Strictly Law Everyday UK law, clearly explained.

Strictly Law

Everyday UK law, clearly explained.

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A Settlement Offer With Consequences: The Part 36 Decision for Small Businesses
Disputes

A Settlement Offer With Consequences: The Part 36 Decision for Small Businesses

Part 36 offers are not ordinary settlement proposals. They are procedural instruments that can alter the costs of litigation, and a small business that declines one without understanding the arithmetic may pay for that decision long after the dispute is over. This article explains how a valid Part 36 offer works in 2026 and how to assess the risk of refusing one.
Signed, Sealed, Renewed: How Rollover Clauses Outlast the Business That Forgot Them
Business Contracts

Signed, Sealed, Renewed: How Rollover Clauses Outlast the Business That Forgot Them

Automatic renewal terms rarely announce themselves. By the time a small business notices, the notice window has usually closed and a further term has begun. This guide explains how rollover clauses operate in UK commercial contracts, where the law will and will not intervene, and how to draft and diarise an exit that actually works.
Where the Transfer Lands: How UK Law Allocates a Payment Across Several Debts
Business Contracts

Where the Transfer Lands: How UK Law Allocates a Payment Across Several Debts

A customer owes several invoices and sends a bank transfer without saying which debt it settles. The money has arrived, but the ledger still shows a balance. This guide explains the UK law of appropriation of payments, how debtors and creditors can allocate a transfer, and what small businesses should do before the dispute reaches a solicitor.
Between Candour and Caution: A Small-Business Guide to Employment References in 2026
Employment Law

Between Candour and Caution: A Small-Business Guide to Employment References in 2026

A former employer’s reference can open a career or quietly close one. This guide explains qualified privilege, accuracy, negligent misstatement and the practical steps a UK small business should take in 2026 to give references that are fair, defensible and properly recorded.
The Meeting That Cannot Be Proven: Entire Agreement Clauses and the Assurances Left Outside the Contract
Business Contracts

The Meeting That Cannot Be Proven: Entire Agreement Clauses and the Assurances Left Outside the Contract

A signed contract may claim to contain the whole agreement, but small businesses often sign in reliance on assurances made in meetings, emails or side conversations. This explainer examines how entire agreement and non-reliance clauses can erase those promises, where misrepresentation and estoppel may still leave room to argue, and what to do before signing in 2026.
Status Beyond the Label: Why a Consultant Agreement Cannot Determine Employment Rights
Employment Law

Status Beyond the Label: Why a Consultant Agreement Cannot Determine Employment Rights

A written agreement describing an individual as self-employed is evidence of intent, not a conclusive answer to employment status. UK tribunals and HMRC examine what actually happens in the engagement, which leaves small businesses exposed when the paperwork and the working reality diverge.
A Minority Stake Is Not a Savings Account: Exit, Valuation and the Section 994 Safety Valve
Business Contracts

A Minority Stake Is Not a Savings Account: Exit, Valuation and the Section 994 Safety Valve

A minority shareholding in a private company can feel like an investment with no exit. This guide explains why there is no automatic right to be bought out, how the valuation date and minority discount shape the payout, and when an unfair prejudice petition under section 994 alters the arithmetic.
The Clock Beneath the Policy: Why Notice Begins Before the Loss Is Quantified
Business Contracts

The Clock Beneath the Policy: Why Notice Begins Before the Loss Is Quantified

Insurance notification clauses are often treated as administrative afterthoughts, yet they can determine whether an otherwise valid claim is paid. This guide explains occurrence and claims-made policies, the broker trap, and a practical 2026 notification checklist for UK businesses and individuals.
The Last Mile of Termination: Why Delivery, Not Decision, Decides Contractual Endings
Business Contracts

The Last Mile of Termination: Why Delivery, Not Decision, Decides Contractual Endings

A board can resolve to terminate a contract and still fail to end it. This guide examines service clauses, deemed receipt, email and portal notices, and the evidential trail that makes a termination letter effective in UK commercial practice.
Held, Not Merely Received: The Legal Capacity That Governs a Commercial Deposit
Business Contracts

Held, Not Merely Received: The Legal Capacity That Governs a Commercial Deposit

A deposit clause that names a stakeholder creates a different legal relationship from one that appoints an agent. That difference shapes who may release the money, what happens if the deal collapses, and where the loss falls if the holder becomes insolvent. This explainer sets out the drafting, VAT and interest points UK businesses should settle before funds change hands.
One Star, Many Meanings: When a Negative Review Becomes a Defamation Risk
Disputes

