Commercial Services

Solomons Legal provides a comprehensive business support service to a wide and very diverse client base. We have a regional and national network of associations with other professionals such as accountants, tax consultants, financial advisers and banks. Such links enable us to assist you with wider issues, such as the arrangement of corporate finance, detailed business and personal tax planning advice and the preparation of management documents - including strategic business plans and cash flow forecasting. By adopting close working relationships with our various commercial associates, we can offer a seamless service to meet all your business needs and requirements.

We adopt a distinctive and robust approach to legal matters which can positively benefit your business. We deliver advice in an entrepreneurial culture and we endeavour to transform your visions into real success by presenting workable solutions.

We understand the dimensions of your legal needs today because we vigilantly and proactively study current laws, regulations, issues and trends and their impact on your interests. We know our business thoroughly to better serve yours. Our collaborative approach, enables our clients' to benefit fully from the depth of our experience and our extensive network of connections.

Successful strategic decision making is the key to the growth and development of all businesses, whether entering into a joint venture project or a distribution agreement, endeavouring to grow by acquisition, or selling out to your management team or a trade buyer, taking the right decision is critical. At Solomons Legal, we understand the complexity of these issues - we will help you to find the right and effective solution. We can ensure that you thoroughly understand all the options available to you and your business. Our clear and practical advice will identify the implications of any particular course of action. Our aim is to deliver outstanding service levels by taking the time to understand your business objectives and offer sound commercial advice to meet those objectives and attain those goals.

Whatever your company's size, your business will be valuable to us. We place great emphasis on understanding our clients' commercial objectives. We provide a personal, bespoke service and advice that is based on commercial reality, rather than just legal principles, throughout our clients' business lifecycle. The net result of our advice is to help create and maximise your opportunities and to reduce or eliminate your business risks.

Solomons Legal has extensive expertise in private company transactions, drafting commercial agreements and joint venture agreements, in addition to issues relating to intellectual property, licensing, banking and securities. By offering advice and guidance to individual shareholders, directors and partners, we have also developed a solid portfolio of specialist contacts through which we are able to provide a fully integrated and seamless professional service. At the same time, our company secretarial service, and legal audit provision, helps ensure our clients' operate within the law.

Information technology is an integral part of the day to day running of our firm from simple communication by phone or email, through to our case management database system to ensure we all work together as a team with efficiency and speed.

We believe that effective communication lies at the heart of this new technology and our systems are being continually developed to ensure that our services are cost effective and more reliable for our clients'. Regular and updated training is also a high priority for the firm.

Although Information Technology is important, face to face contact with clients and business associates remains paramount.

Corporate

Our corporate and commercial skill and capabilities are underpinned by the strength of supporting specialist solicitors within the firm, in particular, by our dispute management and litigation, commercial property and employment teams, whose expertise and experience can be called upon as and when required. The range of company and commercial services that we offer includes:

• Mergers, acquisitions and disposals.
  
  
• Company formation.
  
  
• Management buy-outs, management buy-ins and venture capital.
  
  
• Flotations and secondary issues.
  
  
• Joint ventures, strategic alliances and shareholders' agreements.
  
  
• Reorganisations, de-mergers and restructuring.
  
  
• Purchase and redemption by a company of its own shares.
  
  
• Exit strategies including retirement and succession planning
  
  
• Company secretarial services and general company law.
  
  
• Agency and distribution agreements.
  
  
• Franchise agreements.
  
  
• Licensing manufacturing and supply agreements.
  
  
• Conditions of sale and purchase.
  
  
• Partnership agreements.

If your particular legal requirement is not listed above, we may still be able to help you, so please contact us.

