A good corporate lawyer is vital for guaranteeing the smooth operation of your business. Your corporate lawyer will ensure that the transactions that underlie your business’s success are legally watertight and provide you with the peace of mind that your best-laid plans do not go awry.

To help prepare you for consulting a corporate lawyer TakeLegalAdvice.com has asked a selection of corporate lawyers, available through its service, what advice they can offer.

What corporate lawyers deal with

Nicholas Phillips (right), a partner at Westminster-based corporate lawyers William Sturges, describes the work of a corporate lawyer as “setting up a business and then dealing with the contractual work over the course of its lifetime”. corporate lawyer Kyle Irvine (below), a partner at Seddons, agrees, saying that “a good corporate practice will provide a ‘cradle to grave’ service for corporate clients and their owners.”

The work ranges from corporate property to corporate acquisitions but is defined most easily as anything contractual. A few examples are given below.

Upon forming a business:

• advise on whether to trade as limited company, partnership or limited liability partnership
• advise on incorporation of the business

During the business’s lifetime:

• drafting conditions of sale and conditions of purchase
• compliance
• intellectual property protection
• employment issues
• financing
• corporate restructuring and insolvency

What to look for in a corporate lawyer

Jonathan Roberts (right) of Kent-based corporate lawyers Warners says that retaining a corporate lawyer who understands your business is of first importance. On top of this you will need a corporate lawyer with a broad understanding of the economy too.

Nicholas Phillips distils the requirements of a corporate lawyer down to three qualities: competence, clarity and speed. Your corporate lawyer should provide good advice that is easily understood and be capable of operating under the tight deadlines that are frequently required. Phillips suggests that a judgement on these attributes can be made based on a reply through TakeLegalAdvice.com.

Kyle Irvine advises that you should also feel you are getting value for money from your corporate lawyer. “Contrary to popular belief we are interested in making our clients money and saving our clients money,” he says, “a successful law practice needs successful clients!”

How to get the most from your corporate lawyer

Nick Burrows (right), joint managing partner at corporate lawyers Blandy & Blandy, emphasises the importance of contacting a corporate lawyer as early as possible. Running things by a corporate lawyer “is time well spent” he says, saving time and money on litigation further down the line.

Kyle Irvine agrees, commenting: “The disadvantage of being instructed late on in a transaction is that we often find ourselves advising that project needs to be restructured or reconsidered.”

Jonathan Roberts also advises that strong record keeping can be useful for approaching a corporate lawyer and reminds businesses of the importance of meticulously sticking to the prepared contracts.

What your corporate lawyer should be able to tell you

Once your corporate lawyer is aware of all the issues they will usually be able to give a good idea of how long it will take to complete a piece of work and how much it will cost.

When negotiating an agreement it will be more difficult for your corporate lawyer to access how long this will take. In such cases Nicholas Phillips says that the timescale will depend on the attitude of the other side and how negotiations proceed.

Keeping costs down

Grahame Griffiths, of Birmingham-based corporate lawyers Coley & Tilley, points out that if you have less work done it is going to cost less. You may only have “the bare bones” of a contract when you approach your corporate lawyer or you may already have standard terms and conditions which only need checking over.

However, Nicholas Phillips warns that your ability to undertake work without a corporate lawyer will depend on how experienced you are. You can attend meetings with the other side of a negotiation without a corporate lawyer but you have to be reasonably confident to enter such a situation by yourself.

What the economic downturn means for business

Obviously the current economic downturn makes life significantly harder for all but the most fortunately-placed of business. Griffiths observes that since banks are not lending, many businesses have put any expansion plans on hold. People are waiting to invest but are deterred by “the huge amount of uncertainty” that is prevalent. Griffiths says this has generally meant less work for corporate lawyers and specifically less corporate property work.

However, litigation and employment remain buoyant areas of work for corporate lawyers. Redundancy is a particularly important issue and Griffiths warns businesses that the rules are strict and it is important to follow the correct procedures.

Nick Burrows also advises that at a time when litigation grows more likely and clients and suppliers may attempt to dodge their obligations, instructing a good corporate lawyer becomes even more important. “If you want to enforce payment your business needs to be confident that its terms and conditions stand up,” he says. “Choosing not to consult a corporate lawyer would be a false economy.”

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