1 We have acted for a group of companies and partnerships, in the retail food sector, demerging into two distinct businesses. The demerger involved complicated tax issues and there were more than 60 employees to be transferred out to the new businesses. We handled the finance, due diligence, negotiations, all company and employment issues and closed the deal.

2 We are instructed to deal with many cases where one party wants to buy out the other party. We have acted for a number of clients in this situation. One recent transaction involved a director/shareholder buying out the shares of his fellow director and taking the business forward on his own. The business owners were unsure as to how they would find the funds to complete the transaction and how the deal would work. We advised on possible solutions and put the client in contact with a corporate finance specialist who helped fund the transaction. The deal was then negotiated and completed over a number of months.

3 In the transport sector we acted for a client who disposed of part of their business to a major multinational. The deal was completed in a short period of time and involved an extensive amount of work transferring valuable contracts from the Seller to the Buyer.

1 We advised one of our clients in relation to tendering for a large commercial telecoms contract. The advice covered the initial assessment of the tendering documents, preparation of the clients' tender and agreement to the principal terms, once our client was successful in being awarded the contract. Disputes arose during the tendering process which we negotiated for our client, ghosting letters and providing support so our client could persuade the other side to their way of thinking.

2 Many situations arise from the supply of goods and services. Some of our clients trade internationally and we recently dealt with a complicated commercial contract with a Canadian company, on behalf of our client who was purchasing high value technical goods from them. We dealt with the negotiation, funding/escrow arrangements and worked within the Canadian time zones. The contract was completed in a very short period of time allowing for certain financial benefits for our client.

3 We have received various instructions from clients in relation to commercial agency arrangements – a notoriously complicated and risky area of law. If an agency agreement is wrongly drafted, the liability to the client can run to hundreds of thousands of pounds. The most recent instruction for the preparation of an agency agreement was for clients who had designed and manufactured a unique tool, for which they required the assistance of a commercial agent to effectively get to market. The concern for the client was getting the agreement executed swiftly so that the earning potential of the tool could be realised, the agreement was complete and sent to the other party much quicker than the client thought was possible.

1 We represented a former director of a waste recycling company (in liquidation) in a claim against him by two investors for recovery of their investment of £500,000. The investors considered that they had an entitlement against our client based upon two alternative grounds, namely: misrepresentation – which, in order for our client (as opposed to the company) to be personally liable in his capacity as an officer, must be fraudulent misrepresentation; and/or breach of contract. This dispute, including the threat of legal action against him, was successfully defended on the facts.

2 We represented an agricultural and arable company and associated partnership to successfully pursue a claim against a director of a renewable energy company for various breaches in the purchase of two wind turbines for damages of £315,000. It was successfully established that the potential defendant owed our clients duties in contract, at common law and in equity, and that the potential defendant was in breach of those duties. This dispute was settled without the necessity to issue proceedings.

3 We successfully defended a regional manufacturing company in a claim by a national cosmetics company in relation to the purchase of 20,000 defective units and consequential loss in the sum of £300,000. The units were manufactured in China and the contractual relationship between the parties expressly provided that the components for the product in question were to be shipped FOB. The potential claimant transported the units to an assembly and filling factory in Italy, and then onto the final destination in the UK. It followed that risk in the product components and responsibility for assembly and filling passed to the potential claimant when the goods passed the ship's rail at the port of shipment. Our repudiation on liability was accepted and the threatened claim withdrawn.

1 We advised the owner of a well-known TV character who was recently revived. The transaction involved many complex rights issues when purchasing the intellectual property from the previous owners, especially as the IP was owned by many different natural and corporate entities who were all seeking to protect their own interests. The transaction was completed on time, and to budget, with a very satisfied new owner.

2 We frequently obtain instructions from an internationally renowned designer for various intellectual property matters – the most recent being in relation to licensing and merchandising agreements. We negotiated and drafted three separate licensing and merchandising agreements for our client with major household name retailers.

3 We often receive enquiries and instruction to clarify and generally advise on the status of the intellectual property in and to an item, or photographs, databases and websites etc. Our expertise in this area allows us to explain, in a common sense and straightforward manner, the status of existing IP and the creation and protection of new. We are fully prepared, willing and able to pursue or defend a client's intellectual property. One example was the protection of our client's rights when his former publisher elected to produce, publish and distribute an unauthorised edition of a copyrighted work. We obtained a significant settlement sum and a formal undertaking to withdraw all copies, and not to repeat their actions.

1 We advised the owner of a well-known TV character who was recently revived. The transaction involved many complex rights issues when purchasing the intellectual property from the previous owners, especially as the IP was owned by many different natural and corporate entities who were all seeking to protect their own interests. The transaction was completed on time, and to budget, with a very satisfied new owner.

2 We frequently obtain instructions from an internationally renowned designer for various intellectual property matters – the most recent being in relation to licensing and merchandising agreements. We negotiated and drafted three separate licensing and merchandising agreements for our client with major household name retailers.

3 We often receive enquiries and instruction to clarify and generally advise on the status of the intellectual property in and to an item, or photographs, databases and websites etc. Our expertise in this area allows us to explain, in a common sense and straightforward manner, the status of existing IP and the creation and protection of new. We are fully prepared, willing and able to pursue or defend a client's intellectual property. One example was the protection of our client's rights when his former publisher elected to produce, publish and distribute an unauthorised edition of a copyrighted work. We obtained a significant settlement sum and a formal undertaking to withdraw all copies, and not to repeat their actions.

1 In the agricultural sector we are engaged by farming partnerships, usually involving family run businesses. In a number of cases the founder (typically father or grandfather) have long since gone and the business is left to siblings. In a number of cases the relationships have broken down and the family has started to become involved in a major dispute. Our role in acting for the client is to resolve that dispute and try and separate the business and farms, including the entitlements, which can be very difficult especially when there are farm tenancies involved.

2 We are also frequently engaged in advising clients about formation of partnerships in constructions, professional, dentistry and other sectors, we do this by taking all the partners through the various issues and law in relation to partnership matters. Quite often people do not understand partnership law and how this differs from company law, but it is very important that the distinction is understood.

3 In the food sector we dealt with a business that had been trading for over 50 years. The business had always done well but the partners had differences of opinion, which quickly developed into a dispute and argument as to who was going to take the business over and buy out the other partner. We were engaged to deal with issues of alleged fraud, theft and to secure a deal for our client. As with many examples that we see, the case was dealt much more difficult as the parties did not have a partnership agreement which meant that the Partnership Act 1890 applied which is legislation that does not easily fit with the modern business world, but not many people realise the implications of this law, which can have dramatic effects.