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Everything, in one place

Blogs answer one question. Guides walk a whole subject start to finish. The glossary explains a term you have hit, and the questions are the ones we are actually asked. Search the lot, or filter by what you are after.

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Guide 21 July 2026

Shareholder disputes: a guide for company owners

Why they start, what your percentage actually gives you, the remedies English law provides - and the honest arithmetic on where these things really end, which is almost never a courtroom.

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Guide 17 July 2026

How to sell a business: the seller's guide

What you are actually selling, getting your house in order before anyone looks, and the gap between the price you agree and the money that arrives. Written by the people who run the diligence for buyers.

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Guide 16 July 2026

Contract disputes: what to do when a contract goes wrong

Whether there has been a breach, how serious it is, what you can do about it and what you would actually recover - with the decision tree on one page, and the honest arithmetic on whether the fight is worth having.

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Guide 16 July 2026

Legal due diligence when buying a company

What due diligence is, what it finds, and what to do with what it finds - written for the buyer. The five stages, an honest account of the failure modes, and how a data room gets reviewed in a day.

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Guide 15 July 2026

How to draft, negotiate and sign a commercial contract

The whole arc of a commercial contract - drafting, reviewing, negotiating and signing - in plain English. What each stage is for, what actually goes wrong, and where the real work sits.

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Blog 16 July 2026

Varying and terminating a contract: changing it or ending it

Changing a contract and ending one are different jobs with different rules. Why variation needs consideration, why no-oral-modification clauses bite, and how the wrong termination route backfires.

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Blog 16 July 2026

Repudiatory breach of contract: what it is and what to do

A repudiatory breach is serious enough to let you end the contract - but only if you are right. What counts, the choice it forces, and why calling it wrong makes you the one in breach.

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Blog 16 July 2026

Growth shares, explained

What you reach for when EMI is off the table. One idea does all the work: the new shareholder only gets a slice of what happens next.

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Blog 16 July 2026

Frustration of contract: when performance becomes impossible

Frustration ends a contract when an event nobody caused makes performance impossible or radically different. The bar is very high - and harder or more expensive is not the same thing.

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Blog 16 July 2026

Employee share schemes, explained

EMI, CSOP, SIP, SAYE and unapproved options. Why the tax treatment is the whole argument, why options beat shares, and why the leaver clause matters more than you think.

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Blog 16 July 2026

Employee Ownership Trusts, explained

A genuinely tax-free exit, written into the legislation on purpose. The part deserving scrutiny isn't the tax - it's who actually writes the cheque.

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Blog 16 July 2026

EMI vs CSOP

Framed as a choice, it's really a test. Nobody chooses CSOP - they arrive at it, having found the door to EMI closed. What actually separates them.

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Blog 15 July 2026

How a legal retainer works, and what the fee buys

A retainer turns legal support from a panic purchase into something you already have. What the fee actually buys, how it is structured, and when it is worth it.

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Blog 15 July 2026

Fractional general counsel: what it is, and when you need one

Senior in-house legal leadership, part-time and on a fixed fee. What a fractional GC does, what it costs, and when it beats both a hire and a law firm.

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Blog 15 July 2026

Can you write your own contract?

Yes - no solicitor required. But "legally valid" and "actually protects you" are different things. Where DIY contracts and templates quietly cost you, and the sensible middle ground.

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Blog 14 July 2026

What is a clause in a contract?

A clause is one numbered rule of the deal. The ones carrying the risk, what boilerplate really means, and why wording disputes are the expensive kind.

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Blog 14 July 2026

What does jurisdiction actually mean?

Everyone has heard the word; few would define it on the spot. What jurisdiction means, the types worth knowing, and why one clause decides where disputes happen.

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Blog 14 July 2026

International agreements: what changes when a contract crosses borders

Whose law, whose courts, and where a judgment can actually be enforced - the questions a cross-border contract must answer and a domestic one never asks.

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Blog 14 July 2026

Governing law vs jurisdiction: what's the difference?

