Business Law

A written partnership agreement is the governing document which sets out what you can and can’t do, and how to do it. If you don’t follow those terms you will be in breach, regardless of how bad the other partner’s conduct was.

Unless otherwise agreed, partnership assets can only be used for the business of that partnership.

Business Dispute: My business partner has signed us up to a contract I don’t agree with. Are we bound by it? Probably yes – a partner has the ability to bind the entire firm.However, if you think the contract shouldn’t have been entered into – or you have a written partnership agreement which would limit the ability to enter into contracts of a certain value unilaterally – you might have…

Business Dispute: Should I have a written partnership agreement? Yes. In the absence of a written agreement there’s the risk of argument as to what was agreed between the partners, and the law can impose things which you would otherwise never have intended.The costs of trying to fix a problem will be significantly more expensive than having a proper agreement in place at the outset to minimise the risks of…

The number of insolvencies has fallen slightly but there are fears that the figures could soon rise and that ‘a wave of business closures could be on the horizon’. Sam Lyon Associate Solicitor and Head of Corporate & Commercial reports. Corporate insolvencies decreased to 856 in October 2020 compared to September’s figure of 925 and remained well below October 2019’s figure of 1,485. Colin Haig, president of insolvency at trade…

A cryptocurrency firm has successfully taken legal action to prevent its former managing director competing against it and from revealing confidential information. Mark Aspin Director and Head of Dispute Resolution reports. The case involved Gemini Europe Ltd and Sawyer (2020). Gemini was part of a group of companies dealing in cryptocurrencies. In November 2019, it had engaged Mr Sawyer as its managing director. The contract included a non-compete clause preventing…

With the pandemic still causing huge problems for many businesses, it’s perhaps not surprising that many remain focussed on survival without too much thought for the future. If possible, however, it’s still important to consider what will happen once the pandemic is over, especially if you are planning to retire from your business and hand it over to the next generation. It could even be that a reduction in business…

A company has been granted a court order preventing a former employee from disclosing or using its confidential information after they copied files, Mark Aspin Director & Head of Dispute Resolution reports. The company, Rentrack Ltd, collected ticket sales data for cinemas. One of its employees, Mr Green, was approached by a competitor and offered a job in June 2020. You’re leaving your job, can you copy files? Before resigning,…

A 24 hour, online global learning symposium event for family businesses was used to engage in peer to peer learning and knowledge transfer. Through the symposium a community of family businesses from across the world, engaged in peer to peer learning and the opportunity for sector specialists to transfer their own knowledge to new groups. This unique event was aimed to share informative and educational content, encourage connectivity and positively…

Over the course of the year the government has responded to the devastating financial impact of Covid-19 on businesses with a number of packages of support to help businesses of all sizes. Ranging from support to help pay employees and business owners, to grants and loans and also tax deferral schemes, the packages of support are wide reaching. With the latest national lockdown, some of the support packages and measures…