One Star, Many Meanings: When a Negative Review Becomes a Defamation Risk

Online reviews are a fact of commercial life, but harsh criticism is not automatically defamatory. This guide explains the serious harm threshold, the defences of honest opinion and public interest, and the evidence a small business should gather before complaining or instructing solicitors.
The Exit Clause That Doesn’t Exit: Commercial Lease Break Options and the Cost of Approximation
Business Contracts

The Exit Clause That Doesn’t Exit: Commercial Lease Break Options and the Cost of Approximation

A break option can look like a clean exit from a commercial lease, but the law treats it as a condition to be satisfied precisely. This guide explains the common technical failures, the conditions that attach to break rights and a practical checklist for serving notice before the deadline passes.
Beyond the Sales Pitch: Where Enthusiastic Proposals Become Misrepresentation
Business Contracts

Beyond the Sales Pitch: Where Enthusiastic Proposals Become Misrepresentation

Sales proposals often blend fact, forecast and aspiration. For UK SMEs, the distinction matters: an overconfident claim can become an actionable misrepresentation. This guide explains the legal line and sets out practical safeguards for 2026.
The Executor Without a Key: Planning for Digital Assets in a UK Estate
Family Law

The Executor Without a Key: Planning for Digital Assets in a UK Estate

A will can transfer ownership of property, but it does not automatically unlock email accounts, cloud storage, social media profiles or crypto wallets. This practical guide explains the probate gap around digital assets and what individuals and small business owners can do in 2026 to give executors a workable route through it.
Commissioned but Not Conveyed: The Copyright Gap in Freelance Design Work
Business Contracts

Commissioned but Not Conveyed: The Copyright Gap in Freelance Design Work

Paying a designer's invoice buys you the files, not necessarily the rights in them. This guide explains how copyright in a logo, website or brand identity can remain with the freelancer, why an unwritten licence is a poor substitute for an assignment, and what a small business should put in writing before the brief is issued.
The Business Card Is Not a Warrant: When an Employee’s Assent Binds the Company
Business Contracts

The Business Card Is Not a Warrant: When an Employee’s Assent Binds the Company

A sales manager signs a supply agreement; an administrator confirms a variation by email; a branch employee accepts a quotation. None has board approval, yet the company may still be bound. This explainer sets out how apparent authority works in UK contract law and how SMEs can check authority before a casual yes becomes enforceable.
The Chat That Became a Contract: Why Casual Messages Deserve Formal Attention
Business Contracts

The Chat That Became a Contract: Why Casual Messages Deserve Formal Attention

Texts, emails and WhatsApp exchanges can satisfy the legal tests for a binding agreement, even where neither side intended a formal document. This explainer sets out when informal messages cross the line, the evidence that matters in a UK dispute, and practical habits for keeping routine chat from creating unintended obligations.
Negotiation Without a Net: How ‘Subject to Contract’ Can Fail the Business That Relies On It
Business Contracts

Negotiation Without a Net: How ‘Subject to Contract’ Can Fail the Business That Relies On It

The words ‘subject to contract’ are often treated as a guaranteed shield against premature liability. In practice, they are only as strong as the conduct that surrounds them. This guide explains where the phrase protects a small business, where it can be outflanked, and how to keep negotiations from turning into an accidental contract.
The Six-Year Shadow: How Limitation Periods Quietly Decide the Fate of Contract Debts
Disputes

The Six-Year Shadow: How Limitation Periods Quietly Decide the Fate of Contract Debts

A debt can be beyond argument on the merits and still be unenforceable because too much time has passed. This explainer sets out how limitation periods work for everyday UK contract debts, why a single friendly email or a token payment can start the clock again, and what both sides should record before putting anything in writing.
Still Yours Until Paid For: Making Retention of Title Work in Practice
Business Contracts

Still Yours Until Paid For: Making Retention of Title Work in Practice

A retention of title clause is often the only thing standing between an unpaid supplier and a queue of unsecured creditors. But the clause that reads well in your terms and conditions is not always the clause that survives an administrator's scrutiny. Here is how the mechanism works, where it fails, and what to fix before you need it.