Need to know

• Business law effects small local businesses, who rely on legal advice to stay protected and compliant.

• From leases to staff contracts and supplier agreements, it’s all law in action.

• High street solicitors help clients spot problems early and keep their businesses running smoothly.

Welcome to TSL’s Weekly Edge, whether you’re aiming for a regional or high-street practice, or just want to get a feel for how law works in the real world beyond textbooks, you’re in the right place. 

No corporate jargon, no massive deals, just real useful information designed to give you that extra edge in your legal journey.

🧠Wilson’s Weekly Wisdom

Being a junior at work is both daunting and a blessing…

Daunting, because you’re the least experienced and it’s easy to panic that you’ll say something “stupid.” But here’s the thing, no one expects you to have all the answers. You’re there to learn, and ask questions. Sharing your thoughts has real value.

The blessing of being junior is that the pressure to be perfect isn’t on you. It’s the best time to experiment, to test your understanding, and yes, to make mistakes. I read a while ago that failing is all about perspective, some can take it as a negative but really you should look at it as a positive, FAIL can stand for First Attempt In Learning. 

What feels like a stumble now is really just a stepping stone forward.

If you want to know more about how you can take your first step into your legal journey, sign up to our free mentoring directory!

💡Spotlight Article

Walk down any high street and it’s small-business central; cafés, hairdressers, charity shops, beauty salons, and the odd fish and chip shop.

All of them are held together by locals popping in, owners working ridiculous hours, and, sometimes, an almost unbearable amount of legal goings-on hardly anyone dares to think about.

🔎What’s happening? 

As many may know, business law isn’t just boardrooms and billion-pound mergers.

Businesses may also need to manage many problems, including leases, employment contracts, supplier contracts, disputes, and debt recovery. It’s all the everyday rules that stop the whole high street from collapsing into chaos.

Anywhere there’s a shopfront, there’s a lease to argue over, staff to manage, and suppliers who may fall short at the worst possible moment, business law is silently hovering.

Think of your favourite cosy café.

It gets popular, suddenly needs more space, more staff, more everything. Sounds great, except now the owner’s neck-deep in legal word salad.

Legal headaches? There are a few, such as:

1. A new lease. And not the fun kind. This is pages and pages of “rent reviews,” “insurance,” and some line like “full repairing,” which loosely translates to: congratulations, you now own every problem in the building, including the mouldy, leaky roof. The landlord smiles sweetly while your bank account trembles along with you!

2. The owner hires a new barista using a free contract they downloaded at 2 a.m. Fast forward three weeks, and there’s a fairly heated conversation about hours, notice, and holiday pay. The owner’s drowning, the barista’s upset, and the whole thing feels like a telenovela but with less glamour and more stress for all involved.

3. The coffee supplier giving the run-around; late deliveries, no warning, no apology or compensation. Customers are grumpy, sales drop, and the contract might as well be written in ancient runes.

The owner asks: “What can I do to make this all okay?”

They needn’t fear, because this is exactly why business lawyers exist. They’re the calm, sensible friend who turns up, looks at the chaos, and goes, “Right. Let’s fix this.”

And:

• They’ll read the lease and spot the traps before you sign your life away. After all, things like “full repairing” sound harmless until you’re suddenly paying for a new roof you didn’t know was yours to fix!

• They’ll rewrite the staff contract so you don’t accidentally promise someone unlimited holidays. That’s how you avoid the kind of messy, expensive disputes that end up in an employment tribunal. 

• A good lawyer makes sure everyone knows where they stand by explaining rights and obligations in plain English, so you know where you stand from the start.

• They’ll also deal with the not-so-reliable supplier by helping to review the supplier contract, send a firm but fair letter before action, and figure out whether the supplier breaking terms means the café can claim damages, terminate the contract, or renegotiate better terms. 

It’s all about keeping the coffee and the working relationships flowing smoothly!

📌Case study

Here’s one for the books: W Clappison Ltd v Aldi UK [2024].

There’s this sprout farm in Yorkshire, W Clappison Ltd, who’d been supplying Aldi for years. Then, in February 2023, Aldi ended the deal!

W Clappison Ltd was, as expected, upset. Losing your biggest buyer is like your boss saying “lol bye” halfway through the month. They end up in court, and they claim Aldi didn’t give proper notice.

The Groceries Code Adjudicator even gets involved. Eventually, they settled it out of court, but the damage was already done. They had to flog assets just to keep the lights on.

A fair few lessons, but more notably:

• Those “boring” notice clauses? Absolute landmines if you ignore them.

• If you’re ending a big, long-term deal, you'd better know the rules.

• And if your whole business relies on one buyer, you’ll be playing a risky game, as that’s a big factor to weigh whenever contracts are drafted, reviewed, or terminated!

❓ Why it matters to high street firms

When small business owners hit trouble, it feels personal. It’s just them, alone, staring at a broken coffee machine and a lease that’s about to ruin their week. High street lawyers get that.

They’re the ones who can:

• Spot trouble early, like when someone says, “My landlord just upped the rent,” and the lawyer says, “Right, get me the contract.”, as they’ll know exactly which clauses to check and what steps to take before a small problem turns into a full-blown dispute.

• Avoid pointless drama. Sometimes, a carefully drafted letter or a quick renegotiation is enough to save time, money, and relationships. 

• Being able to judge when to push and when to hold back is what separates a solid business lawyer from a truly great one.

•  Protect both their clients and their own firm. High street lawyers deal with leases, contracts, and employment issues every day. 

One missed clause or cloudy term can quickly get out of hand, so knowing business law inside out isn’t just about helping clients; it’s also smart risk management for the firm.

If clients don’t know what they’re signing, they are most definitely asking for trouble.

Leases, contracts, repairs; it’s all fun and games until someone realises they’re legally responsible for a flooded kitchen.

Come the day’s end, business lawyers are the quiet heroes of the high street. Clients send panicked emails, they reply with, “Don’t worry, I’ve got this,” and suddenly things make sense again.

Commercial Lease

It’s the legal deal that lets a business use a property, just like your local café renting its space. Sounds simple, but the fine print can bite hard.

Miss one tiny clause, and suddenly you’re paying for the landlord’s new roof.