One clause picks the rulebook, the other picks the referee. What each does, whether they can point at different countries, and what silence costs you.

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Blog 14 July 2026

Exclusive and non-exclusive jurisdiction clauses

One word in the back pages decides whether a dispute has one possible home or several. What each version does, and how to choose the right one.

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Blog 8 July 2026

What commercial law solicitors do, and when a business doesn't need one

Commercial law covers a lot of ground. Here is what the work involves, and when a fixed-fee consultancy is the better call for a growing business.

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Blog 8 July 2026

The outsourced legal department: how it actually works

Legal process outsourcing sounds like something only big corporates do. Here is what an outsourced legal function actually looks like for a growing business.

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Blog 8 July 2026

Legal advice for business owners: what you actually need, stage by stage

What legal support a business owner needs changes as the business grows. A stage-by-stage guide, including the honest truth about legal aid for businesses.

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Blog 8 July 2026

Consultant solicitor, legal consultant, legal adviser: who does what?

The titles blur together and none of them tells you the whole story. Here is what each actually means, and the questions that matter more than the label.

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Blog 8 July 2026

Before you hire an in-house lawyer, read this

An in-house legal counsel is a big fixed cost for one generalist. Here is the alternative most growing businesses actually need, and when to choose it.

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Blog 1 July 2026

Why every law firm is suddenly talking about "tech"

Legal technology, tech lawyers, AI in law - the terms are everywhere. Here is what actually changes for your legal work, and what is just noise.

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Blog 1 July 2026

Contract reviews: when to bring in outside help (and when you don't need to)

Not every contract needs a solicitor. Some absolutely do. Here is how to tell the difference, and what a proper contract review actually involves.

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Blog 1 July 2026

What actually happens when a commercial contract breaks down

A supplier stops delivering. A client stops paying. Here is what breach of contract actually means in practice, and the order in which to deal with it.

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Blog 1 July 2026

Solicitor or legal consultant? What UK business owners actually need

Business solicitor, business lawyer, legal consultant - the search terms all point at the same problem. Here is how to work out which kind of legal support actually fits.

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Blog 1 July 2026

The legal foundations under good financial advice for business owners

Good financial advice tends to assume the legal basics are already sorted. Often they're not. Here is what to have in place before you build on top of it.

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Blog 1 July 2026

Do you need an in-house lawyer, or something more flexible?

An in-house lawyer is a real commitment, salary, benefits, notice period, before they've answered a single question. Here is what to weigh up before you hire one.

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Blog 26 May 2026

What to expect from a Legal Discovery Day

The Legal Discovery Day is a structured advisory session designed to give you a clear picture of your legal position in a single day. Here is what happens, in what order, and what you leave with.

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Blog 26 May 2026

What is an EMI share option scheme?

HMRC's Enterprise Management Incentive scheme is one of the most tax-efficient ways to reward key employees in an SME. Here is what it is, who qualifies, and what the process actually looks like.

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Blog 26 May 2026

Five AI tools worth knowing for law firms in 2026

Not all AI tools are built the same, and most reviews are written by people who have not actually used them in a legal context. Here is an honest assessment of five tools worth evaluating this year.

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Blog 26 May 2026

Commercial contract basics every founder should know

Founders sign contracts all the time without reading them properly. This guide covers the five clauses to look for in any commercial agreement, and what to do if you find a problem.

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Blog 26 May 2026

Getting started with AI in your legal practice

Most law firms know they should be doing something with AI. Few know where to start. This is a practical guide to the first three steps, without the hype and without the risk of getting it wrong.

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Blog 26 May 2026

How to run an AI implementation that actually works

Most AI implementations fail not because the technology is wrong but because the brief was too vague and the scope was too large. Here is the framework we use with every client.

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Reference

Common questions

The questions we are actually asked, answered straight - about how Silva works, what things cost, and what a legal consultancy can and cannot do for you.

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Reference

Legal and business glossary

Every term we use, in plain English - from consideration and indemnity to unfair prejudice and wrongful trading. Searchable, and written for people who are not lawyers.

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