newsletter 1 final

Bi Monthly Newsletter
Business News
Spring 2016 | 01
In this edition of our Newsletter we
discuss our new Global offering.
Whats new in the legal world. The
effect the budget will have on new
business
A new Global offering
from Business Law Online
2
Doing business with family
and friends. How to stay
professional.
6
How Business Law Online
helped one SME by supporting
growth and reducing costs with
its fixed price solution
4

Business Law
Online goes global
Contents
Page 2
The new Global offering. How Business
Law Online supports businesses across
the globe.
Page 3
The Business Law Online portal goes live
Page 4.
Case study how Business Law Online
supports one SME with its fixed price
solution
Page 5
Latest HR News
Page 6
Doing business with Family and friends.
How to stay professional
Page 7
The March 2016 Budget and the effect it
has on business
Page 8
The EU Data protection framework is
finally agreed
Business Law Online is now
offering its customers the
opportunity to extend its fixed
price solution globally. With a
legal presence in most of Europe,
Australasia and North America
it is ideally placed to support UK
companies looking to expand
operations overseas. It is the
only legal services company in
the UK who is able to provide its
customers with a one stop shop
for legal services globally, on a
fixed monthly fee
In an interview with the CEO of Business
Law Online Robert Taylor, we asked him
why he had taken the unusual step of
expanding globally.
“Our business is all about supporting our customers
to the best of our abilities in a cost effective manner.
When our customers come to us with statements like;
I desperately need legal representation in x country
and I don’t know who to use , how to find them and
I just don’t have the time to do the research and
appoint someone, can you help! We felt an obligation
to do something to assist.
We looked for a number of ways to support them and
to offer the same degree of comfort and protection
we offer all our customers in the UK. Initially we
were going to build a relationship with a number
of legal practices accross the globe and negotiate
advantageous rates that our clients could take
advantage of. This became problematic for a number
of reasons. Firstly companies and legal practices
offering a fixed price service similar to our offering
in the UK were in short supply or just did not exist
Secondly the cost of doing business in some of the
jurisdictions was prohibitive and went against our
key principle of offering a cost effective professional
and timely service.”
The board took the decision at the beginning of
the year to extend the fixed price service to existing
customers globally. Initially we mirrored our legal
teams in the jurisdictions where our global clients
operated and we have gradually built on this. We
can now offer new clients global coverage for a fixed
monthly fee.
2
Newsletter | March 2016

“It’s refreshing to deal with a legal firm
that wants a true long term partnership
with its customers. They not only provide
a quality service but with a pricing
structure that is within the reach of all
small and mid-market companies.”
Shez Cheema CEO
The Business Law
Online Portal
goes live.
Business Law Online now offers
all its fixed price clients access to
the Business Law Online bespoke
portal.
The portal is a secure place where all
matters undertaken by our Lawyers
can be viewed and monitored in real
time.
the current status of their workload being
undertaken by our lawyers.
The portal includes smart filters, key word
search parameters, and version control with
old documents being automatically archived.
You can even send documents for electronic
signature direct from the portal.
For no extra fee customers can upload all their
historic contracts and legal documents to the
portal, setting up what is in essence a virtual
data room. This ensures their most sensitive
business documents are secured, accessed
and released on a need-to-know basis with
them setting and determining access and
permissions. You can then track all activity.
The portal is a 256-bit encrypted system
accredited by UKAS with the ISO/IEC 27001
information security Management systems
certificate, and with an uptime of 99.9% you
can be assured that your data will be secure
and accessible at all times.
All format documents can be uploaded to it
with customers having real time access to view
Newsletter | March 2016 3

