WHAT’S coming in the legal world for 2017? Brexit guessing aside: employment law will be busy, with the apprenticeship levy, gender pay gap reporting for large firms and increased childcare provision for parents. In company law perhaps we will see the ban (written into statute in 2015 but still not yet in force) on corporations being directors? Business rates stand to be revised in April, but will they produce the 50 per cent promised savings? And dispute resolution? Will court fees continue to rise? Will the courts remain under resourced?
2017 looks like being a year of questions, which can carry you into uncertainty if you do not take care. Do keep your finger on the pulse of relevant changes, and prepare if you can but I suggest the real questions to tackle this year are: what will you do differently? What have you put off? Why?
The prospect of Brexit has caused much soul searching. In 2015 I published suggestions saying that it would be sensible to make sure that terms and conditions had a couple tweaks. For example, choose the right currency to trade in, and do you pick the applicable law and jurisdiction as that of England and Wales? 2017 should be about rolling our sleeves up, getting to grips with the basics, and then building.
Some free tips – get paid by cheque? Do you keep a copy? Being able to show a debtor’s bank details can be very useful to apply to court to get paid direct from their account. What about guarantees? Are you sure they work? Have you checked? Recruiting a senior employee – do a proper background check. Checking for social media activity that may not align with your business can save time and cost down the line.
Commercial landlords – are your leases up to date with the right to forfeit if you are not paid? Are trading terms up to date (do you have any?) do you send them out? Are they online? Mentioned on email footers? How do they apply? Food for thought, I hope.
Kevin Rogers is a Partner in, and the Chairman of the Board, of Wilson Browne Solicitors, where all of the commercial teams are happy to have an initial no obligation chat to discuss what sort of business health check would be appropriate for you, from reviewing standard terms and conditions to an entire overhaul of employment, property and trading documents. Kevin can be contacted on 01536 410014, or email
