An empty boardroom laid out with tablets and notebooks, the Gherkin beyond the window

Subscription Legal Services for UK Businesses

For a clear monthly fee, you get an adviser who understands your business and can support you with the legal questions, contracts and issues that arise as you operate and grow.

Compare the plans → Book a free 20-minute call →
  • Fixed fees agreed first
  • Direct access to the lawyer
  • Non-reserved legal services

You do not have to start from scratch every time. You do not have to decide if a question is important enough to justify another legal bill. And you have a clear monthly cost for the support included within your plan.

Plans from £150 per month, excluding VAT.

Fixed monthly fee Response commitments in writing Out-of-plan work quoted before it starts

Ongoing legal support without the cost of an in-house legal team

Most businesses do not have one big legal problem

They have a steady stream of smaller legal questions.

A customer sends over a contract. A new employee needs an agreement. A supplier wants to change its terms. A director asks about a restriction in an existing agreement. A compliance question comes up. A business owner wants to check something before taking action.

Each issue can look too small to justify instructing a lawyer. Put enough of them together, however, and they can create unnecessary risk.

That is where a business legal subscription can help.

The cost is agreed in advance, so you can raise questions earlier and deal with them before they become larger and more expensive problems.

The difference is continuity

With ad hoc legal support, you may need to explain your business again every time you instruct someone.

With a subscription, continuity is part of the service.

Your adviser can build an understanding of your business, its contracts, people, structure and recurring legal requirements. That can make routine questions easier to scope and deal with.

Three ways to access business legal support

For many owner-managed businesses, there is a practical gap between instructing lawyers only when something goes wrong and employing an in-house lawyer.

Ad hoc legal supportSubscription legal supportIn-house legal team
CostUnpredictableFixed monthly feeSalary, National Insurance, pension and employment costs
Business knowledgeRe-explained for each instructionBuilds over timeBuilt into the role
Smaller legal questionsMay be postponed because of costIncluded within plan allowancesPart of the role
Response commitmentDepends on availability and scopeSet out in your service level agreementBased on internal capacity
Contract supportInstructed as requiredIncluded within monthly allowanceInternal
Tax inputUsually separatePremium includes joined-up tax touchpointsSeparate tax/accounting function normally required
Suitable forOccasional legal mattersBusinesses with recurring legal needsBusinesses large enough to justify an internal function

A subscription is not a replacement for every specialist legal instruction or for an in-house legal department. It is designed to provide an ongoing external legal function for businesses that need regular support without employing a lawyer.

Three Adroit triangles in folded green ribbon receding into the dark

The exact allowance depends on your plan, but the principle is straightforward: you should be able to raise routine legal questions without first calculating the cost of asking them.

What is included in a legal subscription?

Ongoing access to your adviser

You have an ongoing relationship with your legal adviser rather than starting again with a different person for every instruction.

Contract drafting and review

Contract drafting and review are available within your plan’s monthly allowance, subject to the scope and type of work covered by your plan.

This can include routine commercial agreements, contract reviews and other business documents.

Employment and HR questions

Growth often creates employment questions alongside recruitment.

Depending on your plan, support can include questions around employment contracts, workplace documentation, HR issues and related legal matters.

Regulatory and compliance queries

You can raise routine regulatory and compliance questions as they arise, helping you identify issues earlier and decide when more detailed work is required.

Priority response times

Response commitments are set out in the service level agreement rather than being offered informally.

Your plan determines the applicable response commitment.

Periodic legal health checks

Your plan includes a periodic review of areas such as contracts, employment documentation and compliance.

The frequency increases with the plan:

  • Starter: annual
  • Growth: half-yearly
  • Premium: quarterly

Discounted out-of-plan work

If you need work outside your monthly allowance, you receive a discount on fixed-fee work according to your plan:

PlanDiscount on out-of-plan fixed fees
Starter10%
Growth15%
Premium20%

You are told about out-of-plan work before it starts.

Joined-up tax touchpoints

Premium includes joined-up tax touchpoints with Adroit Accountax, allowing legal and tax considerations to be considered together where appropriate.

Starter and Growth clients can also be referred to Adroit Accountax on a separately scoped basis when a matter has a tax dimension.

See our Legal and Tax Advisory service →

Three plans for different levels of legal support

The three plans provide a starting point for businesses with different levels of recurring legal need.

If your requirements do not fit neatly into one of the plans, we can discuss a tailored arrangement.

