Business Legal Services
Commercial Contracts
Commercial contract lawyers to help draft new agreements and review existing contracts
A promising deal can stall over payment, performance requirements or liability. Our commercial lawyers help you understand each party’s position, identify where there is room to compromise and propose alternatives, so you can progress negotiations without losing sight of your commercial interests.
Finding the right legal partner
Why work with Harper James
Choose a legal partner you can trust: we’ll help protect your goals, your business and your people so you can move forward with confidence and focus on growing your business.
Affordable, transparent and predictable pricing
Clear itemised invoices, subscription plans with up to 50% discount, and fixed fee products help you plan and manage legal spend – with no nasty surprises.
Proven track record and measurable results
We’ve supported over 8,000 businesses since 2014, with an ‘Excellent’ rating on Trustpilot and a Net Promoter Score (NPS) of 60+ from monthly client surveys.
Straight-talking, responsive advice
That means fast response times, practical expert legal advice delivered in plain English, and dedicated client service and account management support.
Risk and compliance assured
We’re an SRA regulated firm, but more importantly, we build quality, data, and compliance best practice into everything we do.
What can we help with?
Commercial contract advice that helps your business move forward
Your commercial contracts aren’t just to protect your business, they’re tools for growth. Our legal expertise and commercial judgement will help you understand the implications, negotiate fair but robust terms, and create contractual relationships that fit the way your business works.
Bringing older contracts up to date. Review what has changed in your business and update the agreement to reflect what you now provide and how you work.
Helping you reach an agreement. Identify which terms matter most, where you can compromise and how changes to the wording could resolve disagreements.
Fixing a relationship that is not working. Help you understand your options, whether that means changing the terms or agreeing on how to end the arrangement.
Reviewing a contract. Explain what the other party’s draft means for your business and flag obligations that may be hard to meet or too costly for the value of the deal.
Managing contracts across your business. Create templates and clear guidance (or a playbook) so your team can take a consistent approach to similar agreements.
Drafting a new commercial contract. Turn a deal into a contract that sets out what each party will deliver, when payment is due and how risks and responsibilities are shared.
Share your draft or existing contract and what you want to achieve. We’ll then help establish what needs legal input and where a commercial decision is required. Our process usually follows these steps:
- Set the priorities for the agreement
We start with the purpose of the relationship and the outcome you need. That includes the financial return, operational requirements and commitments you cannot make, as well as the other party’s likely expectations. - Turn those priorities into a negotiating position
We prepare or assess the contract, explain the significant provisions and recommend how to approach unresolved points. Where the parties want different things, we help develop alternatives that preserve the substance of the deal. - Complete the contract and identify what follows
Once the wording is agreed, we check that the documents reflect the final agreement. We can then flag the actions needed after signature, including approvals, reporting requirements and dates that should be recorded.
Why choose our commercial contract lawyers?
Meet our team
Our commercial contract lawyers bring experience from senior roles in leading law firms and the legal departments of international businesses. Our lawyers know how a clause can affect the cost of delivering a service, the return on a deal or your ability to take on other work. They use that experience to focus your attention on the terms worth challenging and suggest alternatives that give you a stronger basis for negotiation.
Our flexible pricing plans let you draw on this expertise for one agreement or ongoing contract support. As our lawyers become familiar with your business, they can apply that knowledge to future deals, helping you avoid repeating the same groundwork and giving your team a consistent approach to contractual decisions.
Let’s introduce you to our team:
Pricing and service plans
Legal support designed
to fit your business needs
Our three transparent service plans are designed to give you the widest possible access to high-quality legal advice, whatever the size and nature of your business:
Engage
Flexible access to senior solicitors at highly competitive rates
An alternative to our subscription plans, offering access to full service legal expertise on a project-by-project basis.
Enable
Purpose built legal support for start-ups and smaller businesses
Monthly subscription plan for £259 per month, with £174 monthly credit and access to all legal services at 50% discount on our Standard Rates.
Extend
Comprehensive legal partnership for established businesses
Fully account managed and scalable annual subscription plan with support from a curated team of partners and senior solicitors, with up to 33% discount on our Standard Rates.
Understanding commercial contract law
Commonly asked commercial contract questions
The right questions depend on whether you are entering a relationship, changing it or deciding how to leave. These answers highlight some of the decisions that deserve attention before you commit.
When should we involve a commercial contract lawyer in a deal?
Legal input can be useful before the first draft, particularly where discussions involve exclusivity, significant investment or rights over valuable assets. These decisions can shape the agreement and may be difficult to revisit once expectations are established.
If negotiations are already underway, share the commercial proposal, correspondence and any draft documents. This helps your lawyer understand what has been discussed and distinguish settled points from matters still open for agreement.
What information will you need to draft a contract?
We will need to understand the parties, the proposed activities, payment arrangements, timetable and duration. Specifications, proposals and relevant correspondence can help explain the intended deal.
It is also useful to identify dependencies: what you need from the other party, which third parties are involved and what could prevent delivery. Gaps in this information can reveal commercial questions that need resolving before the contract is completed.
How can we make performance obligations easier to manage?
Use specifications and measures that both parties can understand and apply. Vague promises such as “prompt delivery” or “high quality service” may leave important expectations unresolved.
The agreement should identify relevant deadlines, standards, reporting arrangements and responsibilities for providing information or approvals. It can also establish how failures will be addressed, giving the parties a process for resolving problems rather than leaving the response uncertain.
How do we assess whether a contract is still suitable?
Compare the written agreement with the relationship as it operates today. Look for changes in the services, volumes, pricing, technology or responsibilities that have not been formally recorded.
Then consider whether the contract still supports your objectives. An arrangement that worked at a smaller scale may no longer provide suitable performance measures, flexibility or exit rights. Reviewing both the document and current practice helps identify what should be retained, amended or renegotiated.
