General Advice Retainer

This service is aimed at construction companies, consultancy firms and client organisations who have a need for semi-recurring legal work, but not to the extent that justifies hiring a full time in-house solicitor.

The aim of this service is to give construction companies access to an “on-demand” legal resource to provide advice when they need it most.  Prevention is better than cure.  If we get involved early, we often prevent potential issues turning into costly legal problems.  The premise of this service is that five minutes of advice at the right time, is more valuable than five hours of advice at the wrong time.

Client Case Study

This service is best described by way of a case study.

Client: £50m turnover M&E subcontractor with offices throughout the UK and Ireland

What we do for them pre-contract:

• Carry out pre-contract risk reviews of each subcontract order they receive to identify contractual risks and potential opportunities
• Negotiate subcontract terms with main contractor
• Review collateral warranties, parent company guarantees, bonds, indemnities etc. before they are signed and returned to main contractor
• Draft supplementary agreements to suit the requirements of each project such as confidentially agreements, exclusivity agreements, vesting certificates, deeds of variation etc.
• Review and draft letters of intent
• Draft subcontract agreements to transfer risk down to their supply chain on a “back to back” basis

What we do for them during the contract:

• Provide start up training to commercial and operational staff on how to administer their subcontract in a way that best protects their entitlements
• Hold monthly workshops with commercial team to discuss live issues in an open and collaborative manner to ensure that notifications and time/money claims are being issued
• Provide legal opinions on live issues such as works being delayed/disrupted on site, defects, programming, late payment etc.
• Draft letters and correspondence to main contractor and/or subcontractors to ensure that written record puts their best case forward

What we do for them post contract:

• Provide advice on the collection of evidence and records for use during formal dispute resolution processes
• Representation in dispute resolution processes including negotiation, mediation and adjudication.
• Draft and negotiate settlement agreements
• Recover unpaid debts and invoices

Why use Fortfield & Brown?

We work with a wide range of clients – from small consultancy practices and subcontractors, to large multi-national contractors and public sector organisations.  This means that we have experience in all of the common issues that arise on construction projects.  It also means that we understand the issues from a range of different perspectives (employer, contractor, subcontractor etc) – enabling us to provide commercially sensible advice at an efficient cost.