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Western LegalUK · EU · US · International
Insights

Legal guides for UK businesses.

Commercial property

Section 25 notice received? What to do

No counter-notice is needed since 2004, but a court application before the termination date is, or the right to renew is gone.

Debt recovery

Late payment interest: what you can claim

Statutory interest at 11.75 per cent plus £40 to £100 per invoice, with or without a contract clause.

Debt recovery

Statutory demand: when it backfires

The £750 threshold, the twenty one day clock, and the injunction risk on a disputed debt.

Commercial property

Break clauses: why most attempts fail

Conditions, vacant possession, and why rent paid past the break date does not come back.

Employment

Restrictive covenants: what is enforceable

The legitimate interest test, the four clause types, and how severance rescues a clause.

Corporate

What a shareholders agreement must contain

Deadlock, exit, valuation, drag and tag, reserved matters and dividend policy.

United States

UK subsidiary or sell direct?

When a US company needs a UK entity, and the banking delay nobody plans for.

United States

English law or US law in your contract?

Governing law, jurisdiction, and why enforcement should drive the choice.

United States

Enforcing a US judgment in England

No treaty route, punitive damages do not travel, and why an award is easier.

Trademarks

Trademark classes: how to choose

The 45 Nice classes, why too few costs protection and too many costs money.

Trademarks

Your trademark was refused. What next?

Absolute grounds, relative grounds, the two month deadline and what a real response contains.

Contracts

Five mistakes that make an NDA worthless

No definition, no term, wrong direction, no carve outs, no usable remedy.

Finance

Signing a personal guarantee

All monies clauses, joint and several exposure, the family home, and what to negotiate first.

Corporate

When directors become personally liable

Wrongful trading, unlawful dividends, overdrawn loan accounts and breach of duty.

Practical

The first 48 hours of a legal problem

Stop replying, preserve everything, find the deadline, write the chronology, get the written view.

Trademarks

How much does a UK trademark cost in 2026?

Official fees, what the market charges, and why £555 all-inclusive beats both the filing mills and the hourly firms.

Trademarks

How fast can a UK trademark be filed?

Filed within 48 hours of instruction. The two clocks on every application and which one you control.

Trademarks

The Madrid Protocol explained

One filing, many countries: the basic mark requirement, central attack, and where Madrid is the wrong tool.

Trademarks

Brexit clone marks can now be cancelled for non-use

Only genuine UK use protects cloned registrations. What overseas brand owners must check.

Domains

Someone registered my brand as a domain

UDRP and Nominet DRS recover it on the papers, typically within 60 days. Do not pay the squatter.

Fees

What does a fixed fee solicitor actually mean?

The definition, and four questions that expose the firms whose fixed fee is an estimate in costume.

Property

Commercial lease review: the clauses that decide everything

Repair, break clauses, rent review, alienation and guarantees, where leases quietly cost money.

Property

Commercial rent arrears: the landlord options ranked

From demand letter to CRAR to forfeiture, in order of cost, with the traps that bite back.

Corporate

Buying a business: the due diligence that matters

Change of control, TUPE, IP the founder still owns personally: the five findings that move the price.

Corporate

Why the downloaded board resolution fails

Allotments without authority, void buybacks, unlawful dividends: what a buyer’s solicitor finds.

Market entry

Setting up in the UK as an overseas business

Subsidiary or branch, the PSC register, and the banking delay nobody warns you about.

Construction

Unpaid invoice? The 28 day route that forces a decision

Adjudication under the Construction Act, and how missed payment notices make the full sum due.

Redress

How to win a Financial Ombudsman complaint

The scheme is free and decided on the papers, so the written submission is the whole game.

Employment

Employment tribunal time limits

Three months less one day, Acas early conciliation, and what to do this week if the clock is short.

Reputation

How to get damaging content removed

Serious harm, UK GDPR erasure and platform routes: three options, and choosing wrong wastes weeks.

Regulatory

A letter from your regulator: first 48 hours

Why the acknowledgment is evidence, what never to do, and where outcomes are actually decided.

Data protection

What your UK website legally needs in 2026

Company details, a privacy notice that matches reality, PECR-compliant cookies, and terms that bind.

Creators

Brand deal contracts: what creators get wrong

Exclusivity, whitelisting, perpetuity, kill fees and the disclosure rules that make you liable too.