Harper James is a modern, full-service commercial law firm for ambitious businesses, from start-ups and scale-ups to established companies. Advising on the laws of England and Wales, our experienced senior lawyers bring practical commercial judgement to the decisions that shape your business.
Your legal needs change as your business develops. You may be protecting an idea, securing investment, hiring a team, negotiating contracts, managing risk, entering new markets or preparing for an exit. Harper James gives you access to coordinated expertise across business law, with clear scope, transparent costs and flexible ways of working.
Good legal advice is not only about identifying risk. It is about understanding your objectives, timing, risk appetite and available options, then explaining what each choice means for the business. Our lawyers work with founders, directors, finance leaders, people teams and General Counsel to provide advice that is clear, useful and commercially informed.
Our 80+ lawyers have an average of 17 years' post-qualification experience. They bring senior expertise across a broad range of business law, including:
At the early stage, we help businesses consider structure, investment, founder arrangements, intellectual property and key hires. As the business gets started, we advise on contracts, policies, director duties, shareholder agreements, premises and data handling. You can explore support for the big idea or getting started as your priorities take shape.
When your team and operations grow, legal work often becomes more connected. Supplier disagreements, employee issues, data breaches, software licensing, acquisitions and international expansion each involve decisions across more than one area of law. Our specialists work together so advice stays aligned with your commercial objectives.
For businesses preparing to scale, we support funding, workforce growth, new markets, bolt-on acquisitions and the structures needed for expansion. For owners preparing to exit, we advise on share sales, deal structures, management or employee takeovers, boardroom matters, disputes and business recovery. Explore scaling up or looking to exit for a closer view of the issues involved.
Harper James offers three service plans, designed around how businesses actually use legal support. Engage provides project-based or ad hoc support for defined matters without a subscription commitment. Enable is a 12-month subscription for start-ups and smaller businesses seeking ongoing access to legal support. Extend provides managed annual support for businesses with more frequent or complex needs, including a dedicated account management approach and a curated team of experienced lawyers.
The right plan depends on your workload, the level of coordination you need and whether you require occasional advice, a continuing relationship or an outsourced legal function. You do not need to move through the plans in a fixed sequence, and Engage, Enable and Extend can be considered around your business priorities.
For defined requirements, Harper James also offers fixed-fee and fixed-scope products. These give businesses a focused way to address specific legal or compliance tasks while keeping the work clearly defined.
Available services include:
Our remote-first model brings together lawyers and dedicated business services, supported by technology including proprietary tools and artificial intelligence. Technology reduces routine and administrative work, allowing lawyers to focus on judgement, advice and client service. Legal responsibility remains with our lawyers.
With a head office in Birmingham and regional spaces in Cardiff, Cambridge, London, Manchester, Oxford, Sheffield and Southampton, Harper James works with businesses across the UK and internationally. Face-to-face meetings are available by arrangement, alongside a flexible way of working that supports clients wherever their business operates.
Harper James supports founder-led businesses without an in-house legal team, larger organisations needing coordinated advice, and in-house teams that need extra capacity or specialist expertise. We also advise regulated, intellectual property-led and innovation-led businesses across sectors including technology, life sciences, manufacturing, construction, professional services and financial services.
Our clients include businesses dealing with funding rounds, acquisitions, new premises, recruitment, employee incentives, contract negotiations, data incidents, regulatory change, intellectual property disputes and financial pressure. Whatever the trigger, our role is to clarify the material issues, explain the options and agree a practical next step.
The value of an ongoing legal relationship is continuity. As our team understands your business, priorities and risk appetite, you spend less time repeatedly briefing different advisers and more time making informed decisions. Our support can develop from a defined Engage instruction to recurring Enable work or managed Extend support as your requirements change.
Since 2014, Harper James has supported more than 8,000 businesses. The firm was founded by Toby Harper and is authorised and regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority, SRA number 612099. Harper James is also ranked Band 1 for SME-focused Firms, UK-wide, in the Chambers UK 2026 and 2027 guides.
Better value means more than a lower fee. It means combining the quality and usefulness of advice with cost, clarity, continuity and flexibility. Harper James is structured to give businesses access to senior legal expertise through a remote-first, technology-enabled model, with service options that reflect how much support is needed.
Whether you need advice on one contract, support through a funding round, help with a dispute or an outsourced legal function alongside your in-house team, Harper James gives you a clear route to the expertise your business needs. Read the latest Harper James insights for practical perspectives on the legal issues affecting ambitious businesses.