COMMERCIAL LAW
Services
Our team of commercial law solicitors support clients across a range sectors. Whether you are a startup or an established business, having the right contracts and agreements in place is essential.
We know that navigating the world of legal documents can be unnecessarily complex, even for the most experienced of business owners. That’s why we pride ourselves on providing straight-forward, no-nonsense expert advice. We are here to help you protect your business and manage your risks.
How we can help:
Are you looking for a suite of new legal documents? We create bespoke contracts and agreements that are specific to you and your business needs, delivering robust legal assets that support your commercial objectives.
Are you looking to refresh your existing business contracts? We offer a contract reviewing service. Working closely with you, our team of contract lawyers will review your legal documents and ensure that they are up-to-date and compliant with current legislation in your region.
Do you need advice on a contract or agreement that you’ve been given to sign? If you want a friendly set of experienced eyes looking at the wording before you sign, our commercial lawyers will review the documents and advise you on your next steps.
The Jamieson Law difference:
We draft contracts and agreements that fully reflect the unique nature of your business and the relationships you have with your suppliers and consumers.
We’re passionate about something called legal design, a concept that focuses on a human-centred approach to legal documents. It’s all about making sure your contracts are usable, useful and engaging. You shouldn’t have to be a legal expert to understand your own legal documents. Using plain English, our contracts and agreements are clear and concise. A human-centred mindset means that the documents we create for you can be understood by anyone interacting with them. When you are a modern, forward-thinking business, your legal documents should reflect that.
Why choose us:
- Fixed-fee pricing, no hidden extras.
- Experts in UK and Ireland commercial and business law.
- Quick turnaround with agreed delivery times.
- Human-centred, plain English advice.
Below are some examples of the commercial law services that we offer. Don’t hesitate to get in touch and find out how we can help you.
CLIENT CONTRACTS
Do I really need a client contract?
Yes! Client contracts are there to protect you and your clients. They cover payment, obligations, your liability if something goes wrong and set boundaries. Client contracts are also there to protect your energy.
Think of this – if you don’t limit your liability with a contract and something goes wrong, you could be sued for a lot of money.
SUPPLIER AGREEMENTS
What is a Supplier Agreement?
A Supplier Agreement is an agreement between a business and a supplier for the products or services used. This is a legal document and guarantees the buyer their goods at a specific time/point.
NON-DISCLOSURE AGREEMENTS
What is a Non-Disclosure Agreement?
The purpose of an ‘NDA’ is to protect sensitive and confidential data from being made public. NDAs are important to make sure that your ideas and business concepts are not stolen/copied by anyone else.
WEBSITE TERMS AND CONDITIONS
What are website T&Cs?
Website terms and conditions (‘T&Cs’) should be on every website. This document can be linked at the bottom of your site and should outline the terms of which users can use your website. It should contain information like details of the website ownership, permitted uses of website content and registration requirements.
T&Cs should also be used for any landing pages you utilise as a business.
PRIVACY POLICIES
What is a privacy policy?
A privacy policy is a legal document that every single website should contain (yes, including yours!). It outlines what personal information your business collects and how you use it. This is important from a data protection perspective.
COLLABORATION AGREEMENTS
What is a Collaboration Agreement?
This is an agreement for different parties that want to collaborate/work together. It sets out how they will work together, and what obligations and responsibilities they will have. There is no legal obligation to have one in place, but it is a way to ensure that the risks you may take are managed and if something goes wrong, you have a legally binding document to fall back on.
ACCEPTABLE USE POLICIES
What is an Acceptable Use policy?
An acceptable use policy or a fair use policy, is a set of rules and guidelines used by the owner/creator of a website or a service that limit the ways in which the website or service may be used.
COOKIES POLICY
What is a cookies policy?
This explains how your business uses cookies on your website. You can have a privacy policy and a cookies policy as two separate documents or both combined as a privacy and cookies policy - having them together can save you money.
NON-COMPETES
What is a Non-Compete?
This is a document/clause in an agreement made between an employer and an employee in which the employee agrees to not engage in any competition before, during or after employment.
Non-competes can also be found in a contract for services for contractors – keep an eye out for this and make sure you understand the clause before signing.
EMPLOYMENT AGREEMENTS
What is an Employment Agreement and why do I need one?
An employment agreement, or employment contract, is the contract used between employees and employers. It sets out the work schedule, benefits, salary and what is expected of the employee and employer.
DISCLAIMERS
What are disclaimers?
A disclaimer is a type of notice or warning that limits liability. For example, if you have a website, you will use a disclaimer to confirm that not all the information on your website may be 100% correct. We can review or draft a disclaimer for your website or business.
