Legal Corner YES WE CAN?
by Owen Hill, Consultant Solicitor of Hooper & Wollen Solicitors
Most dinner party stories about solicitors have a common negative theme.
Solicitors are perceived to be advisors that you can rely on to create problems that you did not know about and make a mountain out of what you thought were issues of only mole hill significance. There was a time when I thought that the nature of the work might just make solicitors turn out this way. Typically - pessimistic, glum and dull.
Legal advice does not need to sound like a warning of caution against inevitable gloom and doom. Nor does it have to be delivered with a string of examples of the most unlikely and extreme nightmare situations that might possibly arise if everything goes completely pear shaped. There are even (rare) occasions when the nature of advice given is such that clients realise that their position or predicament is not so bad after all.
A few weeks ago – I was asked to look at a commercial agreement and advise the Directors of the business on options to deal with a particular problem. The Directors were all experienced business people and were probably expecting my answer to be that they were unable to do what they wanted because
clauses in the commercial agreement said that they could not.
When I advised that they could do what they wanted and accept the consequences of failing to comply with the terms of the commercial agreement – the silence was deafening.
It is a common misconception. Contracts are often written in terms that make it sound like you are unable to do this or that - but you can normally do it anyway because individuals and companies generally have the power to act irrespective of promises made to the contrary in a Contract. It will be “illegal” in the sense that the conduct does not comply with the terms of the Contract – but that does not mean that the action is void.
There is a saying about the law being there so that it can be broken. If we break the speed limit then we pay the fine. If we break a contract then we pay the damages. Businesses break contracts all the time and manage the consequences to their commercial advantage. Depending on the circumstances, it might prove to be a price worth paying.
The South Devon Law Firm
Property • Disputes • Family & Childcare Wills & Probate • Tax • Powers of Attorney Company & Commercial • Hospitality Industry
The deafening silence was finally broken when one of the Directors realised the significance of the advice given and borrowed the rally cry of the current President of the USA and exclaimed with some disbelief – “Yes We Can?”
The experience, dedication and values to support you, your family and your business
Torquay 01803 213251 Paignton 01803 521692 Dartmouth 01803 832191
www.hooperwollen.co.uk
This firm is regulated by the Solicitors Regulatory Authority (No 49922)
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