We are a boutique law firm specialising in business law based in the City of London.

Because we focus on business law only, we understand the legal problems your business is likely to face and we recognise what needs to be done to overcome these. As individuals, we are shareholders in and sit on the Boards of many different companies and, as a consequence, have a direct insight to the issues and problems businesses encounter.

We have a particular specialism in representing financial institutions in the City, and technology companies, particularly in the Fintech sector.

We also represent businesses in many other sectors of the market place, from the services sector through to manufacturing businesses.

We also act for many overseas businesses, principally US-based and typically on regulatory as well as EU and UK legal issues.

We can advise you on all aspects of your business’s legal needs, including resolving commercial disputes, advising you on your corporate and commercial transactions, dealing with your employment issues and ensuring that your business is compliant with any application regulatory requirements.

Because we are a specialist boutique practice, we will not only provide you with a friendly, approachable and personal service, we will also ensure that we understand your business and what it is you are seeking to achieve so that we can better focus on assisting you achieve your commercial goals.

We understand that our clients are business people, not lawyers, and therefore we will not use technical legal language as we aim to make the law as simple as possible. We know that every client is different. We will listen to you to make sure that we understand what assistance it is you require. We will not just provide you with our opinion on the law, we will seek to give you commercial advice and guidance on the options available to you, based on our experience and expertise. We will review with you the risk(s) involved and we will work with you to overcome those risk(s) and in doing so recommend to you what, in our opinion, is the best course of action for your business.

We recognise that clients expect value for money and so we provide our clients with an efficient service, high level of commitment and expertise at a realistic cost.

Our clients tell us that they instruct us because of the value we add, our personal approach and the straightforward commercial advice we provide.

Learn more about how we can add value to your business and help you.

Many of our clients consider us to be part of their team and we often act as their in-house legal department.  This means that not only do  we  advise the management team on day-to-day legal matters such as issues relating to commercial relationships with customers, clients and suppliers, we are also uniquely placed as we act within your team and as part of your business to provide strategic advice and assistance to you.

We provide clear legal and commercial advice to companies, partnerships and entrepreneurs.

We understand that businesses have different needs at various points in their life cycle. This could be in relation to obtaining funding, merging with another business, acquiring another business, or for the founder(s) to establish an exit strategy.

We can guide you through the formation of your business and advise you on the most appropriate structure: if appropriate, the need for an effective shareholders’ agreement to be in place; IT and IP issues; on loan and security documentation; as well as on internal and external capital raises.

We can draft your terms of business and advise on your contractual arrangements with your suppliers and business partners. We can advise you upon matters you need to consider as a shareholder and or as a director, and will assist you to grow your business.

We have both acquired and sold many businesses for our clients in many different sectors. Each transaction has its own distinct issues, most of which come to light during the due diligence process. Because of our specialism we know what issues to look at during the due diligence process and how to manage and solve problems as and when they may arise. We understand that not all problems can be solved and we shall work with you to assess the risk to your business. We do not shy away from the difficult discussions and decisions which may on occasion be needed, whether this is to renegotiate terms or advise you when the risk is too great.

We will get to know you and your business, so that we understand your commercial operations and goals, what you are seeking to achieve, how and, importantly, when.

When important decisions have to be taken, we will be with you to work out with you the best way to achieve your goals.

We provide our clients with advice relating to:

• Appointing/removing directors
• Commercial loan facilities and the taking of security
• Company formations and business structures
• Contracts for the sale of goods and the supply of goods and services
• Corporate and business restructures
• Data Protection Act issues
• Joint ventures and agency agreements
• Share and asset acquisition/disposal
• Shareholder/partnership agreements
• Terms and conditions of trade

We love helping our clients solve their business problems. Find out how we can save you money and add value to your business.

No business wants to end up involved in a dispute. Sadly, some disputes are unavoidable.

We understand that a business dispute can result in damage to your business’s reputation, financial loss in the form of damages, wasted management time and unbudgeted costs, as well as uncertainty and the risk of losing commercial relationships.

With any commercial dispute it is vitally important to get on top of the problem quickly and for a business to understand its options. We provide commercially-driven legal and tactical advice on business disputes, focusing on achieving the best possible outcome, which minimises the risks to your business balanced against the potential rewards.

Our advice is based on knowing you and your business, as well as having a clear understanding of your wider commercial needs and aspirations.

We aim to resolve disputes quickly and with a minimum of impact on their business and profitability. Whether a claimant or a defendant, we will focus on maintaining and keeping control of the dispute and the costs associated with it by identifying the issues early, telling you where you stand, recommending the most appropriate course of action and implementing it. Our style is practical, forthright and direct.

If matters progress to court we ensure that we utilise technology to ensure that we complete the various stages, such as electronic disclosure, in a cost-effective and efficient way, saving you time and money.

In addition to advising our clients on disputes after they have arisen, we also offer risk management and strategic advice in order to reduce the risk of future litigation.

We provide our clients with advice relating to:

• Advising directors on their statutory and fiduciary duties
• Banking disputes
• Contractual and commercial disputes
• Corporate disputes
• Financial services disputes
• IT and technology disputes
• Partnership disputes
• Professional negligence
• Shareholder disputes

We love helping our clients solve their business problems. Find out how we can save you money and add value to your business.

We offer specialist advice on all aspects of employment law for your business, from hiring to firing employees, including drafting contracts of employment and staff handbooks to dealing with employment disputes and settlement agreements.