A case study. Working with an
SME on a fixed price contract
“Working with Business Law
Online supports our growth and
ensures we are fully protected
when doing business with
organisations far larger than
ourselves. It is a relationship that
works well for us and we are
confident that it will continue to
do so”
Tony Martino MD Tollring
The purpose of this case study is to showcase how Business Law Online’s legal services can help
businesses manage their legal requirements, remain compliant with current laws and provide them
with an accurate means of budgeting for their legal costs.
The customer: Tollring
Tollring is a market leading software
developer providing feature-rich,
technologically advanced communications
management solutions.
Tollring develops innovative solutions
that compliment business processes
and facilitate regulatory compliance. Its
comprehensive portfolio of cloud based
and locally installed solutions focuses
on service provider analytics, fraud
management, cloud billing services,
customer level call analytics and call
recording applications.
Tollring solutions have been successfully
deployed to over 8,000 businesses in both
the private and public sectors across the
UK, Europe, USA and Australia, delivered
via a number of global communications
service providers, global OEMs and leading
resellers in the Telecoms and IT Industries.
The Challenge
Tollring’s business growth meant that it
was in a situation where it was becoming
increasingly difficult for it to manage its
legal documentation. The company’s
leadership team had concerns whether its
existing legal contracts and policies would
adequately protect them in the event of
dispute. As Tollring began to win contracts
with larger organisations, the way it sold
its products began to change, becoming
more complicated. It soon became
clear that it needed a legal practice
whose lawyers could provide specialist
commercial and corporate skills and a
legal team that would work seamlessly
with Tollring management, to allow them
to quickly adapt to new go-to-market
models and ensure that their internal
controls were sufficient to enable them to
mitigate trading risk.
The company recognized that it required
a library of legal documents for its sales
channels and, in addition, bespoke
agreements for complex OEM sales. As
part of its expansion, Tollring began to
develop a network of overseas resellers
requiring contracts that would ensure
Tollring remained in control. Additionally, as
with all growing companies, Tollring needed
to ensure its internal controls were in place,
including matters such as its employment
contracts and policies.
The Discussion
The company had been using a high street
solicitor on an ad hoc basis. This meant
they would have to instruct the solicitors
individually, and in great depth, each time
legal support was required. The solicitors
practice, though capable, had no working
knowledge either of Tollring’s business or
the industry it was in.
The process of finding the right legal
expertise for their business was a challenge
in itself. Whilst the high street solicitors
lacked the experience and knowledge of
the business and the industry, a city firm,
though it had the capabilities, would prove
too large and costly. It was a concern that,
in the event of Tollring instructing a larger
firm of lawyers, due to its size, Tollring may
not get the level of customer service it
4
Newsletter | March 2016

needed with an inexperienced junior lawyer managing its workload.
The additional risk of Tollring being subject to invisible and constantly
escalating costs meant the company did not wish to pursue this route.
Following a lengthy review of the legal services market, Tollring
concluded that there seemed to be little legal support available for a
medium sized organization such as Tollring.
The Solution
Tollring was introduced to Business Law Online by one of its service
providers – it was agreed that Business Law Online would conduct a
review of Tollring’s existing legal documentation and policies and make
recommendations as to what was needed.
As Tollring’s business was going through a transitional period, it required
a legal firm that could be drawn upon as, and when needed. Business
Law Online’s fixed price model meant that Tollring would have visibility
of its legal costs, up front – the model works on a subscription basis, with
clients paying a monthly fee over a 12-month contract period which
simplifies budgeting. Business Law Online’s service level agreements
mean that work is completed in a timely manner, with each client having
a single point of contact.
The Business Law Online lawyer would act as an extension of Tollring’s
own workforce, as they would if the company had its own in-house
legal counsel. Furthermore, Business Law Online’s ability to manage
work internationally meant there would be no issue with sourcing legal
support overseas and subsequently managing it – the single point of
contact would coordinate all work, even internationally, with local lawyers
being available for face to face meetings as required.
This was a very attractive proposition to Tollring since its evolving
business meant it needed scalable professional legal support both in the
UK and overseas. The added benefit of the ability to budget in advance
and spread its legal costs over the course of the financial year presented
the solution that Tollring had been seeking.
HR News
From 1 April, the new National Living
Wage of £7.20 was applied to workers of
25 and over .
From 6 April, tribunal compensation limits
and a week’s pay increase.
The upper limit on the compensatory
award will be £78,962 and a week’s pay
will be £479. There are other changes to
Employment Tribunals including new
rules on postponements, and penalties
for employers who fail to pay amounts
awarded against the or agreed through
ACAS.
The budget brought further changes:
Termination payments of over £30,000 to
be subject to employer NI contributions.
As previously announced, the government
will consult on extending Shared Parental
Leave to Grandparents.
The government is considering restricting
some salary sacrifice benefits.
Employers will receive money (10% of their
apprentice levy) to put towards apprentice
training.
Tony Martino, Tollring’s Managing Director comments:
Tony Martino Tollring Managing Director
“As our business was growing and
changing, we recognised that we needed
more stringent legal controls, with watertight
contracts that would protect us if
required, especially as we expanded our
products and services into new territories
such as the USA and Australia.
We considered the options, including
employment of in-house counsel, a local
solicitor or a city firm, however each posed
its challenges such as overall cost, or
apparent lack of industry experience.
After discounting these various options,
we made the decision to use Business Law
Online who work with us on a fixed price
model. We have our own point of contact
who understands our business and has
become an extension of our own team.
Support is available outside of standard
office hours, even internationally, so we
can just pick up the phone whenever we
have questions, which is hugely valuable
to us.
We feel that working with Business Law
Online supports our business growth and
ensures that we are fully protected when
doing business with organisations far
larger than ourselves. It is a relationship
that works well for us and we are confident
that it will continue to do so.”
Newsletter | March 2016 5

