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Sarah has been practising as a commercial lawyer for more years than she cares to remember (having qualified as a solicitor in 1994) and has provided advice to many types of clients – from start-ups to multinationals; from heavy industry through to ‘cutting edge’ technology businesses. With experience in-house as well as private practice, it is rare for her to be faced with a type of commercial contract that she has not come across previously.
I have worked in law firms for most of my career and love the knowledge of the world brought to me by engaging with a wide range of businesses. In fact, I think that most businesses are interesting when the lawyer engages at the right level to provide useful and pragmatic advice.
I particularly enjoy bringing clarity and structure to complex issues so that they become straightforward for the client.
I strongly believe that a lawyer should add value, rather than obstructing the client’s objectives. The longer I practise, the more solutions I can offer to achieve the ‘meeting of minds’ that is at the heart of good commercial law advice.
Sarah also applies a number of different skills: including drafting, negotiating, explanation and analysis. She is always prepared to revise her approach to make sure that the client is receiving advice that fulfils the brief and meets its requirements.
My aim is always to make the law clear and relevant to the client so that it is in a position to make properly informed decisions. I believe that my primary role is to ensure that both parties to a contract are clear as to their rights and obligations: making sure that the client is properly protected if the relationship breaks down is secondary to this. This is because if the parties are clear, the risk of dispute should be minimised.
In addition to her role as a Commercial Partner, Sarah is Harper James' Chief Quality and Compliance Officer. In this capacity, she ensures that the firm complies with its regulatory obligations and provides good value advice of the highest possible quality. Sarah is also dedicated to ensuring that our lawyers are supported in becoming as good at the law as they are capable of being.
Sarah lives in Bedford with her husband and two teenage children. She grows vegetables organically and whenever possible cycles and hill walks.
Learn more about Sarah and her journey into law and proudest career moments in our Spotlight on a Solicitor series.
TESTIMONIALS
What our clients say
We have been working with Sarah Gunton for seven years and we honestly don’t think we would be where we are as a business without her guidance.
Samuel Jones
Co-founder, CEO, Software Development Consultant,
Codevate
Sarah has been very responsive, gives helpful advice and works to our often tricky deadlines - overall great!
Amy Tindall
In-house Lawyer,
Ello Group Ltd
I'll sum it up in three words: Expertise, versatility and experience
Sarah Enuwhure
Account Manager,
Curva Digital Ltd
Harper James delivers exactly what I want from my lawyers; someone who presents not only the risks and the legal argument but who also understands the commercial side. Take our recent work with Sarah Gunton for example; if we decide we’re going to take on a commercial risk, she’ll adapt the terms for us to do that while reducing the risk as much as possible. The service we get there is like gold dust for us.
Craig Aston
COO,
Celerity Limited
Working with Sarah Gunton has become a vital and very important addition to our commercial activities at Celerity. Her efforts, skills and communication are excellent, along with her drive and flexibility in a constant fast moving commercial world.
Mark Chadwick
Commercial Executive,
Celerity Limited
Ease of use, a familiar legal team supporting my business who understand my business, and provide value for money.
Daniel Lawrence
CEO,
Bots For That Ltd
Everyone we have been lucky enough to work with from Harper James has been utterly professional, extremely responsive and provided solutions and peace of mind - thank you. Sarah and Ruairi especially have been a joy!
Deborah Hunter
Director,
Hunter Ops
Knowing that we have Harper James to help us through complex situations and difficult negotiations is very reassuring. Sarah knows our business inside out and we can rely on her to provide clear and timely commercial advice.
And on the odd occasion that we’ve needed help through a dispute, Ian Carson has always stepped in and dealt with the situation before it gets out of hand.
Nick Thompson
CEO,
One Beyond
Excellent response times and quality of responses. Our main contact Sarah Gunton has aligned perfectly with our expectations and way of working.
Lee Church
Bid Director,
Oldham Engineering Ltd
The service we’ve received has been excellent. When a customer recently made some minor comments on our terms and conditions, I forwarded them to Sarah and, within a few hours, the answers I needed were sent back.
Nick Thompson
MD,
DCSL Software
Sarah Gunton is phenomenal. It was such a relief to find a colleague who had my back. I could simply forward Sarah an email and say: how do I respond to this? Having an informed second opinion is so valuable – it gives me the confidence to know I am doing this right.
Jo Evershed
CEO,
Cauldron Science
I work principally with two of your solicitors, Sarah Gunton and Ian Carson, who are both exceptional in my view. They have been a huge help to us on many, many occasions... The quality of work is very high and there’s a real sense of humility from Sarah and Ian, they take ownership. I really value this.