EMPLOYEE HANDBOOKS
What is an Employee Handbook and why do I need one?
This provides information on a company’s ethos, mission, culture, employee rights, policies and procedures, annual leave, and workplace conduct. It should be available to all employees so that they have all the information they need to know about their job and the company. It can help protect employers against discrimination and unfair treatment.
INTRODUCER AGREEMENTS
What is an Introducer Agreement?
This sets out terms between a business and an introducer. The ‘introducer’ is a person who will refer, solicit, or search for clients on behalf of the business. The agreement is used where the introducer does not sell or accept orders on the clients’ behalf. We can help draft/review this type of agreement.
CONTRACTOR AGREEMENTS
What is a Contractor Agreement?
Also known as an ‘Independent Contractor Agreement’, this is a contract that outlines the working arrangement between a contractor and a client, covering factors like payment terms and length of the service.
Something you need to be wary of here is IR35, which was updated in April 2021. This is the anti-tax avoidance legislation targeting ‘disguised employment’. Your Contractor Agreement must not include anything that makes you look like an employee.
Our team of commercial law solicitors support clients across a range sectors. Whether you are a startup or an established business, having the right contracts and agreements in place is essential.
We know that navigating the world of legal documents can be unnecessarily complex, even for the most experienced of business owners. That’s why we pride ourselves on providing straight-forward, no-nonsense expert advice. We are here to help you protect your business and manage your risks.
How we can help:
Are you looking for a suite of new legal documents? We create bespoke contracts and agreements that are specific to you and your business needs, delivering robust legal assets that support your commercial objectives.
Are you looking to refresh your existing business contracts? We offer a contract reviewing service. Working closely with you, our team of contract lawyers will review your legal documents and ensure that they are up-to-date and compliant with current legislation in your region.
Do you need advice on a contract or agreement that you’ve been given to sign? If you want a friendly set of experienced eyes looking at the wording before you sign, our commercial lawyers will review the documents and advise you on your next steps.
The Jamieson Law difference:
We draft contracts and agreements that fully reflect the unique nature of your business and the relationships you have with your suppliers and consumers.
We’re passionate about something called legal design, a concept that focuses on a human-centred approach to legal documents. It’s all about making sure your contracts are usable, useful and engaging. You shouldn’t have to be a legal expert to understand your own legal documents. Using plain English, our contracts and agreements are clear and concise. A human-centred mindset means that the documents we create for you can be understood by anyone interacting with them. When you are a modern, forward-thinking business, your legal documents should reflect that.
Why choose us:
- Fixed-fee pricing, no hidden extras.
- Experts in UK and Ireland commercial and business law.
- Quick turnaround with agreed delivery times.
- Human-centred, plain English advice.
Below are some examples of the commercial law services that we offer. Don’t hesitate to get in touch and find out how we can help you.
CLIENT CONTRACTS
Do I really need a client contract?
Yes! Client contracts are there to protect you and your clients. They cover payment, obligations, your liability if something goes wrong and set boundaries. Client contracts are also there to protect your energy.
Think of this – if you don’t limit your liability with a contract and something goes wrong, you could be sued for a lot of money.
SUPPLIER AGREEMENTS
What is a Supplier Agreement?
A Supplier Agreement is an agreement between a business and a supplier for the products or services used. This is a legal document and guarantees the buyer their goods at a specific time/point.
NON-DISCLOSURE AGREEMENTS
What is a Non-Disclosure Agreement?
The purpose of an ‘NDA’ is to protect sensitive and confidential data from being made public. NDAs are important to make sure that your ideas and business concepts are not stolen/copied by anyone else.
WEBSITE TERMS AND CONDITIONS
What are website T&Cs?
Website terms and conditions (‘T&Cs’) should be on every website. This document can be linked at the bottom of your site and should outline the terms of which users can use your website. It should contain information like details of the website ownership, permitted uses of website content and registration requirements.
T&Cs should also be used for any landing pages you utilise as a business.
ACCEPTABLE USE POLICIES
What is an Acceptable Use policy?
An acceptable use policy or a fair use policy, is a set of rules and guidelines used by the owner/creator of a website or a service that limit the ways in which the website or service may be used.
COOKIES POLICY
What is a cookies policy?
This explains how your business uses cookies on your website. You can have a privacy policy and a cookies policy as two separate documents or both combined as a privacy and cookies policy - having them together can save you money.
PRIVACY POLICIES
What is a privacy policy?
A privacy policy is a legal document that every single website should contain (yes, including yours!). It outlines what personal information your business collects and how you use it. This is important from a data protection perspective.
