Commercial Law
Service overview: Commercial legal services
- Our Commercial Law Team specialise in advising on and drafting a wide variety of agreements that businesses enter into on a daily basis.
- This includes agreements for a wide range of industries and business types: from sole traders to SMEs; OMBs and large corporations, including PLCs.
- Our Commercial Law experts can assist on a broad range of contracts and transactions such as agency agreements, joint venture agreements, commercial contracts and franchising. Find a full list of our services below.
- Whatever your agreement, proposal or issue the Harper James Commercial Team are well equipped to advise swiftly, pragmatically and with your business needs in mind.
- Along with advising on commercial arrangements our Corporate Team can assist with your business structure and governance.
- Our commercial solicitors have all been recruited from top 100 firms or inhouse at international companies, and several specialise in both commercial and corporate law.
What we do: Commercial law practice areas
Our commercial solicitors can advise you on a variety of commercial trading and business arrangements including:
We can also advise you on the following agreements:
- Collaboration agreements
- Confidentiality and non-disclosure agreements (NDAs)
- Consultancy agreements
- Copyright, trademarks and IPR advice and agreements
- Data Protection
- Exploitation
- IT contracts
- Lease, hire and maintenance
- Licences
- Partnerships
- Reseller agreements
- SaaS agreements
- Service agreements
- Sponsorship agreements
- Subcontractor agreements
- Supplier/Purchase contracts
- Terms of business
Who we help
We advise a wide range of companies and business owners in the UK, ranging from high growth companies, start-ups and investors, to medium-sized enterprises. across multiple sectors on how to make effective commercial decisions – focusing on the issues that matter to you.
We have an in-depth and comprehensive understanding of commercial law and are able to assess, prepare and negotiate all forms of your business arrangements.
Commercial law FAQs
- Is commercial law different to business law or company law?
Commercial law is part of company law, or business law, as it deals with the legal arrangements that govern a business’s commercial transactions, for example, agreements about how the company provides goods and services. - Is commercial law different from corporate law?
Yes. They are both branches of business law. Commercial law concerns how a business interacts with third parties in the course of providing its goods or services. That means it concerns contracts and agreements with third parties, and any disputes arising out of them. Corporate law is more about the internal lifecycle of a company and its people, so it deals more in formations and dissolutions. - What experience do our commercial lawyers have?
Our commercial lawyers have all worked in top 100 law practices, or as in-house legal counsel at large international companies. They are truly City-grade lawyers with rich legal pedigrees including CMS Cameron McKenna, DLA Piper, Edge & Ellison, SJ Berwin and Reed Smith. Their clients and inhouse positions include global companies in a vast range of sectors and industries, from engineering, finance and software, to media, sports and education. - Why should I use a specialist commercial solicitor instead of a normal solicitor?
Business transactions and agreements are very different from ‘private client’ work in other areas of law, and require specialist knowledge and experience. It’s important to instruct not just a business solicitor, but a business solicitor who specialises in contractual law and agreements? Most likely, your business is your livelihood. So why risk your business with solicitors who don’t specialise in the legal work needed to protect it?
Why choose our commercial solicitors?
As experienced commercial solicitors, we understand that your business decisions need to be supported by legally water-tight agreements that enable you to capitalise on opportunities while minimising legal risks.
We have an in-depth and comprehensive understanding of commercial law and are able to assess, prepare and negotiate all forms of your business arrangements.
Our commercial lawyers have all worked in top 100 law firms or in house at international businesses, so you can be assured of their commercial law experience. You can find out more about our commercial team here
Pricing plans
Our three transparent pricing packages are designed to give you the widest possible access to high-quality legal advice, whatever the size and nature of your business:
City
Straightforward access to senior solicitors at a competitive rate.
An affordable solution for businesses needing one-off legal support. Receive ‘City’ partner-level expertise at a fraction of ‘City’ prices.
Enterprise
Have legal peace of mind for £189 per month with additional support from £99 per hour.
A monthly subscription legal support package specifically designed for start-ups and smaller businesses.
On-Demand
For businesses requiring 60+ hours of support a year, with prices equivalent to £99 per hour.
Fully account managed quarterly subscription service for businesses with more complex legal needs.
What our clients say
We pride ourselves on delivering an excellent service for clients, but don’t just take our word for it.
Harper James provides my small growing business with a scalable, reliable, team-oriented approach to legal advice. Whenever we face a problem, I know that Harper James are there to provide helpful and cost-effective advice, to scope out the options, make clear the costs and risks, and give me the information I need to make decisions.
Harper James provide a cost effective, responsive and versatile service and provide us with access to legal teams that are experienced, commercially focused and well-resourced. Most importantly they are extremely familiar with the SME market and know the venture capital sector well.
They adopted a proactive approach to overcoming issues, and their knowledge of the sector and investors and preparedness to identify novel solutions has proved extremely beneficial.
Over the years Harper James have helped us navigate complex legal issues and red tape, providing distilled options and legal consultancy that far exceeds the service levels we’ve previously experienced from more traditional law firms. The team act like our own in-house counsel so, regardless of which lawyer we work with, we feel supported and that they truly have our best interests at heart.
We value the flat hourly fees, the response times, and the knowledge of the lawyers that are available. Michelle has been great to work with! She is very responsive, thorough, and can think far beyond just the legal implications that we need to consider in our contracts. It has been a pleasure working with her!
Quick, concise and best of all reasonably priced
Factual, quick responses every time I emailed.
We are always impressed with both the speed of response and understanding of the situation.
Speed of turnaround and clear advice
Quite frankly I was stunned at the low cost of the service given the value it provided us.
Harper James never fail to impress with the speed and efficiency of their service, no matter the query. The team are friendly, knowledgeable and always on hand.
Fast, flexible access to specialists.
Excellent communication and all correspondence answered very quickly. Very attentive to detail, gave sound advice and secured a good deal in a short time frame.
…very efficient and helpful, especially given that it was difficult logistically with most of the directors away!
Always great to have HJ on hand
It's very cost efficient and fast. I have enjoyed talking to everyone in the company as they are not only knowledgeable but can also relate to the situations that I need assistance with. Very happy!
9/10 Great communication and speed
For us, the support of Harper James Solicitors has been a gift. The collaboration we have had has been of tremendous importance. The service has been superb value for money.
Our scale of growth would not have happened without the support of Harper James.
Well thought and thorough review [of agreement] with strong commercial contribution.
The on-demand service we get from Harper James allows us to combine their expertise with that of our own in-house counsel. It means we can get quick and trustworthy legal advice from specialists in every legal area, as and when we need it. There are no hidden extras and the service we have received has always demonstrated an awareness of our fast-moving commercial requirements.
Harper James removes the stress for us. I know that we can get advice quickly, without some sort of golden clock being turned on when you pick up the phone. This means we can focus on running the business.
This is a key stage of ANB Sensors’ growth as an SME, because it saw us transferring from a research and development company to a commercial entity. It’s a major milestone for us. Having Harper James by our side is reassuring, as they’ve helped us ensure all our documentation and sales terms are both fair and reasonable and led us through the sales process.
Clear, simple language, friendly to deal with.
