Our corporate lawyers equip founders and senior leaders with the legal framework, commercial insight and steady guidance needed to deliver complex corporate transactions.
Finding the right legal partner
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.
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.
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.
That means fast response times, practical expert legal advice delivered in plain English, and dedicated client service and account management support.
We’re an SRA regulated firm, but more importantly, we build quality, data, and compliance best practice into everything we do.
Your business, your goals, our legal support
Growth brings opportunity, but also complexity. More stakeholders. More scrutiny. Bigger risk if something is missed.
With experienced corporate lawyers leading the process, we manage the technical detail and risk so you can focus on the commercial outcome.
When you’re looking to raise investment and require legal advice on investor terms and control while keeping the deal commercially viable – whether it’s a pre-seed deal or a Series C round and beyond.
When you want to acquire a business and you need to conduct legal due diligence, negotiate share or asset purchase agreements and manage risk through to completion.
When your governance needs to evolve and you want to put in place shareholder agreements, articles and board processes that stand up to investor and regulatory scrutiny.
When you are preparing to exit and you want to get your house in order, handle negotiations and support you through the sale process with minimal disruption.
When you need to restructure or scale internationally and you want to create or simplify group structures, manage share reorganisations and align governance with growth plans.
When you are introducing or reviewing an employee share scheme, we will help you get everything structured and documented correctly.
Corporate matters can often feel intense but we bring clarity by keeping the process controlled and commercially focused.
Supporting your growth journey
We’re here to help you build a legally robust business that stands up to board, investor and buyer scrutiny. If you need focused support in a particular area, you can find more detail on some of our specific services below.
We have worked at some of the top law firms in the UK, as well as in-house counsel providing support for large, international firms.
Our experience means that our corporate lawyers can spot when there is potential for negotiation and can offer expert advice when there isn’t. This comes from having acted on different sides of corporate transactions for multiple clients.
When appropriate, we also know when it’s right to leverage the expertise of our wider team to achieve the best possible outcome, whether that’s because property is an important part of a transaction’s due diligence, you want to implement share plans to retain key talent, or are managing the transfer of employees in a complex restructure.
Find out more about who you will be working with:
Director of Legal Strategy and Operations & Head of Corporate
Adam is Director of Legal Strategy and Operations & Head of Corporate, responsible for the legal services aspects of Harper James.
Partner - Corporate
Jas is a corporate partner at Harper James Solicitors, advising on corporate governance, mergers & acquisitions, venture capital & investments.
Partner - Corporate
Matthew is a highly experienced corporate partner at Harper James. With expertise in all aspects of corporate law and finance, Matthew's tenacity and eye for detail helps get client deals and agreements across the line with the minimum of fuss.
Partner - Corporate
Lynne has extensive experience advising businesses and business owners at a regional, national and international level on all aspects of corporate and commercial work, including company acquisitions/disposals and private equity investment.
Partner - Corporate
With over 30 years of experience in corporate law, he has advised businesses from high growth start-ups to FTSE 100 (and international equivalent) in their M&A strategy, execution, fundraisings and joint ventures.
Partner - Corporate
Brigitta is an experienced corporate solicitor. She specialises in company/business acquisitions and sales, equity fundraising, share reorganisations, management buy-outs, corporate governance and EMI share schemes.
Partner - Corporate
Nikki is a corporate partner and joined Harper James in November 2022. She is a specialist M&A lawyer and has a wide range and depth of experience working with her clients on a variety of corporate transactions.
Partner - Corporate
Lottie has over a decade of experience advising on complex UK and cross-border corporate transactions.
Partner - Corporate
Jenni graduated from University College London before training and qualifying with Blake Morgan in 2013. She then spent over ten years working at top 50 law firms, initially Blake Morgan and then Gateley Legal.
Senior Solicitor - Corporate
Shubhu specialises in early-stage fund raisings, shareholder arrangements and M&A. Prior to joining Harper James she worked at Mills & Reeve and before that at Addleshaw Goddard and Slaughter and May.
Senior Solicitor - Corporate
Callum is a senior corporate solicitor at Harper James, specialising in mergers and acquisitions and investments, as well as other corporate/commercial matters.
Senior Solicitor - Recovery & Insolvency
Eleanor is a senior insolvency solicitor with over 20 years' specialist knowledge in all aspects of insolvency, both corporate and personal, covering contentious and non-contentious matters.
Solicitor - Corporate
Wajiha Haris is a corporate solicitor at Harper James, having studied at the University of Sheffield. She has a focus on corporate law.
Senior Paralegal - Corporate
Jayne has 13 years of legal experience, and 19 years of experience in banking. She has a specialist paralegal practice qualification in company law, graduating in 2017.
Solicitor - Corporate
Daniel qualified as a corporate solicitor in July 2025, having joined the firm in March 2022 as a legal assistant prior to starting his training contract in January 2024.
Solicitor - Corporate
Asim is a Corporate Solicitor at Harper James. He supports clients on a range of corporate matters, particularly M&A deals.
Common questions
Here are a few examples of questions we’re commonly asked by clients. If you are unsure how these issues apply to your situation, our corporate lawyers are on hand to help you understand your options.