Doing business with friends
and family how to stay
professional
You spend more time with a business partner than you do
with anyone else so it makes sense to team up with someone
you like, trust and respect. Having said this, as great as a
partnership with friends or family sounds, it can be fraught
with obstacles. Much like a marriage, it’s a legal agreement
between two individuals. So before you commit to the
relationship you must be sure you can weather the storm, for
better or for worse.
You need to know that if everything goes wrong down the line you can protect
your self so what is the best way to do this.
“Going through a divorce with my husband and
business partner. It was a godsend knowing that I
had engaged with Business Law Online when setting
the business up it made the separation so much
easier”
Victoria Hodges
Business Law Online have
packages available to support all
sizes of businesses whether you
are just starting out, or are about
to take that next step.
We are here to ensure you don’t
make the costly mistake of not
protecting your business and your
investment.
For as little as £250 per month you
can have your own lawyer on call
to give you that peace of mind and
to resolve those ongoing issues.
6
First of all
You need to decide what you want from the business. Where you see it going
and who does what. Develop a strategy be sure that all parties are working on
the same page. Make decisions now for example holidays, sickness cover and
dealing with dependants. Cover as many concerns as possible and decide on
contingencies
Decide who owns what
Decide who owns what percentage of the business. You may split the ownership
50/50, but there may be reasons for not doing this. Maybe one party will work full
time Vivamus and one may opt to work part time? maybe one has more capital to invest
and this needs to be reflected in the ownership.
Donec at libero
Put together a contract
Sed convallis
Create a formal written agreement describing who owns what, who does what,
what Suspendisse happens if someone want to leave the business and how the business is to
be structured eg Limited company, Partnership etc. (Seek professional advice)
contd page 7
Newsletter | March 2016
“Companies pay too much attention to the cost
of doing something. They should worry more
about the cost of not doing it.”
Philip Kotler