Tom Davenport
MD & Co-Founder,
Alvius
As an extend client with Harper James I like the assurance of having a legal services provider which is there as and when the business needs it.
Will Richardson
CEO,
Wayland Additive
Sarah was incredibly responsive to my e-mails and was accurate with rough timelines for completion. She was also very approachable and down to earth on an agreement that contains a lot of jargon and isn't that user friendly for people from a non legal background. She also took the time to get to know the purpose the document will be used for to make it accurate and legally binding.
Steph Darrah
Business Development Manager,
Playtonic Limited
Our solicitor Sarah has been fantastic, as have Stephen and Adam.
Mark Grenside
Co-Founder,
Dragonfly Biosciences
Our solicitor Sarah helped us complete a complicated contract with a large multinational ensuring our interests were protected, but got the contract signed in very tight timescales. Sarah was very easy to work with and quickly understood what was important to us and how to effectively present this to our customer.
Mark Webber
MD,
Tinsley Bridge
We have been working with Sarah Gunton for seven years and we honestly don’t think we would be where we are as a business without her guidance.
Samuel Jones
Co-founder, CEO, Software Development Consultant,
Codevate
Sarah has been very responsive, gives helpful advice and works to our often tricky deadlines - overall great!
Amy Tindall
In-house Lawyer,
Ello Group Ltd
I'll sum it up in three words: Expertise, versatility and experience
Sarah Enuwhure
Account Manager,
Curva Digital Ltd
Harper James delivers exactly what I want from my lawyers; someone who presents not only the risks and the legal argument but who also understands the commercial side. Take our recent work with Sarah Gunton for example; if we decide we’re going to take on a commercial risk, she’ll adapt the terms for us to do that while reducing the risk as much as possible. The service we get there is like gold dust for us.
Craig Aston
COO,
Celerity Limited
Working with Sarah Gunton has become a vital and very important addition to our commercial activities at Celerity. Her efforts, skills and communication are excellent, along with her drive and flexibility in a constant fast moving commercial world.
Mark Chadwick
Commercial Executive,
Celerity Limited
Ease of use, a familiar legal team supporting my business who understand my business, and provide value for money.
Daniel Lawrence
CEO,
Bots For That Ltd
Everyone we have been lucky enough to work with from Harper James has been utterly professional, extremely responsive and provided solutions and peace of mind - thank you. Sarah and Ruairi especially have been a joy!
Deborah Hunter
Director,
Hunter Ops
Knowing that we have Harper James to help us through complex situations and difficult negotiations is very reassuring. Sarah knows our business inside out and we can rely on her to provide clear and timely commercial advice.
And on the odd occasion that we’ve needed help through a dispute, Ian Carson has always stepped in and dealt with the situation before it gets out of hand.
Nick Thompson
CEO,
One Beyond
Excellent response times and quality of responses. Our main contact Sarah Gunton has aligned perfectly with our expectations and way of working.
Lee Church
Bid Director,
Oldham Engineering Ltd
The service we’ve received has been excellent. When a customer recently made some minor comments on our terms and conditions, I forwarded them to Sarah and, within a few hours, the answers I needed were sent back.
Nick Thompson
MD,
DCSL Software
Sarah Gunton is phenomenal. It was such a relief to find a colleague who had my back. I could simply forward Sarah an email and say: how do I respond to this? Having an informed second opinion is so valuable – it gives me the confidence to know I am doing this right.
Jo Evershed
CEO,
Cauldron Science
I work principally with two of your solicitors, Sarah Gunton and Ian Carson, who are both exceptional in my view. They have been a huge help to us on many, many occasions... The quality of work is very high and there’s a real sense of humility from Sarah and Ian, they take ownership. I really value this.
Tom Davenport
MD & Co-Founder,
Alvius
As an extend client with Harper James I like the assurance of having a legal services provider which is there as and when the business needs it.
Will Richardson
CEO,
Wayland Additive
Sarah was incredibly responsive to my e-mails and was accurate with rough timelines for completion. She was also very approachable and down to earth on an agreement that contains a lot of jargon and isn't that user friendly for people from a non legal background. She also took the time to get to know the purpose the document will be used for to make it accurate and legally binding.
Steph Darrah
Business Development Manager,
Playtonic Limited
Our solicitor Sarah has been fantastic, as have Stephen and Adam.
Mark Grenside
Co-Founder,
Dragonfly Biosciences
Our solicitor Sarah helped us complete a complicated contract with a large multinational ensuring our interests were protected, but got the contract signed in very tight timescales. Sarah was very easy to work with and quickly understood what was important to us and how to effectively present this to our customer.
Mark Webber
MD,
Tinsley Bridge
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