Friday December 23, 2011 at 4:23pm
You’ve got a great business idea - are you going to give it away for free? Have you just had a ‘light bulb’ moment when an idea for a great new business, product or service came to you? If so, your natural inclination is probably to go and share your brainwave with someone. Don’t do it! At least, not until you have a proper confidentiality agreement in place to protect it. The same warning applies if you’ve spent ages developing your idea and now want to reap your r....
(read more...)Thursday December 15, 2011 at 12:16pm
Businesses are constantly juggling resources to survive and grow. One of the decisions they have to make is when to take legal advice when entering into contracts. The reason they may choose to do without advice is the perceived cost. But the consequences can in many cases be more costly than the initial saving. I even come across businesses that fail following a costly court case when they thought they were adequately covered by a simple contract that didn’t in fact do the job it was supp....
(read more...)Friday November 25, 2011 at 5:22pm
The only people who needn’t read any further are those who are the sole shareholder in their company - unless you might be issuing shares to someone else at some stage, in which case carry on so that you will be prepared. Everyone else should have a shareholders’ agreement in place. Read on and I’ll explain why.
1. The earlier the better.
The number one reason to put an agreement in place now, rather than waiting is that it is much easier to get an agreement in place whilst....
(read more...)Monday October 3, 2011 at 9:00am
One of the consequences we have seen as a result of the current recession is a rise in the number of people who have come out of employment and set up as independent consultants in their chosen field. You may be one of them. If so, then you will also have had a whole range of issues to deal with from setting up an office and your online and social networking presence, opening up a business account and possibly a company, to marketing your new business to bring in those much needed clients. Among....
(read more...)Monday September 26, 2011 at 5:43pm
It is quite often the case that the most valuable assets of a business are its intellectual property such as trademarks and copyright, but do not overlook the important value of trade secrets.
Trademarks and copyright are out in the open, and any infringements can be protected by appropriate court action. But what about the trade secrets? These could be manufacturing processes, perhaps recipes in the food and drinks industry, and the very important research and development of products which ha....
(read more...)Sunday September 25, 2011 at 5:05pm
Working with a lot of IT companies and web developers I’ve realised over recent years how many leave themselves open to potential legal difficulties.
It goes without saying that most modern businesses rely heavily on their IT systems to run their business and on their websites for showcasing their products and services, if not also directly for sales. So, if your business provides IT or website development services, you are responsible for a critical component in your clients’ busi....
(read more...)Monday September 19, 2011 at 10:22am
There are certain things all businesses can do to right now to reduce the possibility of litigation arising (even years before you have a dispute). And they just happen to be the same things that will reduce your legal costs if litigation does occur, and also make it more likely that you will win. Getting the contract right A contract can be in writing but it doesn’t have to be. It can be oral (e.g. “I’ll pay you if you do this for me”), written in a formal contract, or s....
(read more...)Wednesday September 14, 2011 at 7:48pm
Any business owner who’s been approached by a potential investor or partner is always initially pretty flattered. It’s great to have someone else show an interest and see the potential of your business.
But if you’re talking to a potential investor, partner, licensee, buyer or supplier you’ll want to make sure your interests are adequately protected. Providing free access to business and financial information is certainly NOT recommended unless you have a proper agreeme....
(read more...)Tuesday August 23, 2011 at 6:54pm
More than you might think and yours might be one of them!
Now I’ve got your attention, let me explain. Every website should have a set of policies, designed to protect you and also the visitors to your site. If you sell products or services via your website, the requirement is even greater; not only do you need a Terms of Use and Privacy Policy but you also need detailed Terms and Conditions which need to cover such things as delivery arrangements, the refund process and policy as well a....
(read more...)Wednesday August 17, 2011 at 9:00am
I have blogged previously about the pros and cons of doing business without properly drawn up contracts - Contracts – insurance for business and Beware contracting by email. From 1 October 2011 the issue of how you contract becomes even more important for companies in the construction and engineering sectors.Changes to the Construction Act mean that informal and verbal construction contracts will fall within the auspices of the Act and this has significant consequences for smaller constru....
(read more...)Wednesday August 3, 2011 at 10:00am
It never fails to surprise me how many small businesses appear to have been misinformed when it comes to how they use their standard terms of business. I’ve seen them printed on the reverse of an invoice, included with a delivery note, even a payment reminder. If you have gone to the trouble of preparing standard terms and conditions for your business, it is usually because you want to cover yourself legally. Whether your business is the supply or purchase of goods or services, your terms ....
(read more...)Wednesday June 22, 2011 at 1:45pm
The Bribery Act comes into force on 1 July 2011. In February and April I blogged on the implications, but I would just like to recap on the main points and highlight 2 Case Studies.
The Act creates 2 general offences, one of offering, promising, or giving a bribe, and the second of requesting, agreeing to or receiving a bribe. These are offences committed by individuals. There is also an offence of bribing a foreign official, and perhaps the most important offence as far as all organisations a....
(read more...)Wednesday June 15, 2011 at 12:55pm
It has been a shock to many to receive a demand for compensation for unlawful reproduction of images, such as photographs and other artistic and design work. Usually this comes in the form of a written demand from a stock image house such as one of the world’s biggest agencies Getty Images, who actively pursue such claims.
So what is the law? And how do you protect yourself from such demands?
With the explosion of social network sites on the web has come a corresponding explosion in th....
(read more...)Tuesday May 31, 2011 at 11:51am
This is always a difficult one to call, because the circumstances can vary so much. But there is one rule of thumb. Can you afford to lose it? If you can’t, don’t do it. There must always be a significant risk in these cases that you will not be repaid.