StarterGrowthPremium
Monthly price£150–£195£425–£495£950–£1,200
Price basisPer month, ex VATPer month, ex VATPer month, ex VAT
Best suited toSmall owner-managed businesses with occasional, low-complexity needsBusinesses hiring and signing contracts regularlyLarger privately held and family companies wanting a standing UK legal function
Legal questionsA set number each monthFair useFair use
Documents or reviewsOne short document or review per monthTwo standard documents or contract reviews per monthHigher drafting and review allowance
Employment & HR queriesNot includedIncludedIncluded
Response commitmentStandardTwo working days, prioritySame week turnaround
Legal health checkAnnualHalf-yearlyQuarterly
Out-of-plan fixed-fee discount10%15%20%
Tax touchpoints with Adroit AccountaxNot includedNot includedJoined-up, included

Starter

£150–£195 per month, ex VAT

Designed for smaller businesses that have occasional legal questions and lower-complexity requirements.

Includes:
  • A set number of legal questions each month
  • One short document or review per month
  • Annual legal health check
  • 10% discount on out-of-plan fixed-fee work
Book a free 20-minute call →

Growth

£425–£495 per month, ex VAT

Designed for businesses that regularly hire employees, sign contracts and need legal input as part of normal operations.

Includes:
  • Fair-use access to legal questions
  • Two standard documents or contract reviews per month
  • Employment and HR queries
  • Two-working-day priority response
  • Half-yearly legal health check
  • 15% discount on out-of-plan fixed-fee work
Book a free 20-minute call →

Premium

£950–£1,200 per month, ex VAT

Designed for larger privately held and family companies that want a standing external UK legal function.

Includes:
  • Fair-use access to legal questions
  • Higher drafting and review allowance
  • Employment and HR queries
  • Same-week turnaround
  • Quarterly legal health check
  • 20% discount on out-of-plan fixed-fee work
  • Joined-up tax touchpoints with Adroit Accountax
Book a free 20-minute call →

All plans run monthly. Work outside your plan is quoted before it starts, never after.

The purpose is not to create work that you do not need. It is to make appropriate legal support easier to access when questions arise.

Six signs you may benefit from ongoing legal support

A subscription may be worth considering if several of these sound familiar:

  • You review more than one contract in a typical month
  • You are hiring, or your headcount has grown in the last year
  • You have postponed a legal question because you were concerned about the cost of asking
  • You have used an online template and were not confident it was suitable for your business
  • Your legal spending has been unpredictable and difficult to budget
  • You are an overseas business that needs a standing UK legal point of contact

Book a free 20-minute call →

Ongoing legal support for growing businesses

Growing businesses

Businesses can develop recurring legal requirements as they hire, sign more contracts and enter new commercial relationships.

A subscription provides an established point of contact for routine legal questions without requiring an in-house legal hire.

Operations and finance leads

Instead of deciding independently which contracts or legal questions need attention, your team has an established route for obtaining legal input.

This can be particularly useful for businesses dealing with regular customer, supplier, employment or compliance documentation.

International businesses

An overseas business operating in the UK may need a standing UK legal point of contact for its British operations.

A subscription can provide ongoing external support without creating a UK in-house legal function.

These are examples of the types of business situations a subscription may suit, rather than descriptions of specific client matters.

What happens when you need work outside your plan?

A subscription does not mean every piece of legal work is unlimited.

Business sales, complex transactions, substantial contract projects and contested disputes are normally handled as separate project work.

If something falls outside your plan:

01

We tell you before the additional work starts.

02

We agree the scope.

03

We provide a fixed or capped fee where appropriate.

04

Your plan discount is applied.

05

The work is then carried out separately from your monthly allowance.

Your discount depends on your plan:

Starter
10%
Growth
15%
Premium
20%

If you regularly exceed your allowance, we can discuss moving to a more suitable plan rather than allowing additional costs to build up.

Subscription support for contracts, employment and compliance

A subscription can connect directly with the specialist legal services your business uses most often.

Commercial contracts

For businesses regularly reviewing or negotiating agreements, subscription support can provide a first point of contact for routine contractual questions.

For larger drafting, negotiation or complex agreements, see our Commercial Contracts service.

Employment contracts

As your team grows, employment documentation and HR questions become more frequent.

Subscription clients can use their plan for eligible employment and HR queries, with more substantial employment documents handled within the applicable allowance or quoted separately.

See our Employment Contracts service for dedicated employment contract support.

Regulatory and compliance

Routine compliance questions can be raised through the subscription, while larger regulatory projects can be scoped separately.

This gives the business an established route for identifying when a routine question requires more detailed legal work.

Some legal work needs to be treated as a separate project

A business sale, acquisition or substantial dispute is different from a routine legal query.