Business start-ups

Running a business can be exciting but can also be fraught with problems and having the time and budget to deal with them effectively is not always straight forward. We can help set up legal frameworks to support businesses. We specialise in offering a one-stop-shop of legal services for all types of businesses, ranging from ambitious start-ups to thriving, established companies. We can help and advise you at the outset on the appropriate type of business structure to adopt, e.g. sole trader, limited company (both private and public), or partnership, or limited liability partnerships. We can then set up a limited company or draft tailor-made partnership agreements according to your business needs and requirements. We can also provide bespoke company secretarial assistance helping you to cope with ongoing statutory company requirements. We will bring to bear our extensive experience to ease the process and secure the optimum terms on your behalf.

Purchase & Sale of Business

Solomons Legal offers expert advice in relation to purchase and sale of businesses and associated legal matters relating to commercial transactions, and will utilise the vast range of support services through its established and reliable network of associates.

Strategies for business succession

When you wish to realise your investment, we can advise on issues such as a family company succession, management buy out (or buy in), or trade sale. Whatever route you take, you will need the right advice to ensure the structure is tax efficient, and any warranty and indemnity, retention and earn-out clauses are drafted to your advantage.

Customer and supplier relationships

Solomons Legal can ensure that you are protected in your everyday trading transactions by negotiating and drafting contracts for the supply and distribution of goods and services, in addition to drafting terms of business, reviewing and explaining terms presented to you by your major suppliers. In our experience, it pays to set up watertight contracts at the outset, rather than risk getting exposed to lengthy disputes at a later date.

Protecting your company's goodwill and brand value

The goodwill and reputation vested in a company's developed brands or trading names can be significant, and any threat to this can result in economic loss. We can advise on intellectual property ("IP") issues, covering patents, copyright, trade marks, passing-off, and breach of confidence disputes. IP is a growing area in which failure to protect and exploit your commercial assets including brand name and identity at the outset can have serious consequences at a later stage.

Securing business premises

You need long-term confidence that your premises will be suitable, affordable, accessible and available. Solomons Legal is able to advise on all aspects of acquiring and disposing business premises, including freehold and leasehold acquisitions, rent/lease terms and reviews, landlord and tenant issues, and mortgages, easements and licences. We are also available to service the management of property portfolios.

Employee issues

As well as drafting contracts for all levels of staff and senior personal, Solomons Legal can advise on statutory rights, dismissal and redundancy issues.

Growing your business

Solomons Legal can help secure the financial foundation of your company's future by advising on business growth through company acquisitions, mergers and joint ventures, venture capital and other forms of investment or franchising. You may also need help with shareholder and partnership issues, such as a change of directors.

Debt Recovery & Credit Control

Solomon Legal handles debt recovery issues for many types of businesses. We take a practical approach to debt recovery, and will always discuss with you the various options available, and which is most likely to result in a full recovery. We offer an exceptional service, no matter how large or small the debt. We pride ourselves on our outstanding recovery rates.

There are three distinct areas of service we provide:-

• Pre-Legal Debt Recovery Service - upon receipt of instructions, we will send a letter before action within one working day.
  
  
• Legal Debt Recovery Service - our team of highly experienced and committed staff are able to recover debts through the County Court or, where appropriate, by strategic use of insolvency based procedures to accelerate the collection process.
  
  
• Disputed Debt Cases Service - disputed debt cases are referred to our team of highly experienced and commercially orientated litigation lawyers.

Resolving disputes

It's a fact of modern business life that disputes frequently occur, often causing great concern for the parties involved whether from a financial, emotional or "principles at stake" viewpoint. All too often, individuals and businesses can be faced with complex litigation matters that, if not quickly resolved, can cause delay, generate cost and result in an unwelcome step into the unknown.

Even with the best contracts in place, there are times when business disputes do occur, for example, between customers and suppliers over defective goods or services or non-payment of debts, or internally, between directors and business partners. We can help to ensure that any disagreement is resolved as quickly as possible, with the minimum of disruption to your business. The sooner we are involved, the quicker we can advise you about the options available. We are highly experienced in achieving rapid results, with the prompt resolution of even the most complex of disputes.

To find out more about these services please contact us