The emotional pressure is always very great, and this clouds judgement on both sides. Of course, like a marriage, it always starts with optimism and good intentions. What can possibly go wrong? Invariably where lending money is conc....
(read more...)Wednesday May 25, 2011 at 4:13pm
Details about new rules on the use of cookies by website operators have recently been published. There’s not much time to get to grips with them as they come into force on 26th May 2011. Initial guidance from the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) issued only last week provides a few pointers on how we can expect the rules to be interpreted. The main effect of the new rules is that if you are a website owner you will need consent from a user of your site to store a cookie on the....
(read more...)Wednesday May 18, 2011 at 11:25am
The age of emails has blurred the boundaries of what is a contract and what is not. It’s very easy to fire off an email quickly, but do you realise that such an email has the same status as a proper legal contract? Without expert legal input and advice on terms, businesses could be leaving themselves open to problems. A response to an email outlining details of an agreement, and agreeing to undertake the work, is effectively a binding contract, but it is unlikely to be a ‘watertight ....
(read more...)Tuesday May 3, 2011 at 4:00pm
Acts of war, extreme weather conditions or a terrorist attack might seem like good enough reasons not to be held to deadlines or the precise terms of a contract. But this is not always so. Volcanic ash clouds, prolonged severe winter weather and flooding, the terrible impact of the earthquake, resulting tsunami and nuclear problems in Japan, tornadoes in the USA and uprisings in various North African and Middle Eastern states, have peppered news reports for the last 12 months. But it may surpris....
(read more...)Thursday April 21, 2011 at 3:21pm
If you run an e-commerce business and sell goods online new EU rules could have a significant impact. The rules in question would be under a planned EU Consumer Rights Directive which concerns contracts for the sale of goods by businesses to consumers (B2C). The draft Directive is not a new proposal – it was issued in 2008. Since then it has been going through various discussion and consultation processes, but recently it moved a step closer when endorsed by the European Parliament which a....
(read more...)Monday March 28, 2011 at 12:23pm
Business owners often dismiss the need for formal contracts with their customers or suppliers, seeing them as a barrier to getting on with their day-to-day activities. But maybe if they viewed them as a form of insurance their opinion would be slightly different. Business people often say to me that they don’t have or even need contracts. What they usually mean is that they don’t have formal written contracts. Instead they proceed on the basis of verbal negotiations or perhaps exchan....
(read more...)Thursday May 6, 2010 at 11:47am
The costs of the Icelandic volcano which bought UK airports to a standstill over the past weeks are still being counted. Not only were travellers affected but also all businesses engaged in importing and exporting goods by air. Ryanair tried and failed to renege on their contractual duties by claiming they would only refund the amount paid for a ticket instead of covering the costs for accommodation incurred by their stranded passengers. So what is the legal position when it becomes difficult or....
(read more...)Thursday January 14, 2010 at 5:26pm
The surprise banks’ overdraft charges victory could leave landlords’ exposed to a new challenge by estate agents. The High Court originally ruled that millions of pounds of residential tenancy “renewal” fees charged by Foxtons to landlords were unfair resulting in expected refunds running to millions of pounds. The new interpretation of the law means that buy-to-let investors may now face delays in their claims for a rebate whilst any appeal is heard.
Please get in touc....
(read more...)Monday October 12, 2009 at 9:00am
Unfortunately business owners are often so keen to secure a sale or start working on a big project that they fail to get all the paperwork in place.
Disputes in business can happen for many reasons, but so often they blow up because those involved have a different opinion on what was agreed. You know the situation – you’ve had some work done or purchased a piece of equipment and you’re not happy with what you’ve received. You scrabble around for the paperwork but there i....
(read more...)Wednesday August 26, 2009 at 3:47pm
I am sure that all buyers (and most sellers) will want to make sure that goods sold are of satisfactory quality and do the job intended. But what is the remedy when things go wrong, for example the steel supplied is not up to the job, the cattle food makes the cattle ill, the computer does not live up to its billing, or the machinery keeps breaking down?
Sale of goods law provides remedies for buyers where the goods are not of "satisfactory quality". A recent High Court case conf....
(read more...)Thursday August 6, 2009 at 2:58pm
The Credit Crunch is inevitably contributing to a delay in payment to businesses, particularly vulnerable SMEs. Money owed to small businesses shot up by 40% from £18.6 billion in 2007, to £25.9 billion in 2008, according to Bacs. And who knows where the figure is at this time, no doubt substantailly higher.
This attack on cash flow is probably the biggest single cause of company failure. For example Barclays state that more than 750 companies failed in the South East in 2008 due t....
(read more...)Thursday July 9, 2009 at 4:45pm
In the past 2 weeks I have been the victim of large scale internet fraud on 2 credit cards, and so I have taken a keen interest in liability and in ways to protect against future fraud.
I have been very careful to use only on line stores who encrypt customer details, but fraudsters have still managed to obtain my credit card details including security number, as well as my address, telephone number, date of birth. This can only be a result of sophisticated hacking, or criminal activity by an e....
(read more...)Tuesday September 30, 2008 at 6:48pm
The latest issue of the Cousins Business Law ezine with a feature article entitled 'Should you rely on a gentleman's agreement' is generating lots of interest. It is amazing how many business owners and managers fall foul of the fact they didn't have the details of a commercial deal in writing.
The example we talked about in the ezine (of a multi-million pound property deal that went ahead based on a verbal agreement) may seem extreme, but you'd be surprised how often this happ....
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