Gurve Legal is a corporate law firm based in London, acting for small and medium-sized businesses and owner-managed companies across the UK. We work on both sides of the transactions and disputes that shape a growing business, buyers and sellers, employers and employees, landlords and tenants, and we cover the full range of corporate and commercial work under one roof rather than referring clients out to other firms as a matter progresses.
If you are searching for a corporate law firm, the results you will find are dominated by two extremes: large City firms built for listed companies and private equity houses, and generic directory listings that tell you very little about how a firm actually works. Neither is much use if you run an SME or a professional practice and need a firm that understands your budget, your timescale and the fact that you probably do not have an in-house legal team to translate advice into action. This guide sets out what a corporate law firm does, what genuinely separates a good one from a mediocre one, and how we work with the businesses that instruct us.
What a Corporate Law Firm Actually Does
A corporate law firm advises businesses on the legal structure and transactions that sit behind day-to-day trading: how the company is owned, how it raises money, how it buys or sells assets and shares, and how it manages the contractual relationships that keep it running. In practice, for an SME or owner-managed business, that usually means:
- Buying or selling a business, including due diligence, negotiation and drafting of share purchase agreements and asset purchase agreements, with larger and more complex deals handled by our mergers and acquisitions solicitors
- Shareholders’ agreements, joint venture agreements and partnership agreements that set out how owners work together and what happens if they fall out or one wants to leave
- Commercial contracts, terms and conditions, and the day-to-day agreements a business relies on with suppliers and customers
- Employment law, on both the employer and employee side, from contracts and policies to disputes and settlement agreements
- Commercial property, including buying, selling and letting offices, shops, restaurants and clinical premises, and resolving disputes when they arise
A firm that only does one or two of these well will send you elsewhere the moment your matter touches on something outside its core practice. That is one of the most common frustrations business owners raise with us when they switch firms: having to re-explain their business to a different set of lawyers halfway through a transaction because the original firm did not cover the piece that came up.
Corporate Law Firm, High Street Solicitor, or City Firm: Where SMEs Actually Fit
Search “corporate law firm” and the firms ranking at the top are, almost without exception, the largest names in the market: household City firms built around FTSE clients, private equity houses and multinational deals. That is not a criticism of those firms, it simply means their pricing, staffing model and turnaround times are built for a different kind of client. A £50 million acquisition and a £2 million share sale between two family shareholders are both “corporate law”, but they need very different service models.
The table below sets out where each type of firm tends to fit.
| Firm type | Typical client | What to watch for |
|---|---|---|
| High street general practice | Individuals, very small local businesses | Limited corporate/commercial depth for anything beyond the routine |
| Large City or national firm | Listed companies, private equity, large corporates | Junior fee earners doing the day-to-day work, partner access reserved for larger matters, fees that can outpace deal size |
| SME-focused commercial firm (Gurve Legal) | SMEs, owner-managed businesses, professional practices | Look for genuine sector experience with businesses your size, not just a smaller version of a City firm’s service |
The gap in the middle, a firm that has real corporate and commercial depth but is genuinely built around SME budgets and timescales, is where we operate. We are not trying to compete with the City firms on FTSE-scale mandates, and we are not a generalist local solicitor doing corporate work as a sideline. We do this work every week for businesses your size.
What to Look For in a Corporate Law Firm
These are the factors that make the most practical difference to how a matter actually runs.
1. Genuine experience with businesses your size
A firm that mainly acts for large corporates will structure its advice, and its fees, around that kind of client. Ask what proportion of the firm’s work involves businesses of a similar size and structure to yours, and ask for examples of the type of matter, not named clients, since confidentiality means a reputable firm will not name its clients even informally.
2. A firm that acts for both sides of a relationship
A firm that only ever acts for buyers, or only ever acts for employers, tends to draft and negotiate from a single perspective. A firm that regularly acts for buyers and sellers, landlords and tenants, and employers and employees brings a more rounded understanding of how the other side will think and where the real points of negotiation lie. We act for buyers and sellers in business sales, for landlords and tenants in commercial property matters, and for both employers and employees in employment disputes, which shapes how we negotiate and draft on your behalf.
3. Clear pricing before work starts
Solicitors are required to be transparent about pricing for certain categories of work, but the quality of that transparency varies enormously in practice. A good corporate law firm gives you a clear, matter-specific estimate before you commit, and flags promptly if scope changes, rather than leaving you to find out at the next invoice.
4. Full coverage under one roof
Most transactions touch more than one area of law. A business sale usually raises property, employment and IP questions alongside the core corporate work. A firm that covers all of these areas internally can manage the whole matter as one coordinated process, rather than you having to instruct, brief and pay two or three separate firms and manage the handoffs between them yourself.
5. Responsiveness and direct access to the person doing the work
Legal matters are often time-sensitive, particularly where a transaction has a deadline or a dispute has a limitation period. Ask how the firm handles day-to-day communication and whether you will deal directly with the solicitor running your matter, rather than through layers of trainees and case handlers.
Services a Corporate Law Firm Should Cover
Between us, the practical areas a corporate law firm should be able to handle without referring you elsewhere include:
- Buying a business and selling a business, including share purchase agreements, asset purchase agreements and due diligence, and the choice between a share sale and an asset sale
- Shareholders’ agreements, joint venture agreements and partnership agreements
- Commercial contracts and terms and conditions for suppliers, customers and website users
- Employment law, for both employers managing a workforce and employees facing a dispute or exit
- Commercial property, including buying, selling and letting offices, shops, restaurants and clinical premises, and the disputes that follow
We act for both sides across each of these areas, which is a genuine point of difference rather than a marketing line: it means our advice on a share purchase agreement, for example, is shaped by having sat on the seller’s side of that same negotiation as often as the buyer’s.
How We Work With SME and Owner-Managed Businesses
We are based in London and advise businesses across the UK. Most of the businesses we act for are SMEs and owner-managed companies, including professional practices such as dental, veterinary and GP practices, where the transaction or dispute in question is often the most significant financial event in the owner’s career. That context matters. A £3 million business sale is not a routine matter to the seller simply because it is smaller than a City firm’s typical mandate, and we structure our approach around that reality: direct access to the solicitor handling your matter and coverage of the corporate, property and employment issues that usually surface together in a single transaction, without needing to bring in a second or third firm.
Questions to Ask Before You Instruct a Corporate Law Firm
- How much of your work involves businesses of a similar size and structure to mine?
- Will I deal directly with the solicitor running my matter, or primarily with a trainee or case handler?
- Can you give me a written cost estimate for this matter before I instruct you, and will you tell me if the scope changes?
- Do you act for both sides in this type of matter, and how does that shape your advice?
- If this matter raises property, employment or IP issues alongside the core work, can your firm handle those in-house?
A firm that answers these clearly, without hedging, is usually a reasonable indicator of how it will handle the matter itself.
Talk to Us About Your Business
If you are choosing a corporate law firm for a transaction, a dispute or ongoing advice, we would be glad to talk through what you need and whether we are the right fit. Get in touch with our corporate team, call us on 020 7566 1188, or email info@gurvelegal.com.