Budget 2016: Treasury clarifies EIS
and VCT legislation.
Steps have been taken to ensure the legislation regarding changes
made to VCT and EIS products announced in last year’s Summer
Budget is clear and works as intended.
Doing business with
friends and family contd.
Draw up a shareholders agreement
This is a vital part of protecting the business and you
stake in it. It prevents arguments occurring later down
the line.
Think of the shareholders agreement as a marriage
pre-nup. It will define what is to happen if people
want to go their separate ways. It is there to not only
to protect the business itself but also to protect your
investment in it.
The need to clarify the legislation emerged after investors were left
confused about the shift to direct new VCT money towards earlier
phase investments.
In today’s Budget, the Treasury said legislation will be introduced in
the Finance Bill 2016 to ensure the five-year period for determining
the average turnover amount ends immediately before the beginning
of an investee company’s last accounts filing period.
For knowledge-intensive companies, it will ensure the relevant three
preceding years for the operating costs conditions also ends before
the beginning of the filing period.
A firm’s most recently filed accounts will be used to determine these
periods, and a new condition will be introduced to clarify the nonqualifying
investments a VCT may make for liquidity management
purposes, with effect from 6 April.
The agreement should as a minimum set out the
rights and obligations, regulate the sale of shares in
the company,describe how the company is to run,
provide some protection for minority shareholders
and define how important decisions are made.
What should you include in your agreement.
1. Issuing and transferring of shares including
provisions to prevent unwanted 3rd parties acquiring
shares and how a shareholder can sell shares.
2. Proved some protection for shareholders having
less than 50% of the share holding. Include the
requirement for certain decisions to be agreed by all
shareholders
3.How the company is to run. This should include the
appointment, removal and paying of the directors.
Deciding on the direction the business is to take.
The provision of information to the shareholders.
Any large capital requirements and how this is to be
financed and any Banking arrangements
4. The paying of dividends
5. Any competition arrangements.
6. Dispute resolution arrangements.
A final warning
Don’t end up in a complicated , distressing and costly
legal battle down the line because you failed to get
the basics right.
Working with friends and family can be hugely
rewarding but make sure you get things formalised
before you start to trade.
In last summers budget. The Government
announces VCT forum to clarify new rules but
investors were left confused in this years budget
the Government seeks to clarify.
However, if the end of the last accounts filing period falls more
than 12 months before the date on which the investment is made,
the five- and three-year periods end 12 months before the date
the investment is made.
The Treasury said there would be a “negligible” impact on
individual investors as changes to the determination of relevant
years are technical in nature and should be more advantageous to
the company in most cases.
But the new rules may prevent a small number of older
established companies from being eligible for investment under
EIS, it said.
Companies may apply the current rules for investments received
before 6 April in the event they are more advantageous.
Newsletter | March 2016 7

In The Next Issue
• We expand on changes in HR Law
• We look at the law around Health
and Safety and your obligations as an
employer
• A case study on how we assist a
technology SME to transform their
business processes
• Further advice for new start up
businesses. Keep on the straight and
narrow.
• We give some examples of what can
go wrong if you don’t have the right
advice
• We outline our new bursary scheme
for new start ups and give details on
how to apply.
• We have a quick look at some future
changes in legislation which may
affect the way you do business.
The EU General Data Protection
Framework is finally agreed.
After years of discussion. Political agreement has now
been reached on the future direction of this important
regulation. While it is accepted that this will not come into
force immediately. It will include some onerous obligations
and is likely to have an immediate impact.
Are there things we should be doing now. Yes we can take steps
to prepare as many of the obligations will take time to integrate.
Prepare for Data security breaches - Ensure that you have policies and
procedures in place to enable you to react in a timely manner should a breach
occur.
Introduce “Privacy by Design” this is an approach whereby you protect privacy
by embedding it into the design specification of technologies, physical
infrastructures and business practices of all new systems and processes
Let’s keep in touch
Business Law Online Ltd
Quatro House, Lyon Way,
Camberley, Surrey, GU16 7ER
ph. +44 (0) 1276 804 432
e. info@business-law-online.com
visit our website
for more information
www.business-law-online.com
Be accountable - Put policies and procedures in place to ensure you meet the
required standards. Continually monitor, review and assess your data processing
procedures with a view to reducing the amount of data being processed and
stored. Continually audit your processes and staff to ensure they understand
their obligations.
Consider what is the legal basis on which you use personal data. Check whether
your documents and forms of consent are adequate and check that consents
are freely given, specific and informed. You will need to bear the burden of
proof.
Check your privacy notices and policies. Policies must be transparent and easily
accessible.
Have thought for the rights of any data subjects for example the right to
erasure. If you store personal data consider whether you have legitimate
grounds for its retention.
If you provide services to others give consideration if you have new obligations
as a processor. If you obtain data from a third party determine and document
your respective responsibilities
Beware of any international data transfers. Consider whether you have a
legitimate right to transfer data to jurisdictions that don’t have the same data
protection regulations as non compliance penalties can be severe.