapidly evolving legal standards, in the dynamic online environment. We assist businesses in understanding and complying with regulations relating to consumer protection, data privacy, cybersecurity, ecommerce, intellectual property, and digital communications. We will draft and review terms of service, privacy policies, and other legal documents crucial for online operations based in the UK, as well as offer guidance on regulatory frameworks, including GDPR, to ensure our clients’ businesses handle user data responsibly.