Restrictive Covenants Solicitors in Birmingham and Northampton

As Featured In

Since 1986, we have been helping our clients implement restrictive covenants in commercial contracts to protect their businesses. Whether you need advice on the types of covenants you can use, support drafting them into your contracts or representation to enforce them and claim damages, our team is here to help.

If you are entering a new commercial contract with a supplier, distributor or business partner, you need to protect your interests throughout the contract’s duration and once you part ways. After all, the other party will learn crucial information about your business, operations and employees. To defend your profits, our experts draft restrictive covenants that prevent other parties from soliciting and poaching your clients, revealing key critical insights, and competing with you.

---

What is a Restrictive Covenant?

Restrictive covenants are facets of commercial contracts that limit one party’s actions to protect another’s interests. Typically, it is a franchise agreement, preventing a party from working with competitors and will apply for the duration of the arrangement and a period afterwards. With our expertise, your contracts can include bullet-proof restrictive covenants, offering you a stress-free agreement.

---

When are Restrictive Covenants Appropriate?

In commercial contracts, your business is open to many risks. To mitigate these hazards and protect your business from damages, we may include restrictive covenants in:

• Company sale agreements
• Joint venture agreements
• Limited partnership agreements
• Agency agreements
• Sale and distribution agreements
• Franchise agreements
• Supply and purchase agreements

---

The Types of Restrictive Covenants

As with many clauses in commercial contracts, there are various restrictive covenants that you can employ to protect your business. Our experts will explain the various aspects and ramifications of each one and advise on the best options for your agreement. We regularly draft:

Non-Compete Restrictive Covenants

To protect your business’s niche, a non-compete covenant prevents a party from launching operations that compete with you. This covenant includes working with your competitor and will specify a period and geographical area in which it applies.

Non-Disclosure Restrictive Covenants

Non-disclosure covenants maintain confidentiality within a commercial agreement. Once signed, the other party may not reveal or steal sensitive information from your company.

Non-Dealing Restrictive Covenants

This restrictive covenant will prevent one party from dealing with the suppliers or customers of another. It even covers situations where suppliers or customers approach that party.

Non-Poaching Restrictive Covenants

If you want to keep your customers and employees, we can draft a non-poaching restrictive covenant. It will prevent the other party in your commercial agreement from enticing your customers away or employing your team members for a specified period.

Non-Solicitation Restrictive Covenants

Similarly to a non-poaching restrictive covenant, a non-solicitation covenant restricts a party’s ability to solicit customers and employees.

---

Responding to Breaches of Restrictive Covenants

If another party breaches a restrictive covenant, our team are here to help. We are litigation experts and have supported dozens of clients through claims process and court cases. We can help you:

Serve a Letter Before Action

We always aim to resolve disputes as quickly and, more importantly, affordably as possible. To achieve this goal, we respond to a breach or even a threatened breach, by delivering a letter before action defining the breach, contractual obligations, and incurred losses. It will also threaten further legal proceedings if the party fails to rectify the breach.

Obtain an Injunction

If the breach risks significant damage to your business if a resolution is delayed, we can help you obtain a court injunction to prevent the breach from occurring in the first place or continuing. We will complete all the necessary application documents and represent you in the hearing so that the court grants the injunction and stems additional harm.

Obtain and Enforce a Court Undertaking

An undertaking is a legal promise made to the court. The party in breach will make the undertaking to cease the breaching actions until the case is settled. If they break the undertaking, we can represent you and ensure the court enforces it.

Claim Damages

We implement restrictive covenants to protect your business, meaning that if they are breached, you will unfortunately incur damages. Don’t worry; we can lead your case and claim back those damages, ensuring that the breach does not cost you a penny.

---

Why Choose Us?

When you need to enter commercial contracts, you can rely on our experience to draft, implement and enforce effective restrictive covenants that protect your business. With our background and expertise in litigation, we can represent you in damages claims following covenant breaches so that your business never loses revenue. What’s more, we are trusted by a range of businesses in the Midlands and can assist with almost any situation. We offer:

• 50+ years in practice
• Commercially-focused approach
• Clear advice without legal jargon
• Legal 500 Law Firm
• Commercial lawyers and litigation experts in London, Birmingham and Northampton