COLLABORATION AGREEMENTS
What is a Collaboration Agreement?
This is an agreement for different parties that want to collaborate/work together. It sets out how they will work together, and what obligations and responsibilities they will have. There is no legal obligation to have one in place, but it is a way to ensure that the risks you may take are managed and if something goes wrong, you have a legally binding document to fall back on.
EMPLOYMENT AGREEMENTS
What is an Employment Agreement and why do I need one?
An employment agreement, or employment contract, is the contract used between employees and employers. It sets out the work schedule, benefits, salary and what is expected of the employee and employer.
INTRODUCER AGREEMENTS
What is an Introducer Agreement?
This sets out terms between a business and an introducer. The ‘introducer’ is a person who will refer, solicit, or search for clients on behalf of the business. The agreement is used where the introducer does not sell or accept orders on the clients’ behalf. We can help draft/review this type of agreement.
EMPLOYEE HANDBOOKS
What is an Employee Handbook and why do I need one?
This provides information on a company’s ethos, mission, culture, employee rights, policies and procedures, annual leave, and workplace conduct. It should be available to all employees so that they have all the information they need to know about their job and the company. It can help protect employers against discrimination and unfair treatment.
NON-COMPETES
What is a Non-Compete?
This is a document/clause in an agreement made between an employer and an employee in which the employee agrees to not engage in any competition before, during or after employment.
Non-competes can also be found in a contract for services for contractors – keep an eye out for this and make sure you understand the clause before signing.
DISCLAIMERS
What are disclaimers?
A disclaimer is a type of notice or warning that limits liability. For example, if you have a website, you will use a disclaimer to confirm that not all the information on your website may be 100% correct. We can review or draft a disclaimer for your website or business.
CONTRACTOR AGREEMENTS
What is a Contractor Agreement?
Also known as an ‘Independent Contractor Agreement’, this is a contract that outlines the working arrangement between a contractor and a client, covering factors like payment terms and length of the service.
Something you need to be wary of here is IR35, which was updated in April 2021. This is the anti-tax avoidance legislation targeting ‘disguised employment’. Your Contractor Agreement must not include anything that makes you look like an employee.
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS ABOUT
Commerical Law
Commercial law covers a range of legal services that are largely based around protecting a client’s business, managing risk through the provision of legal contracts.
These legal documentations take many different forms, for example client contracts, employment contracts and privacy policies for your website.
Whether it be contract drafting, contract negotiating or contract reviewing, we provide clear guidance to support.
Having comprehensive and legally binding written agreements in place is essential. Contracts encourage both parties in the agreement to behave in a certain way and encourage good working relationships. Without well-drafted contracts that are specific to your company, you are exposing your business to a great deal of potential risk.
Our commercial law team work closely with our clients to deliver watertight and relevant legal documents that protect businesses across all industries and niches.
We wouldn’t recommend it. Although you can easily copy a generic template from Google, doing so could be putting yourself at risk. That’s because your business is unique to you and a generic template may not cover everything you need. Don’t risk your business success by cutting corners. Having documents tailored to your specific business needs by a Jamieson Law legal professional guarantees long-term peace of mind.
If you have drafted a legal document yourself, it is a good idea to have a solicitor review it before you use it. We can take a look at your contract and ensure it is legally compliant and fully protects you.
If you have a contract that you need to sign, but you aren’t sure about some of the areas it covers, having a solicitor review it is also a good idea. You don’t want to get stuck in a bad contract!
Yes and no. You don’t have to take any legal advice when you are starting out, but we recommend that you do. Consulting a commercial lawyer at the beginning of your journey ensures you have the right documentation in place from the outset, so that you can grow your business on solid foundations.
We understand the need to keep costs low at the beginning of a new business venture, which is why we offer all new clients a free and no-obligation 15-minute chat. During the call you can talk through any of your concerns with one of our solicitors.
Quick answer no, you don’t HAVE to. Long answer, we recommend that you should. As a small business ourselves, we understand the need to keep costs low at the beginning of your new business venture. However, consulting a business lawyer at the beginning means you have the right documentation and knowledge to grow steady, solid business foundations.
PHONE
UK office: Summit House, 4-5 Mitchell Street, Edinburgh EH6 7BD
Ireland office: Cushenstown, Garristown, Meath, A42 FY83
*We’re regulated by the Law Society of Scotland and our Irish firm is regulated by the Law Society of Ireland. This doesn’t mean we can only advise Scottish or Irish clients - we work with clients across the UK and Ireland on business and brand protection matters. We do not deal with matters surrounding disputes and litigation. We are qualified in English, Scots and Irish law. We can also advise on New York and California law*
