Business law and advisory · Halden and Marlowe
Clear advice for the decisions that cannot be undone.
Ashford & Vale is a boutique firm for owner-managed businesses and the families behind them: transactions, employment, contracts, disputes and succession, handled by a partner you can telephone.
- 1998Founded by two lawyers on Quay Street
- 2Offices, in Halden and Marlowe
- 30Minutes of first conversation, at no charge
- 1Business day to a reply, with a named lawyer
Five areas of practice, each led by a partner who still does the work.
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Corporate and transactions
Acquisitions, investments, shareholder arrangements and the governance that keeps owner-managed companies out of trouble.
- Share and asset purchases and sales
- Minority investments and shareholder agreements
- Company formation, reorganisations and exits
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Employment
Contracts, senior hires, restrictive covenants, restructures and exits, for employers and for senior individuals.
- Employment contracts, handbooks and policies
- Senior hires and executive packages
- Restrictive covenants and confidentiality
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Commercial contracts
Supply, services, distribution, licensing and technology agreements, drafted to be read and negotiated to be used.
- Supply and distribution agreements
- Services, consultancy and outsourcing contracts
- Software, data and technology licences
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Commercial disputes
Negotiation, mediation and litigation of business disputes, with an honest estimate of cost and odds at every stage.
- Contract and shareholder disputes
- Debt recovery and enforcement
- Professional negligence claims
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Private clients and succession
Wills, powers of attorney, trusts and estate administration for families and for the owners of family businesses.
- Wills and lifetime planning
- Lasting powers of attorney
- Trusts for families and for vulnerable beneficiaries
Four habits that explain how we work.
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Precision before volume
A short agreement that says exactly what the parties meant is worth more than a long one that covers everything badly. We cut drafts as often as we add to them.
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Candour about odds and cost
We tell you what a matter is likely to cost and what is likely to go wrong, early, in writing, and again when the picture changes. Sometimes the advice is to do nothing.
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One lawyer who knows your file
You will not be passed between juniors you have never met. A named partner stays responsible for your matter, and the person who drafts is the person who answers the phone.
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Discretion as a habit
Most of our work never appears in a court list or a press release, and that is how clients prefer it. We keep files tight, and we do not discuss clients, even in general terms, outside the firm.
Notes we have written for clients, and now for everyone.
All insights-
What a share purchase agreement leaves to the disclosure letter
The warranties in a share purchase agreement are only as useful as the disclosure that qualifies them. How sellers and buyers should treat the letter that nobody wants to write.
Helen Ashford 6 min read Corporate and transactions
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Restrictive covenants after a resignation: a practical sequence
A senior employee resigns to join a competitor. What an employer should do in the first week, in what order, and what not to do.
Imogen Tran 5 min read Employment
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Limitation of liability clauses: where they fail
Why limitation clauses that look robust on signature fail in practice, and the drafting habits that make them hold.
Samuel Okafor 5 min read Commercial contracts
“I expected to be handed a stack of jargon. Instead I got a two-page letter that told me what to sign, what to leave alone and what it would cost. I have used it as a template for how I brief my own team.”
Tell us about your matter in three short steps.
Matter, a few lines of detail, how to reach you. We check for conflicts and reply within one business day. The first conversation, up to thirty minutes, is free.
Sending a request does not create an attorney-client relationship.