Home » Get commercial legal advice as questions come up

Get commercial legal advice as questions come up

We answer the commercial questions that come up, without turning each one into a project.

Most legal questions in a business are small, urgent, and do not belong to any one category. Can we do this. Do we have to. What happens if they do not pay. Those questions are cheap to answer early and expensive to answer late. We take them as they come.

Speak to a lawyer What is included

An answer, not a project

Most questions get resolved in a conversation rather than a formal engagement.

Early is cheap

Asking while the question is still a question avoids most of the cost of asking later.

Told when it is bigger

If a question turns out to be a real piece of work, we say so and scope it before starting.

What ongoing commercial advice looks like in practice

General commercial advice is the work that does not fit a fixed scope. A question about a contract you have been sent. An obligation you are not sure applies. A supplier who has stopped performing, or a decision that might have a legal consequence.

It differs from a project engagement mainly in how it is used. The value is in asking early and briefly, while the question is still a question. Most of these take a phone call. The ones that turn out to be larger get identified as larger, which is itself the useful part.

Speak to a lawyer

What sorts of questions can I bring?

Contracts you have been sent or need drafted. Questions about obligations and licensing. Supplier and customer disputes, business structure, shareholder and partner issues, and the commercial side of employing people. If it affects the business and has a legal element, start with us.

Do I need a formal engagement for every question?

No. Most questions are answered in a conversation. Where something turns out to need real work, we will tell you what is involved and agree the scope and the cost before we start.

What does it cost to ask?

The first conversation is free. After that it depends on what the question needs, and we will tell you before doing the work rather than after. Most questions cost far less to answer than they do to leave.

What if it is outside your area?

We act for businesses across most commercial areas, so it usually is not. Where a question needs something we do not do, we will say so. We will point you to who does, rather than learning it at your expense.

The list of questions you have not asked is where the expensive ones start

Most of them take a conversation. The few that do not are worth identifying before they become urgent.

The expensive legal problems are the ones that were once small questions

Legal questions in a business tend to get deferred, because asking feels like starting something. There is an engagement, a scope, an estimate, and the question was only going to take five minutes.

So the contract gets signed unread, the obligation goes unchecked, and the supplier dispute is managed by email for four months. None of those were hard problems when they started.

We will get across your situation and the commercial context quickly.
We will tell you where you stand and what the practical options are.
We will give you advice you can act on rather than a list of qualifications.
We will tell you if the question is larger than it looked, and scope it before starting.
We will bring in the right person within the firm where a specialist is needed.

When you need an answer and not a project

Something has come up and you need to know where you stand. It might be a clause in a document, or a question about what you are required to do. It might be a disagreement that is starting to look like it will not resolve itself. You want a straight answer from someone who understands how a business runs, without a formal engagement for every question.

What's included in your commercial legal advice service

Speak to a lawyer

Initial discussion and legal assessment.
Advice on your position and the options open to you.
A recommended course of action.
Scoping of any larger piece of work before it begins.
Ongoing support through to resolution where required.

Every large matter began as a question nobody asked

Commercial problems almost always have an early version that was cheap. A contract that should have been read before signing. A regulatory question set aside during a busy quarter. A supplier dispute handled informally until it could not be.

By the time these arrive as urgent, the options have narrowed. The contract is signed. The obligation has been breached for two years. The supplier has stopped answering and taken the work elsewhere. The advice needed at that point costs several times what the original question would have.

From a question you have been putting off to an answer

You tell us what has come up. We get across it quickly, because most of these do not need a written advice. Then we tell you where you stand and what we would do.

If that is the end of it, that is the end of it. If it is bigger, we will say so before starting, and tell you what it would take. The point of the arrangement is that asking early is easy enough that you actually do it.

How it works

From a question you have been sitting on to a clear answer.

Tell us what came up

We get across the situation and the commercial context without a lengthy intake process.

Get the answer

We tell you where you stand and what we would do, in terms you can act on.

Take it further

If the question turns out to be larger, we scope the work before it starts.

Commercial legal advice, taken as the questions arise

Most business owners have a list of legal questions they have not asked, usually because none of them felt big enough to justify the call. That list is where most expensive problems start.

We act for businesses across contracts, structures, regulatory obligations, disputes and the commercial side of employing people. Most of what comes up can be answered rather than referred elsewhere. Where a question turns out to be bigger than it looked, we will say so and scope it before doing the work. We have 2 Accredited Specialists in Business Law.

Our great lawyer guarantee

Six principles we hold to, whatever you bring us and however long it takes.

Take the time

We listen carefully to understand what you want to achieve, then step you through the advice and the documents.

Share our knowledge

We pass on as much as we can, so you can make your own informed decisions.

Stick to our knitting

We only do what we are good at, so you never pay for our learning.

Work as one team

Someone is always available to answer your question or point you the right way.

Fair pricing

A fixed or capped quote for advice and documents, so you do not carry the price risk.

It is your show

We are in it for a front row seat to witness your success, not for our egos.

Ask the question while it is still small

If you have been carrying a question for a while, it is probably cheaper to ask than to keep carrying it. Tell us what has come up and we will tell you where you stand, and whether it needs anything more than the answer.

Speak to a lawyer 1300 654 590