These matters can involve significant documentation, negotiation, evidence, due diligence or specialist work. They are therefore normally scoped separately rather than being treated as unlimited monthly subscription work.

The benefit of the subscription is continuity.

Your adviser already understands the business, which can make the initial scoping process more efficient. Your subscription discount can also apply to eligible out-of-plan fixed-fee work.

A simple monthly legal support model

01Choose the appropriate plan We discuss the type and frequency of legal support your business needs and identify the closest plan.
02Agree the service terms Your monthly fee, allowances, response commitments and treatment of out-of-plan work are set out before you start.
03Ask questions as they arise You have an established legal contact for matters covered by your plan.
04Review the relationship periodically Your legal health check provides a structured opportunity to identify recurring issues and areas that may need attention.
05Adjust the plan as the business changes If your legal requirements increase, we can discuss moving to a more appropriate tier.

Subscription legal services vs employing an in-house lawyer

A subscription is not the same as employing an in-house lawyer.

An in-house lawyer is an employee within the organisation, with the associated employment costs and management responsibilities.

A subscription provides access to external legal support without recruiting and employing an internal lawyer.

For many owner-managed businesses, it can provide an intermediate option between ad hoc legal instructions and building an internal legal function.

The right model depends on the volume, complexity and nature of the legal work your business generates.

Legal and tax support through Adroit Accountax

Some business decisions have both legal and tax implications.

For Premium subscription clients, joined-up tax touchpoints with Adroit Accountax are included.

This can be useful where a legal question also requires tax input, for example:

  • Business restructuring
  • Share-related matters
  • Employment-related tax questions
  • Contractor arrangements
  • Business transactions
  • Director or shareholder matters

The legal and tax work remains clearly defined between the two businesses, with Adroit Legal providing legal support and Adroit Accountax providing tax and accountancy advice.

Frequently asked questions

How is a subscription different from a traditional law firm retainer?

A subscription provides a defined monthly service for a fixed monthly fee, with specified allowances and response commitments.

The exact structure of traditional retainers varies between providers, so the important point is to compare what is actually included, how additional work is charged and what response commitment applies.

With an Adroit Legal subscription, those points are agreed as part of the plan before you start.

What happens if we need something outside the plan?

We tell you before carrying out the additional work.

Where appropriate, we provide a fixed or capped fee and apply your plan discount:

  • 10% Starter
  • 15% Growth
  • 20% Premium

You do not receive an unexpected additional bill for work that you were not told was outside the plan.

Is there a minimum term?

Plans run monthly on the terms set out in the service level agreement before you sign.

The service is designed around an ongoing relationship rather than a long commitment.

Is this the same as employing an in-house lawyer?

No.

A subscription gives your business ongoing access to external legal support without employing an internal lawyer and taking on the associated salary, National Insurance, pension, recruitment and management costs.

It is designed for businesses that need regular legal support but do not need or want a full in-house legal function.

Can a subscription cover a transaction or dispute?

Not within the standard monthly allowance.

Business sales, acquisitions, substantial transactions and contested disputes are normally treated as separate project work.

Your subscription can provide continuity and an applicable discount on eligible out-of-plan fixed-fee work.

Does the plan include tax advice?

Joined-up tax touchpoints with Adroit Accountax are included in the Premium plan.

For Starter and Growth, we can identify when a question has a tax dimension and discuss separately scoped input from Adroit Accountax.

Can an overseas company use the service?

Yes, the Premium plan is specifically suited to larger privately held and family companies, while an overseas business operating in the UK can also use a subscription as an external UK legal point of contact.

The scope of support will depend on the UK legal requirements involved.

Does a subscription cover regulated legal work?

The subscription covers the services included within the agreed scope of your plan. It does not change the regulatory status of the provider or authorise activities that require an authorised person.

Certain legal activities are reserved under the Legal Services Act 2007 and can only be carried out by authorised or exempt persons.

Where a matter falls outside the services Adroit Legal can provide, we will explain this and identify when another regulated professional is required.

A standing legal function without the headcount

You do not need to wait for a major legal problem before getting legal support.

A subscription gives your business an established route for dealing with contracts, employment questions, compliance issues and other recurring legal matters within an agreed monthly cost.

Plans from £150 per month, excluding VAT.

Book a free 20-minute call → See pricing

Related services

Commercial Contracts

Contract drafting and review for businesses.

Explore commercial contracts →

Employment Contracts

Employment documentation and employer legal support.

Explore employment contracts →

Pricing

See fixed fees, subscription tiers and other legal services.

Explore pricing →
Adroit Legal Solutions Limited is not a firm of solicitors and is not regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority. Non-reserved legal services only. Read our regulatory information.
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