Need a Startup Lawyer?

Why do you need startup legal advice?

Wondering if you need a startup lawyer to help you set up your new business? 

Starting a new business can be both an exciting and challenging prospect. You may have a great service or product on offer, but thinking about the legal details can be complicated and overwhelming. You don’t want to make any mistakes and the pitfalls particularly at this stage are many. 

From selecting a structure for your new business to understanding how to comply with employment law when hiring your first staff, there are numerous areas where a startup lawyer can support you. UK law is complex and forever changing. Therefore, it is crucial to get the right startup advice as early in the process as you can.

For example, are you hiring staff for the first time and wanting to make sure your startup employment contract is legally compliant? Do you want a structure for your startup that qualifies for the investor friendly SEIS (Seed Enterprise Investment Scheme) and EIS (Enterprise Investment Scheme) regimes? Do you want to make sure that the business owns whatever intellectual property your contractors create for your startup business? These are just some of the many areas where our startup lawyers, HR Professionals and business advisers can assist.

Get in touch with our co-ordinator, Declan Bradley

dbradley@doyleclayton.co.uk

07825183655

Book an introductory video call with Declan or Elena to discuss your matter.

Who can our startup lawyers and professionals support?

We have been supporting startup businesses of all sizes, including UK Tech Startups, Scaleups and Growth Companies for many years. Our experienced startup lawyers have worked with startups on shareholder agreements, equity arrangements, employment contracts, immigration requirements and HR support for growing teams as well as in many other areas. Our experienced team understand the terrain.

If you are an Entrepreneur, Lean Tech Startup, Growth Company, Scaleup, Angel Investor, Venture Capitalist, or a company based internationally that wants to set up in the UK, we can support your business. Wherever you are in your entrepreneurial journey, we can offer sound legal and business advice.

Our expert support for startup companies 

Our startup advisers include a team of specialist lawyers who are rated highly in The Legal 500 and Chambers & Partners. Together with our business advisers, we offer a range of services to help your new or developing business. From support with writing your employment contracts to in-depth legal advice on setting up an EMI (Enterprise Management Incentive) scheme – we have the experience that you require. Here’s a quick snapshot of our legal and business support services.

Our startup legal services

• Setting up a Company
• Pre-seed and seed funding advice
• Shareholder Agreements
• Setting up an EMI scheme (or other stock option plans)
• Cross Option Agreements to protect the legacy of your business
• Website Terms and Conditions
• GDPR Privacy Notice
• Employment contracts
• Employee handbooks
• Non-disclosure agreements
• Advice on post-termination restrictions to protect your startup
• Contractor Agreements with appropriate intellectual property assignments
• Immigration advice for Startups and Entrepreneurs
• FCA Authorisations, Compliance and Disputes services

- Our startup business services

Through our startup team, we can offer the following business and consultancy services to help you set up a business and grow your team. You will have the tools to maintain your compliance standards and to plan for your strategic exit. Our startup business advisors can offer fixed fees where appropriate for the following services:

• HR Support – helping with policies, procedures and “on the ground” employee relations processes
• HR Strategic Advice to help with your Recruitment and Talent Retention Strategy
• Board level advice on aligning your People Strategy with your Business Objectives
• Our Company Secretarial team can ensure good corporate governance and that you complete the necessary filings with Companies House each year
• Health and Safety support to ensure your business is COVID-Secure
• Strategic Advice for Exits with our in-house Corporate Financier

Businesses that our startup lawyers have helped

Our startup lawyers, HR professionals and business advisers have been helping startup businesses achieve their goals for a long time. Here’s a quick look at some of their startup success stories:

- Employment – Declan Bradley, our team’s employment law expert, has helped many startups tailor standard employment contracts and staff handbooks to fit the culture of their team. For example, he has helped a virtual reality startup to use more laid back and modern language in their employment documentation. The company then had documents which better reflected their staff culture.

- Employment Incentives – Euan Fergusson, our Stock Options specialist, drafted and implemented a Stock Option Plan for a startup in the business coaching industry to provide to their contractor staff. In addition, Declan Bradley drafted and advised the business on the separate contractor agreements for those individuals, showing our joined up approach for startups.

- Corporate – Liz Barton, our Head of Corporate, advised a FinTech Startup on a Founder exit. Liz helped the client to reach a negotiated settlement and drafted significant paperwork to facilitate new share ownership arrangements. Liz also worked on amending the shareholder agreement and Articles of Association and agreeing shareholder waivers with the many minority shareholders. 

Our transparent and fixed fee startup packages

Our experienced team can offer fixed fee solutions and services for startup clients at any stage in their business journey. Also, whatever the work, whether fixed fee or otherwise, our startup lawyers will always seek to be transparent with you on costs. As a result, there are no surprises and you can budget accordingly. 

To help get you started, we offer a FREE 20 minute “workplace health check” and the following packages:

Our FREE startup legal package

• Simple intellectual property assignment deed
• Simple NDA (Non-Disclosure Agreement)
• Basic intern letter
• Confidentiality agreements
• Simple employment offer letter

Our fixed fee staff engagement package

• Startup Employment Contract for £395 plus vat
• Startup Contractor Agreement for £395 plus vat
• A Startup Employment Contract or a Startup Contractor Agreement plus a GDPR staff privacy notice for £595 plus vat
• A Startup Employment Contract and a Startup Contractor Agreement plus a GDPR staff privacy notice for £895 plus vat

Each fixed fee package includes a call with a startup lawyer to help you understand and complete the documents.

Our affordable Startup Subscription Service

Just starting out and need regular support? - our affordable startup subscription service may be just be what you need. 

Read more information on our Startup Subscription service

Early stage startup legal checklist 

Our startup lawyers and startup business advisers have produced the following checklist to help you setup your new business. Please get in touch to find out more. We have a large network of contacts across areas such as accountancy, insurance, employee benefits and pensions who can also assist where needed.  

What is our mission statement?

The mission of our startup team is to play a small part in the UK’s economic recovery in these challenging times. We seek to provide entrepreneurs, business owners and investors access to essential and affordable legal advice and business services. Our objective is to give Founders, startups and growing businesses a one stop shop for their legal advice and business services needs. 

Get in touch with our startup team

Get in touch with our co-ordinator, Declan Bradley, at dbradley@doyleclayton.co.uk or on WhatsApp at 07825183655. Declan can arrange your workplace health check and provide you with the documents you need to start building your startup team.

Book an introductory video call with Declan to discuss your matter.

Related Services