Do you need a lawyer?
- mis-tryb
- Nov 8, 2023
- 3 min read
Bhavisha Mistry
I’ve worked as a GC for a number of businesses in different sectors including fashion, pharmaceuticals and beauty.
In all of them I deal with the same sort of work. Every business has the same basic requirements that need legal assistance.
The types of things that a GC will typically do:
Reviewing all of the contracts for the business, including the T&Cs. Why? Because they will check that all the terms reflect what the business thinks they’re buying. For example ensuring there are no additional charges, that the business is not locked in for longer than expected and that it is not exposed to risks that might have financial or repetitional consequences.
Drafting template contracts. This helps to speed up deals, particularly sales processes. As a lawyer, you know where you can flex in contracts so you can create something really bespoke to the business and focus on the key things that are relevant.
Advising on brand protection. It could be helping to register the name or logo for the first time so that no one else can use it or helping to find a suitable product name that one else has. There is also monitoring the brand’s portfolio to ensure no one else is using anything without licence.
Compliance. Every business will be required to comply with general legal requirements such as those for companies under the Companies Act 2010, data protection under the UK GDPR, anti-bribery laws under the Bribery Act 2010 and modern slavery under the Modern Slavery Act 2015. A key role for a GC is ensuring that the business understands its obligations and complies with them so part of this includes training, getting sign offs and commitments from the board and then drafting appropriate documentation and procedures. As ESG becomes a strong focus, the compliance requirements continue to grow making it even more important that there is someone appropriately qualified to keep on top of them and ensure the business is complying.
This forms the majority of the day to day work and helps ensure that the business is getting the value they intend and to avoid unexpected and unnecessary costs and damage to the business.
Additionally, they will work on project specific matters, for example:
International exapansion, advising on the best options from franchising and distribution to joint ventures
Store rollout - growing the portfolio of retail stores across a territory
ESG and sustainability - establishing and implementing a plan to make the business more sustainable and responsible.
Essentially, a GC is your eyes and ears, making sure that the business deals are legally watertight, it avoids unwanted risk and damage and thats its plans and operations are fit for purpose and will align with the strategic objectives of the business.
A qualified lawyer will be experienced in these areas and it will take less time and you will get more accuracy if you use a lawyer than if you assign these tasks to an individual team that isn’t qualified. You’ll also be running the risk that the efforts you are putting into get that individual to do the necessary checks are wasted, as much of their work will be guesses and may not achieve the objective or purpose you’re trying to achieve.
So it is certainly worth getting a lawyer to understand your business and help with these types of things. It will save you money, time and from headaches later on and allow you to focus on the commercial matters of which you are the experts.