Create a clear path for your business and make commercial collaboration between members easier and more efficient with a well drafted limited liability partnership agreement. Whether you’re converting a partnership or starting anew, we’ll help you document the terms that will govern your limited liability partnership (LLP) – it’s one of the smartest ways to create certainty as to your partnership rights and to offer protection against risks to your business.
Our team can assist you across all areas of corporate law, including:
Our team of corporate solicitors can support you with:
Advice on the benefits of a limited liability partnership agreement and how this differs from a general partnership agreement or a limited partnership agreement.
If there is no LLP agreement in place, or if the agreement is not comprehensively drafted, default statutory provisions will apply, and these may not be suitable for your business.
Defining parameters of a LLP agreement
We’ll assess what rights or assets need protecting and clarify how payments and profits are allocated.
We’ll also help set out members’ responsibilities and explicitly state what happens if things go wrong, the LLP goes insolvent, or you want to leave the LLP.
Drafting the limited liability partnership agreement
We’ll draft the LLP agreement in a way that gives your business enough flexibility to support its growth and development.
Payments and profit structures
We’ll help organise allocation of profits and obligations of continued payment or rescue funding.
Asset purchases
We’ll advise on asset purchases to be held by the LLP and equally, asset disposals.
Decision-making
Including how day to day decisions and long-term strategies will be made and by whom.
We’ll provide you with the tools necessary to resolve disputes, should they arise, promoting a swift resolution.
We’ll advise on any intellectual property to be transferred into the LLP along with setting out clear provisions for ownership of IP by the LLP and its members.
Negotiations with the other parties to the limited liability partnership agreement.
Registration at Companies House.
Getting the right legal support when drafting a limited liability partnership agreement can help you avoid common pitfalls and get the business essentials right, first time.
Working with you to understand your business needs, we will help you answer the following questions when drafting a limited liability partnership agreement to facilitate long-term commercial benefit:
Clearly document how assets owned by the limited liability partnership are to be treated and disposed of, so that each LLP member knows their rights.
By creating a thorough and well documented decision-making structure, there will be no confusion as to the decision-making process. This will demonstrate good corporate governance to customers and suppliers and help you avoid accidental or unwanted liabilities for the business.
Producing clear guidelines on risk allocation or to what extent members agree to be liable will help you avoid costly and time intensive dispute resolution processes.
When being a member of the limited liability partnership is no longer commercially viable, having an exit strategy is of key importance. Being able to rely on well-documented provisions that clearly set out what happens when a member wants to leave the LLP can give you peace of mind that you are not making an overly onerous commitment.
An LLP is a separate legal entity from its members, but it is treated as a traditional partnership for the purposes of tax. LLP members are taxed as partners and so they are individually liable for tax on their share of the income or profits of the LLP. It is well worth documenting who is in charge of compliance with the LLP’s tax obligations to avoid penalties for late payments.
We support a wide range of UK-based limited liability partnerships in commercial businesses where the creation and protection of a robust and profitable business model is crucial. We advise clients of all types, from start-ups to established market players.
The support, advice and guidance from Harper James was absolutely vital. Shubhu, Callum and the team there were always on hand to deal with any issues that we needed help with as the deal progressed. This is an exciting new stage in the development of the business.
Sam G Bose CEO and Founder , IntelliSense.io
As a University spin-out getting the right team of lawyers to support our emerging business was fundamental and the team are always available to provide us with the invaluable guidance and support we require.
David Hodgson CEO , Amalyst
My colleagues and I have found them to be adept at dealing with the variety of challenges facing early stage companies. They are a trusted source for sound, sensible advice and practical deal management.
Jill Shaw CEO , Anvil Semiconductors
Over the years Harper James have helped us navigate complex legal issues and red tape, providing distilled options and legal consultancy that far exceeds the service levels we’ve previously experienced from more traditional law firms. The team act like our own in-house counsel so, regardless of which lawyer we work with, we feel supported and that they truly have our best interests at heart.
Michael Edwards Co-Founder , Inspire Group
The support, advice and guidance from Harper James was absolutely vital. Shubhu, Callum and the team there were always on hand to deal with any issues that we needed help with as the deal progressed. This is an exciting new stage in the development of the business.
Sam G Bose CEO and Founder , IntelliSense.io
As a University spin-out getting the right team of lawyers to support our emerging business was fundamental and the team are always available to provide us with the invaluable guidance and support we require.
David Hodgson CEO , Amalyst
My colleagues and I have found them to be adept at dealing with the variety of challenges facing early stage companies. They are a trusted source for sound, sensible advice and practical deal management.
Jill Shaw CEO , Anvil Semiconductors
Over the years Harper James have helped us navigate complex legal issues and red tape, providing distilled options and legal consultancy that far exceeds the service levels we’ve previously experienced from more traditional law firms. The team act like our own in-house counsel so, regardless of which lawyer we work with, we feel supported and that they truly have our best interests at heart.
Michael Edwards Co-Founder , Inspire GroupOur corporate solicitors have a wealth of experience in drafting limited liability partnership agreements and in advising LLPs in general. We can assist you with strategic analysis of your LLP, provide you with well-drafted documentation and support you with negotiations of your governing documents – from the commercial terms of your business to the more common legal protections that you might need.
Beyond providing you with corporate advice, we take a holistic approach to supporting you across all areas of business law. Our extensive experience helping businesses across the UK develop means we understand commercial challenges beyond just their legal implications – enabling us to provide practical advice and guidance to help you achieve your business goals, now and in the future.
Find out more about the team here:
Adam is Chief Legal Officer & Head of Corporate, responsible for the legal services aspects of Harper James.
Brigitta is an experienced corporate solicitor. She specialises in company/business acquisitions and sales, equity fundraising, share reorganisations, management buy-outs, corporate governance and EMI share schemes.
Stephen is an experienced corporate lawyer, with a career including time at DLA Piper and Pinsent Masons. He specialises in mergers and acquisitions and private equity work.
Nikki is a corporate partner and joined Harper James in November 2022. She is a specialist M&A lawyer and has a wide range and depth of experience working with her clients on a variety of corporate transactions.
Shubhu specialises in early-stage fund raisings, shareholder arrangements and M&A. Prior to joining Harper James she worked at Mills & Reeve and before that at Addleshaw Goddard and Slaughter and May.
Callum is a senior corporate solicitor at Harper James, specialising in mergers and acquisitions and investments, as well as other corporate/commercial matters.
