Solicitors for independent legal advice

Thu 28 December 2023

Independent legal advice

There are many legal matters and situations where it is either a requirement or advisable to obtain independent legal advice. As 1 of the UK’s largest and fastest growing law firms, with over 800 lawyers in locations throughout England & wakes, if you need a solicitor for independent legal advice, we can help. Our fees are competitive and our solicitors are specialists, experienced and available at short notice.

Common situations where you may be required to demonstrate that you have received independent legal advice include :-

where you are entering into a director personal guarantee.
where you are offering additional security on a loan to a Borrower.
where you are non-owning Occupier being asked to Consent to a Mortgage.
legal advice for employees with a Settlement agreement.
if you providing funds as a gift to a family member when purchasing a property, a mortgage lender may well insist that an independent lawyer confirms the funds are gifted and that you agree to waive any strict legal rights against the property.

Where independent legal advice may not be required but is advisable

There are some situations where a lawyer may be instructed just to draft a document or agreement or where he or she can, on the face of it, represent both parties to an agreement. Even if this is the case, where the document is extremely important, it is generally worth getting separate independent legal advice. Examples of these types of legal matters and documents include :-

Shareholder agreements – whether when founders initially enter into an agreement or where other investors join.
Prenuptial agreements.
Standard contract terms – if you are presented with an agreement and told that it is in standard form. This can apply, for example, with property leases and many other legal documents and contracts.
Sub-contracts and Assignment of contracts – especially commercial leases.
Any contract entered into with family members.
Share options – if you are an employee offered share options and presented with the share scheme documents. There are many potential pitfalls.