As an employer, you will know that navigating the minefield of employment law is complex and fraught with uncertainty.  Employment problems can arise without warning. As well as helping you to resolve those immediate problems, we can ensure you are aware of your obligations to your employees and that you have the proper framework and procedures in place for the size and nature of your business.

We can review and draft all your employment-related documents, explain what is mandatory and what is best practice, prepare staff handbooks and advise on the implications of reorganisations and the appropriate procedures for managing change effectively.

Effective risk management is important to any business. We can advise you on how best to protect your business and prevent anti-competitive behaviour, whether through the use of post-termination restrictions, protecting your confidential information, protecting your client contacts and relationships and the unlawful interference with your business by competitors.

We provide our clients with advice relating to:

• Discrimination claims
• Employee share option schemes
• Employment aspects to corporate transactions
• Executive severance and board reorganisations
• High Court litigation including the enforcement of restrictive covenants
• Restructuring matters including redundancies
• Settlement agreements
• Terms of employment including staff handbooks and related policies as well as engagement procedures
• TUPE-related issues
• Wrongful and unfair dismissal claims

We love helping our clients solve their business problems.  Find out how we can save you money and add value to your business.

We understand the burden placed on businesses that are subject to specific regulatory controls. In particular we specialise in advising clients regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority and the Prudential Regulation Authority.

Our knowledge of the regulatory requirements means that we understand the various codes of practice and other rules which regulated businesses must comply with. This means that we are able to advise not only on the law but we can also provide practical commercial advice and design procedures and practices to ensure compliance.

Our knowledge of the various regulations means that we can quickly identify and achieve swift resolution of compliance issues.

In addition to advising our clients on what they need to do to be compliant, we also offer risk management and strategic advice in order to reduce the risk of future litigation.

We aim to simplify the complicated and confusing world of regulation with our straightforward commercial advice.

We provide our clients with advice relating to:

• The applicability of the COBS rules;
• Financial services disputes;
• Complaints to the Financial Ombudsman Service;
• The Data Protection Act; and
• Regulated entities reporting obligations to the FCA.

We love helping our clients solve their business problems. Find out how we can save you money and add value to your business.

We believe that the legal market and the way in which clients want to purchase legal services are changing.

We know that clients want to receive the best legal advice in a fast, affordable and convenient way.

Because we recognise this, we do not hire unqualified staff to deal with high-volume work, nor are we a full service law firm, trying to be everything to everybody. Instead we focus on providing high quality specialist business law advice.

We understand that you need certainty about your legal costs. We can offer bespoke, value-based pricing by providing our services in a way which best suits your business:

Our complaints policy

We are committed to providing a high-quality legal service to all our clients. When something goes wrong, we need you to tell us about it. This will help us to improve our standards.

Our complaints procedure

If you have a complaint, contact us with the details.

What will happen next?

1. We will send you a letter acknowledging your complaint and asking you to confirm or explain the details set out. We will also let you know the name of the person who will be dealing with your complaint. You can expect to receive our letter within three days of us receiving your complaint.
2. We will record your complaint in our central register and open a separate file for your complaint. We will do this within three days of receiving your complaint.
3. We will then start to investigate your complaint. This will normally involve the following steps:

• We will pass your complaint to Justin Fletcher, our Client Care partner, within three days.
• He will ask the member of staff who acted for you to draft a reply to your complaint within five business days.
• He will then examine their reply and the information in your complaint file. And, if necessary, he may also speak to them. This will take up to three days from receiving their reply and the file.

4. Justin Fletcher will then invite you to a meeting and discuss and hopefully resolve your complaint. He will do this within three days.
5. Within two days of the meeting Justin Fletcher will write to you to confirm what took place and any solutions he has agreed with you.
If you do not want a meeting or it is not possible, Justin Fletcher will send you a detailed reply to your complaint. This will include his suggestions for resolving the matter. He will do this within five days of completing the investigation.

If we have to change the timescales above, we will let you know and explain why.

What to do if we cannot resolve your complaint.

a) If you are concerned about our behaviour you can raise your concerns with the Solicitors Regulation Authority (“SRA”). The SRA can help you with things like dishonesty, taking or losing your money, treating you unfairly because of your age, a disability or other characteristic.
b) The Legal Ombudsman can help you if we are unable to resolve your complaint ourselves. They will look at your complaint independently and it will not affect how we handle your case.
Before accepting a complaint for investigation, the Legal Ombudsman will check that you have tried to resolve your complaint with us first. If you have, then you must take your complaint to the Legal Ombudsman:

• Within six months of receiving a final response to your complaint and
• No more than six years from the date of act/omission; or
• No more than three years from when you should reasonably have known there was cause for complaint.

If you would like more information about the Legal Ombudsman, please contact them.
Contact details
Visit: www.legalombudsman.org.uk
Call: 0300 555 0333 between 9.00 to 17.00.
Email: enquiries@legalombudsman.org.uk
Legal Ombudsman PO Box 6806, Wolverhampton, WV1 9WJ

We love what we do and are passionate about the services we provide. We enjoy working with similarly passionate people.

If you would like to find out how we can save you money and add value to your business, please drop us an email, telephone us or come and meet us for a coffee.

J P Fletcher & Co is authorised and regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority, SRA number 660099. Partners: Justin P Fletcher.