News & Views

The nineteenth century actor-philosopher Will Rogers once said that you never get a second chance to make a first impression. Heads of terms in an M&A transaction are a good example of this as they set the tone for the whole relationship between the parties.

As King Charles draws a lungful of bracing Sandringham air before wishing us all a Merry Christmas, many in the legal profession will be reflecting on 2023 as a year of mixed blessings.

Those following the Procurement Bill will no doubt recall its reading in Parliament following two years of extensive consultation and policy development post-Brexit. The Bill, reforming the pre-existing Procurement Rules received royal assent in October 2023, and has passed into law as the Procurement Act 2023.

The legal industry has traditionally struggled to keep up with technology. With Artificial Intelligence (AI) evolving quicker than any other technology, we need to be mindful of its limitations and walk before we run with these new innovations.

The American writer and biochemist, Isaac Asimov, was not a fan of the concept of 'let the buyer beware'. He said he preferred the idea of 'let the seller be honest.' If only life were that simple, there would be little need for anyone to do due diligence before they buy anything.

Litigation funding is a financial arrangement where a third-party funder provides capital to cover the costs of litigation in exchange for a share of the damages recovered.

It has been said that too much agreement kills a chat. But when it comes to shareholders, the existence of a shareholders’ agreement will almost certainly improve a chat.

There is certainly no shortage of legal advice in the world - most of it completely free and much of it, no doubt, technically correct. A Google search for ‘legal advice’, for example, produces over two billion results.

A question that sellers often ask corporate lawyers when they are about to start selling their business is how to share information about the business as part of buyer’s due diligence process i.e. the process by which a buyer seeks to understand the business with a view to identifying risks and verifying the price offered for it.

Having made a strategic decision to convert your business to a limited company - whether from being a sole trader or a traditional partnership - there are some potential bear traps to avoid when doing so. Here is our guide to some of the main ones and what you can do to avoid them.