When done properly due diligence should assess risk allocation, change of control provisions, intellectual property ownership, regulatory exposure and any liabilities that could dilute deal value. The objective is not just to identify issues, but to understand their commercial impact and negotiate protection where appropriate.
In a business sale, risk often sits in warranties, indemnities and deferred consideration mechanisms. The scope of disclosures, financial thresholds and time limits can significantly affect your post completion exposure, so these areas require careful negotiation.
Control isn’t just about how many shares you issue. It’s shaped by voting rights, board seats and investor veto powers. During a funding round, you should carefully negotiate reserved matters, anti-dilution rights and any special share classes to avoid limiting your day-to-day decision-making. It is also important to consider how these terms affect future investment or exit plans. Clear legal advice helps you spot where control may shift in less obvious ways.
Exclusivity can demonstrate commitment and help focus both parties on getting a deal done. Be aware that it will limit your ability to engage with other buyers, which may reduce leverage. It should be carefully timed and structured to maintain momentum while protecting value.
As businesses grow, informal arrangements often need to be formalised. This can include updated articles, a shareholders’ agreement, clearer board processes and documented decision making frameworks that stand up to investor and regulatory scrutiny.
Testimonials
Our clients value straight answers, commercial judgement and lawyers who keep momentum in high-stakes transactions.
The Enable plan was just the right plan for us. It’s economic and we were really pleased with the numbers. As a start-up, it was important for us to seek the right legal advice while keeping costs to a minimum. It’s given us a breadth of high-quality legal knowledge at a great price point – something we just wouldn’t get at a traditional firm.
Freddie Savundra Founder, Meet Parker
Choosing Harper James was the best decision we made during this process. At one point, we felt stuck and struggled with providing certain documentation. Brigitta and the team knew how to explain what was needed and suddenly the process became much clearer. The guidance we received helped us avoid unnecessary delays and expenses. It made all the difference.
Steve Carrod Co-Founder, DMPG
When we were in the process of raising funds for our business venture, we were fortunate enough to have the support of Harper James. Their advice and guidance were extremely beneficial to us, and we’ve been impressed by their responsive service.
TJ Herbert CEO and Founder, Itchy Fish
Harper James is the right fit for us, I was attracted to the firm by the experience and reputation of their large team of specialist solicitors. And best of all, I have this support at a price point that’s very competitive compared to their competition.
Andrew Worsley Chairman, Harbour Healthcare
Matt and Paul understand the brief, and they understand our business. Their attention to detail and joined-up approach is excellent. They’re able to understand exactly what we need and the vision of the group going forward. Growing at this rate presents some risk, so having a legal team that appreciates this and supports us with the legal advice we need to take on every challenge in our mission to scale is key.
Alex Newey Chairman, Greosn
It was delightful working with Stephen and Callum on the fundraise. As an ex-investment banker, I’ve worked with many law firms and the legal process can be quite painful. We wanted to make sure our investors were protected and there were no delays with the raise. The fundraise was executed smoothly and Stephen and Callum were both very helpful. Callum was extremely bright. They both pointed out lots of things that we had missed.
Hana Salussolia Chief Operating Officer, Medisonal
The Enable Plan has been really useful for us. We’re always watching our burn because that early money is important to us as a start-up. We get high quality legal event advice that doesn’t compromise on quality. Also, having access to a distributed team who have previously worked at some very credible firms is great. Having access to that level of experience and expertise, but not having to pay traditional firm prices is excellent.
Andre Turville Founder & CEO, ARX Alliance
The team are responsive to my requests for support and the feedback and help that I have received from the legal team has always been well presented and thought through. The quality of support and the flexibility with which it is provided (monthly payments), is perfect for my business.
Peter Denton Director, Enso Equestrian
It’s been great working with Adam. He’s approachable and very friendly. When initially contacting Harper James, I wanted an experienced advisor that knew how to maneuver the acquisition landscape. Adam certainly knew how to do this, and his timing and responsiveness was second to none.
Mohammed Elmasry CEO, Tactful AI
On behalf of Emerald, I wanted to say thank you for your tremendous work on this deal. You have been always available and with the correct legal advice. You are by miles the best lawyer (technically and morally) we have ever worked with.
Arian Zandi Co-Founder, Emerald Hospitality Group
For any small business looking for the right law firm to guide you through an acquisition I would highly recommend Harper James. My personal experience was with Matt Shakesheff who looked after my sale and passed me over to their team who looked over my new contract of employment as I was staying with my buyer for a 2 year handover. They delivered on budget and on time.
Richard William Turbutt Director, CorroGuard
I have worked with Harper James solicitors on a range of commercial and corporate finance assignments for our businesses over the last 10 years. We have benefitted from access to skilled lawyers with plenty of valuable experience who are well tuned in to how early-stage growing companies operate and what is important to businesses like ours.
Matthew Draper Chief Financial Officer, Oxford Space Systems
Fast and efficient communication. Easy to communicate instructions and timely turnarounds. Good value for money alongside good communication with explanation of path taken.
Daniel Lawrence MD and Co-Founder, Bots For That
Always very happy with the service from Harper James. Timely advice we can rely on!
Andrew Jermy Director, Inflecto Systems Limited